ON SMALL FISH, PRINCIPALLY USED AS BAITS. 285 
they are imagined to be by the uninitiated. Like all 
other sciences, Ichthyology has of course its own techni- 
calities which must be mastered in the first instance ; 
for if a man is ignorant of the alphabet of a language 
he can hardly expect to derive much delight from the 
study of its literature; and the alphabet of science is 
its technicalities. Again, the markedly, I might say 
almost ostentatiously, dry and uninviting form in which 
science delights to expound itself has doubtless been 
another obstacle. But all these difficulties are to be 
mastered by a comparatively small application of leisure 
and perseverance, and even these drawbacks are yearly 
lessening. 
In the “ Angler-Naturalist” I have endeavoured by 
taking myself some little trouble in codifying and 
simplifying, to save a corresponding labour to others ; 
facts are stated plainly and with an avoidance of un- 
necessary scientific terms, and I have otherwise done 
what in me lies to make the subject, which is one 
naturally full of interest, as little dry and repulsive as 
possible. To the “ Angler-Naturalist,” therefore, I must 
refer my readers for those ichthyological peculiarities 
and characteristics of the different species which are 
here, not from choice but from necessity, omitted. 
The manner in which that attempt at popularizing the 
subject has been received, gives me good hope that the 
time may yet come when a fisherman will not think 
himself a master of his craft until he is not only a good 
