INTRODUCTION. 77 



This handbook has at the same time been compiled with 

 the view of providing a complete reference catalogue 01 

 index to the fine series of spirit-preserved British marine 

 and freshwater fishes collected by Dr. Francis Day, 

 which after exhibition in their present position in the East 

 Quadrant will be given to the nation, and placed perma- 

 nently on view in the Buckland Fish Museum. This 

 museum, it is hopefully anticipated, will on the close of the 

 Exhibition be enriched by many kindred acquisitions. As 

 will be observed, the numbers quoted in these pages in con- 

 secutive order after the popular and technical titles of each 

 fish, coincide with the same numbers inscribed on the 

 labels attached to the jars which contain the above-named 

 fish collection, while an extended special description of the 

 individual specimens thus exhibited is frequently given in 

 the text. In like manner, by way of exemplifying certain 

 rare forms, not in the Day Collection, and the larger sizes 

 to which our indigenous fishes not unfrequently attain, 

 reference is constantly made to the magnificent series oi 

 coloured plaster casts prepared by the late Mr.. Frank 

 Buckland, and to the many preserved specimens contained 

 in the Buckland Museum, now thrown open to the public 

 in conjunction with the Exhibition Courts. 



The classificatory system adopted in this handbook 

 accords substantially with that adopted by Professor 

 Huxley in his ' Manual of the Anatomy of Vertebrated 

 Animals/ the diagnosis of the minor subdivisions or 

 families being derived mainly from the special works on 

 fishes by Dr. Albert Giinther and Dr. Francis Day. 

 English readers desirous of extending their acquaintance with 

 the morphology offish, and with the varieties and distribution 

 of our indigenous icthyological fauna, may advantageously 

 consult the following books, 'The Anatomy of Verte- 



