SKETCH OF PROFESSOR FELIPE POEY, 551 



of a " Geography of Cuba," aud of a " Treatise on Mineralogy," used 

 in the Havana schools. A number of poems from his pen have like- 

 wise been published, but these I have not seen. 



The great work of Poey's life is the still unpublished " Ictiologia 

 Cuban a." This is to contain a detailed account of each of the fishes 

 of Cuba. It is to be composed, according to a statement of Poey, pub- 

 lished in a Havana paper, " of a thick volume of text, Spanish folio, and 

 of an atlas of ten volumes larger folio (eighteen by thirteen inches). 

 The plates are made with a light indication of the colors, which are de- 

 scribed in the text. All are original, drawn from nature by the author. 

 . . . The text contains the scientific name of each species, the com- 

 mon name, the complete synonymy, a description of the colors, dis- 

 tinctive peculiarities, relations of the varieties, comparisons, critical 

 observations, and the history of the fish. It contains, moreover, the 

 characters of classes, sub-classes, orders, families, genera, and species. 

 The total number of plates in the Atlas is 1,040. These show 758 

 species of Cuban fishes, represented by 1,300 individuals in all stages 

 of growth. All except the sharks are drawn of life-size. 



" These 758 species, together with 24 mentioned at the end of the 

 work, make up 782 species of Cuban fishes. Of these, 105 are doubt- 

 ful, and therefore are left without specific names. I hold them in 

 suspense till I can receive further data from the study of other speci- 

 mens. There are, therefore, 677 species well determined, of which 

 more than half have been first made known by me. !N^ot more than a 

 dozen species in the list have not been examined by me. These are 

 inserted on the authority of writers who claim to have received their 

 specimens from Cuba, and who appear to be worthy of confidence. 



" The preparation of the text has cost me an immense amount of 

 time and labor, by the preparatory studies which it has required. In 

 the determination of the species it is rarely that a single one has not 

 occupied me for an entire week. I have wished to make known the 

 certain as certain, and the doubtful as doubtful, so that I shall declare 

 nothing to be new unless it is so in reality." 



The manuscripts of this great work are now in duplicate. One 

 copy is retained by Professor Poey ; the other has been purchased by 

 the Spanish Government for $5,000. It is expected and earnestly 

 hoped by Professor Poey and his friends that the Government will 

 soon order its publication, but, unfortunately, there seems to be no 

 certainty of this. 



The manuscripts and drawings of the " Ictiologia Cubana " were 

 placed on exhibition by the Spanish Government in the Exposition of 

 Amsterdam in 1883. In testimonial of their worth. Professor Poey 

 has received from King William III the decoration of the order of the 

 " Lion Neerlandais." Before this, as the most distinguished of Span- 

 ish naturalists, he had received from the King of Spain the title of 

 " Encomendador de la Orden de Isabella la Cat61ica." 



