On the fresh-water Fishes of India. 561 



on the northern declivities of Hindoo Koosh. The fishes of 

 the Cabool river were next carefully investigated by Mr. 

 Griffith, as well as those of the streams in the Khybur Pass, 

 the rivers and ponds in the Punjab, and the Ganges above 

 Seharanpore. 



Some other valuable collections which were made by Mr. 

 Griffith were lost, particularly specimens forwarded from 

 Loodianah in the beginning of 1839, which may have fallen in- 

 to improper hands ; others, particularly the Shikarpore collec- 

 tions, were spoiled in consequence of the jolting motion of the 

 camels, on which they were necessarily conveyed under the 

 most difficult circumstances ; and others, for want of better 

 means of preserving them, were kept merely in salt. With 

 these exceptions, the remainder of the collections arrived in 

 Calcutta, if not quite safe and free from those injuries to 

 which such perishable objects were of necessity exposed dur- 

 ing a military campaign, at least in a state to admit of the 

 species being accurately identified, and such as are new, de- 

 scribed. 



In preparing a list of the specimens collected by Mr. Grif- 

 fith, it would be desirable to point out a few of the more 

 striking results to which they are likely to lead, and how 

 far they are calculated to improve what is known of species 

 peculiar to India. Still we would wish it to be remembered, 

 that what is recorded as new or curious by one, may be found 

 to be quite the revers by another, possessed of better facilities 

 for study. It is satisfactory to know, that Mr. Griffith's collec- 

 tion not only of fishes, but all the other fruits of his extensive 

 and precarious travels which have been almost uninterrupted 

 from 1835 to the present time, are intended to be preserved 

 as objects of study and investigation in apartments allotted 

 to such purposes by the authorities at home. It is therefore 

 unnecessary here to do more than direct attention to the 

 subject, as the collection itself may be better investigated at 

 home, (as far as its state of preservation will admit,) while the 



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