io THE MAMMALS, REPTILES, AND FISHES OF ESSEX. 



records in local papers, and these without any exacti- 

 tude of detail, can by no means claim to be final. 



It might have been expected that, in at least one of 

 our numerous fishing villages, there would have been 

 found some educated and intelligent observer who 

 would interest himself in the study of how his fishing 

 neighbours subsisted, on what their marketable fish 

 fed, and what species were brought in their nets to the 

 surface. Unfortunately, however, this branch of 

 Natural History appears to have been entirely 

 neglected in this district, and those who have culti- 

 vated scientific tastes have apparently confined them to 

 the more generally interesting studies of Ornithology, 

 Entomology, and especially Lepidoptera. 



It may be that the great difficulties in preservation 

 and the impossibility of retaining the splendid piscal 

 colouring have contributed to this result. Anyhow, 

 whatever the cause, the fact remains that there are few 

 Essex records, and no later lists to refer to than that 

 in Dale's History of Harwich and Dover court (1732) and 

 those of later writers who have copied from him. Con- 

 sidering the class from which our professional sea-fisher- 

 men are drawn, it is hardly to be expected that any 

 records by them would find their way into print. From 

 my knowledge of them, I should say they pay little 

 attention to the produce drawn from their nets, except 

 the marketable kinds. Even of these, no attempt 



