﻿THE 



GANOID FISHES 



OF THE 



BEITISH CARBONIFEROUS FORMATIONS. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The Ganoid Pishes of the British Carboniferous strata had been but little collected at 

 the time of the publication of Agassiz's great work. In his general list of Fishes from the 

 various formations, published in 1843, mention is made of forty species of British 

 Carboniferous Ganoids, of which only nine were described ; the rest, to which only names 

 had been attached, being reserved for one of those supplementary monographs which were 

 to contain descriptions and figures of those species not included in the larger work. 

 Unfortunately, the only one of those promised additional monographs ever published was 

 that on the Fishes of the Old Red Sandstone, so that a large number of fishes of the 

 Carboniferous as well as of other formations remained, furnished with names it is true, 

 but without descriptions or figures whereby they might be identified. Several of the 

 Carboniferous forms here included have been subsequently described by other authors ; 

 to others, it is to be feared, all clue is lost. 



Since Agassiz's time the writings which have appeared on British Carboniferous 

 Ganoids have been comparatively few and scattered, although the researches of Sir Philip 

 Grey Egerton, Professor Young, and Messrs. Hancock and Atthey, have done much to 

 increase the catalogue of species and our knowledge of the structure of the various forms. 

 The works of these and of other authors will be referred to in the proper places. 



A very large amount of material having been accumulated since the Carboniferous Fishes 

 had been previously systematically treated of, and many kind friends having offered me 

 the use of their valuable collections for purposes of description, I have, with the sanction of 

 the Council of the Palseontographical Society, undertaken to prepare a Monograph on the 

 Ganoids of this formation. In connection with this work I must here acknowledge with 

 warmest thanks the obligations I am under to the Earl of Enniskillen, Sir Philip Grey 

 Egerton, Bart., Prof. Huxley, Prof. Geikie, Prof. Prestwich, Prof. Hughes, Rev. Prof. 

 Duns, Mr. John Ward, of Longton, Dr. Hunter, of Braidwood, Mr. Grossart, of 

 Salsburgh, Mr. Binney, of Manchester, Mr. Plant, of Salford, Mr. Aitken, of Bacup, Messrs. 

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