INTRODUCTION. 



" Quicquid naseatur in parte naturse ulla, et in mari esse ; 

 praeterque multa qua? nusquam alibi." Pliny. 



" Immensa et summe admirabilis Dei potentia atque solertia 

 in rebus ccelestibus, iisque quae in sere et terra fiunt, maxime 

 vero in mari, in quo tam varise et stupendae rerum forma? 

 conspiciuntur ut quaerendi et contemplandi nullus unquam 

 futures sit finis. 1 ' Rondelet. 



" The sounds and seas, each creek and bay, 

 With fry innumerable swarm, and shoals 

 Of fish that with their fins, and shining scales, 

 Glide under the green wave, in sculls that oft 

 Bank the mid sea : part single, or with mate, 

 Graze the sea-weed their pasture, and through groves 

 Of coral stray ; or, sporting with quick glance, 

 Show to the sun their waved coats dropt with gold/' 



Milton. 



In the Introduction to the Volumes of the Natu- 

 ralist's Library dedicated to the History of British 

 Fishes, and with which we are about to close our 

 short Series upon Ichthyology, we purpose to submit 

 to the attention of our readers such novelties con- 

 cerning the structure, habits, and economic use of this 

 important Class as, within a recent period, have been 



