VI PREFACE. 



rivers of the North American Continent, will give a high valne to 

 that portion of the notice of the Fishes. 



The rest of our collection having been necessarily abandoned 

 with the Victory, a short and very imperfect account has been 

 drawn up from my rough notes taken at the time, which, from my 

 being but little acquainted with that branch of Natural History, is 

 of course very defective. 



To my friend Mr. Curtis, my warmest acknowledgments are 

 due for his valuable remarks on the few Insects which I was able 

 to bring to England, and the very beautiful drawings and en- 

 gravings which accompany them. 



The liberal and kind assistance I have received from Mr. Richard 

 Owen, in drawing up the catalogue of the Marine Invertebrate 

 Animals, requires my best thanks ; particularly for his careful and 

 elegant dissection of the new genus which he has named " Rossia;" 

 peculiarly valuable at a time when the internal organization of the 

 inferior orders of animated nature has become so extensively used in 

 their classification. 



J. C. R 



