OUTLINES OF ICHTHYOLOGY. 149 



it is astonishing how many there are, calling them- 

 selves sportsmen, who are content to remain all 

 their lives simply Killers of fish of the habits, 

 idiosyncrasies, and often of the specific names of 

 which they are ignorant. This observation is 

 even in some degree applicable to old and expe- 

 rienced fishermen. " Names are the representatives 

 of things ; if a man does not know the names of 

 things in the water he may sit by it all his lifetime 

 without gaining much information for himself, and 

 absolutely none that he can convey to others. 

 The alphabet of science is its technicalities ; and 

 consequently the unlearned sitter by the water is in 

 an exactly similar position to the man who attempts 

 to study a book without having first acquired his 

 A B C." 



Thus wrote a man who was both an enthusiastic 

 fisherman and a thorough practical ichthyologist, 

 and the lesson he inculcates still has its moral for 

 (I am afraid) the great majority of anglers. To 

 their credit be it said, however, there are very 

 many who aspire to better things, and who have en- 

 deavoured really to qualify themselves for the name 

 of fishermen of the first angling nation in the world. 



I make no apology, therefore, for offering a few 

 remarks on the general outlines of Ichthyology, 

 more especially in their bearing on British sporting 

 fish, and as regarded from the angler's standpoint. 



Fishes are, in scientific phraseology, "oviparous 



