PREFACE. 



When 1 was crMiinussioiied by the publishers to revise and complete in a systematic form ''Scandinavian Fishes,'' 

 the work brought out l)y Fries, Ekstrom, and Sundevall, witii drawings by v. Wiiiiifri', 1 was not unaware of the great 

 difficulties associated with such an undertaking. Their original plan was to embody in a po])ular form the results of 

 scientific investigation, and with the most accurate drawings of living specimens to represent the appearance and charac- 

 teristics of the fishes. As far as the work proceeded, it gained a world-wide reputation as one of the best ])roductions of 

 its kind. But it was interrupted, and neither artists nor writers of the same note as tlie original ones cinild l)e found to 

 continue it. v. Wright's still unrivalled pencil and brush had been laid aside long before his death in 1888; and only a 

 writer of the greatest self-confidence would without hesitation ha\'e come forward to submit his work to the test of com- 

 parison with what the power of observation and description of Fries, Ekstrom, and Sundevall had already accomplished 

 in the same field of science. However, the Academy of Science was found to possess several hitherto unpublished drawings 

 of tislies executed liy v. Wright, and to the collections of the Royal Zoological Museum 1 had caused to be added ijuite a 

 considerable number of figures of fishes belonging to the Scandinavian fauna, which might be of service in the continuation 

 of the work. In the Hoyal Museum are also preserved both the original specimens described in the former edition and the 

 fishes collected by Fries and Sundevall with a view to the completion of their task. In recent years, too, ichthyology has 

 not been without diligent and distinguished investigators even in Sweden: the names of S. NiLssoN, A. W. Malm, and V. 

 Lilljeborg are widely known and renowned. The piscine faunse of Norway and Denmark have also been subjected to 

 exhaustive research: during the time that has elapsed since the first pviblication of "Scandinavian Fishes," Esmark and 

 Collett, Kr0YER, LiJTKEN, and Winther have all been enrolled among the most eminent ichthyologists, and have rendered 

 this department of zoology quite as thoroughly known in Scandinavia as it is in other lands. With confidence in the 

 value of tlie material at my disposal, I overcame my hesitation, and ventured to accept the invitation of the publishers to 

 bring out this new edition of one of Sweden's finest national works in the province of literature. But one more difficulty 

 remained, a difficulty which has considerably delayed the appearance of the work in print. Ilemembering the favourable 

 reception granted to the first edition in other countries, the publishers were desirous to render the new edition also available 

 to the reader who does not know any of the Scandinavian languages, and therefore decided that the work should be also 

 published in English. This difficulty could not be overcome until the puljlishers succeeded in procui'ing the valuable aid 

 of Mr. D. Lloyd Morgan, B. A., Lecturer at the LTniversity of Lund, to whom alone it is due that the English edition is 

 fully on a par with the Swedish. 



The plan of the work has been the following: in the first place v. Wright's drawings have been reproduced, and 

 where coloured figures, drawn from living or perfectly fresh specimens, have existed among the collections of the Koj-al 

 Zoological Museum or where such figures could be procured from other sources, these figures are also given, printed in 

 colours and executed with the greatest accuracy attainable in this country. These figures have been lithographed and 

 printed at the Lithographic Fress of the Swedish Ordnance Surcci/. In the case of the species of which such drawings could 

 not be procured, or where the species in question is not of essential importance either in the Scandinavian fauna or from 

 an economical point of view, zincotypes, cast at the same establishment, are inserted in the text, from drawings, executed 

 with all possible accuracy, of the specimens preserved in spirits in the Royal Museum or of those which have been kindly 

 lent me by other museums. Most of these drawings have been executed under my supervision by Carl Erdmann. an artist 

 whose earl}' loss to science and art must be deeply regretted. 



I have observed a similar rule in mj^ revision of the text. (Jf the two hundred piscine species that belong to the 

 Scandinavian fauna, sixty-four were included in the former edition. In every case where the requirements of modern science 

 have not seemed to call for any alteration in the work of my predecessors. I have suffered it to remain untouched. I leave 

 the reader to judge with what success I have eiuleavoured to follow them in their labour of general instruction. My hopes 

 of producing a handsome work have been grounded on the unsparing generosity of the publishers and the prominent rank 

 occupied by their office in the department of typography-; and I ha\e no doubt that an impartial judgment will give them 

 full recognition. 



F. A. SMITT. 

 Stockholm, 1892. 



