23 
Fishes of Massachusetts. — . 291 
Want of sufficient time, then, is my only excuse for not 
having done what time alone could accomplish. Without 
the assistance of kind and attentive correspondents and 
friends, I could have. done literally nothing. Constantly 
confined by professional avocations, I have depended en- 
tirely upon others to collect. and preserve the materials, 
endeavoring myself only to distinguish, arrange and de- 
scribe them 
The siiall number of new species here presented may 
excite surprise. Disgusted with the mania so common 
among naturalists to form species out of mere varieties, 
thus casting confusion upon their favorite pursuits, and 
bringing odium upon themselves, I have endeavored to 
. avoid this error, and may have carried the feeling so far, 
that some of the species, catalogued here as having been 
des 
previously known, may, at a future period, be considered 
new. If, in this respect, I have erred, my descriptions 
. will in themselves correct me. 
Inasmuch as unavoidable errors, of greater or less im- 
portance, may be detected by the scientific critic in this 
report, I trust it will be remembered, that in ifs prepara- 
"on I have been entirely unaided. Not knowing a single 
‘iehthyologist i in New England, to whom, in cases of doubt, 
l could refer for advice and instruction, I have been com- 
pelled to rely wholly upon myself. 
For the plates which accompany this paper, I am in- 
Ped to un skill and kindness of my friend Jeffries Wy- 
It may be thought singular that I have figured 
the eat ecies to the exclusion of other previously unde- : 
scribed fishes, Since the commencement of my labors, I 
have ever desired that all species should be illustrated by 
- plates; but until within a very short period, I had the im- 
pression that the Reports of the Commissioners were not to 
be accompanied by figures; and this error was not re- 
