IO FISH: THEIR HABITS AND HAUNTS. 



character has constantly increased, indeed, 

 hardly any other subject has had so much 

 written about it. This is not strange, when 

 we consider that more than three-fourths 

 of the earth's surface is covered with water, 

 and teems with life in various forms. 



Naturalists of the present day know of 

 upwards of thirteen thousand varieties of fish, 

 of which perhaps one-tenth belong to fresh- 

 water. 



The importance of the fisheries on our own 

 coasts can hardly be exaggerated, whether 

 we consider the amount of wholesome food 

 which they yield, the pecuniary value of 

 their product, the number of persons em- 

 ployed, the stimulus furnished to ship and 

 boat-building, and, not least of all, their ser- 

 vice as a school for seamen, from which 

 the merchant marine, as well as the navy of 

 the country, derives its most important re- 

 cruits. The rapid growth of the country, 

 the construction of railroads, and the use of 



