INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 



Prof. Spencer F. Baird, 



TJ. S. Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries : 

 Sir : I have the honor to submit herewith a preliminary report upon 

 the participation of the United States in the Great International Fish- 

 eries Exhibition at London in 1883, together with a series of descriptive 

 catalogues constituting a detailed report upon the materials and objects 

 exhibited under the direction of the United States Fish Commission, a 

 considerable portion of which was a temporary loan from the collections 

 of the U S. National Museum. 

 Very respectfully, 



G. BKOWN GOODE, 

 TJ. S. Commissioner to the Exhibition. 



The present volume is made up of the descriptive, catalogues of the 

 articles brought together by the United States Fish Exhibition for 

 exhibition at the Great International Fisheries Exhibition held in Lon- 

 don from May 12 to November 1, 1883. The exhibits catalogued are, 

 for the most part, permanently retained in the National Museum of 

 the United States, maintained under the direction of the Smithsonian 

 Institution. 



Seven of the twelve parts of this catalogue (A to G) were published 

 and distributed during the Exhibition, the remainder having been 

 printed from time to time. It should be stated that part A, designated 

 as the preliminary catalogue, which was an enumeration of all the arti- 

 cles exhibited by the United States and by private collectors, and con- 

 taining everything which was necessary for the information of jurors or 

 visitors to the Exhibition, was printed and ready for distributi on at the 

 opening of the Exhibition, and was also included in an abridged form 

 in the first edition of the official catalogue which was published on the 

 same day. The subsequent parts of the series, which for the lack of a 

 better name have been called catalogues, and which it was found most 



