29 



In the illustration of this matter, I must beg 1 the 

 indulgence of the Society with a little of my own expe- 

 rience. I will confine myself to the department of 

 ichthyology ; but it was nearly the same in all the 

 other departments. 



When I first turned my attention to the ichthyology 

 of Vermont, the only scientific work on fishes within 

 my reach, was Dr. Mitchell's paper on the fishes of 

 New York, contained in the first volume of the Trans- 

 actions of the New York Philosophical Society. With 

 that work only for my guide, I labored long* and hard 

 to determine the species of fishes inhabiting- the waters 

 of Vermont, and with how little success I labored, 

 they who are acquainted with that work need not to be 

 informed. At length, through the kindness of my 

 friend, the Hon. G. P. Marsh, now United States Min- 

 ister at Constantinople, I was presented with the third 

 volume of Dr. Richardson's Fauna Boreali Americana ; 

 and about the same time, my friend, Dr. D. H. Storer, 

 presented me with a copy of his excellent Report on 

 the Fishes of Massachusetts. Subsequently, I have ob- 

 tained Dr. DeKay's Report on the Fishes of New York, 

 and some few other works, and have had access to por- 

 tions of the Journals of this Society, and of the New 

 York Lyceum of Natural Histoiy, and of the Academy 

 of Natural History at Philadelphia ; but, till within the 

 past year, I have not had the benefit of a single speci- 

 men from abroad to aid me by way of comparison. 



Experiencing so many difficulties myself, and know- 

 ing others to be laboring under like embarrassments, I 



selected libraries, in reference to general literature, to be found in 

 the country, and is, probably, more valuable than many public 

 libraries which contain twice the number of volumes. 



