OUTLINES OF ICHTHYOLOGY. 



MONGST the works of a quasi scien- 

 tific character to which an age that is 

 4 nothing if not utilitarian ' has given 

 birth, essays on Natural History more 

 or less popularized have received a markedly 

 favourable reception from the public. None of 

 these, however, if I except a work of my own, 

 'The Angler- Naturalist/ published in 1863, and 

 now out of print, have, so far as I am aware, 

 been specially devoted to Ichthyology, whilst for 

 the most part what has been written on the subject 

 has appeared in a detached or fragmentary form, 

 the information furnished being either too diffuse 

 and overlaid with technicalities to suit the require- 

 ments of the beginner, or too scanty and incom- 

 plete to be of any assistance to the more advanced 

 student. 



Thus it results that the "science of fish" is still 

 far from being as widely understood and appre- 

 ciated, as, amongst a nation of sportsmen, might 

 have been naturally expected; and the young 



