INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 



The accompanying plates of fresh-water fishes were drawn bv Mr. Sonrel 

 under the direction of Professor Agassiz and Professor Baird as early as LS49, 

 and were intended for use in a Monograph of the fresh-water Fishes of North 

 America projected by the Swiss naturalist and the young Assistant Secretary 

 of the Smithsonian Institution, to be prepared under their joint authorship. 

 The work was never completed, the attention of each of the partners having 

 been diverted to other subjects. An edition of 1,000 copies of these plates 

 was printed, and, after the lapse of nearh' forty years, it seems desirable to 

 distribute them to the libraries. Their interest is mainly of a historical char- 

 acter, and the accompanying text, prepared by President Jordan, is limited 

 to a brief explanation of the figures. 



G. BROWN GOODE. 



Smithsonian Institution, 



March 22, 1889. 



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