CHAPTER X. 



ICHTHYOLOGY FOR THE ANGLER. 



NGLERS should have a sufficient knowledge of 

 the science of Ichthyology to be able to de- 

 scribe the various members of the finny family ; 

 and, as many of our scientific sportsmen in- 

 conversation by the stream-side, or at the fish- 

 ing clubs, are well posted in the science, a few remarks on 

 this subject will not be considered out of place. 



Those who have studied and written upon this subject, 

 have different methods of classifying the large variety of 

 fishes. 



Dr. Mitchill described them, by the situation or arrange- 

 ment of their fins, into five divisions. Agassiz classed them 

 in four divisions, based on the character of their scales ; but 

 Baron Cuvier, a French naturalist, described them in three 

 simple divisions, that are much easier understood than any 

 of his predecessors. Says a late writer * on this subject : 

 "The disposition to make new genera is carried to a puzzling 

 extreme. In getting rid of the too great condensation of 

 Linnaeus, naturalists have fallen into the worse extreme of 

 too extensive subdivision." 



* Professor Kneeland, in Appletone 1 "American Cyclopaedia." 



