.■, HISTORY. 17 



4to), by F. Hamilton (formerly Buchanan) — works distin- 

 guished by a greater accuracy of their drawings (especially in 

 the latter), than was ever attained before. A " Natural His- 

 tory of British Fishes " was published by E. Donovan (Lond. 

 8vo, 1802-8) ; and the Mediterranean Fauna formed the study 

 of the lifetime of A. Bisso (" Ichthyologie de Nice." Paris, 

 1810, 8vo ; and " Histoire naturelle de I'Europe Meridionale." 

 Paris, 1827, 8vo). A slight beginning in the description of 

 the fishes of the United States was made by S. L. Mitchell, 

 who published, besides various papers,, a " Memoir on the 

 Ichthyology of New York," in 1815.-^ 



G. CuviER did not occupy himself with the study of fishes G- Cuvier. 

 merely because this class formed part of the " Efegne animal," 

 but he devoted himself to it with particular predilection. 

 The investigation of their anatomy, and especially of their 

 skeleton, was taken up by him at an early period, and con- 

 tinued until he .had succeeded in completing so perfect a frame- 

 work of the system of the whole class that his immediate 

 successors could content themselves with filling up those details 

 for which their master had no leisure. Indefatigable in exam- 

 ining aU the external and internal characters of the fishes of a 

 rich collection, he ascertained the natural affinities of the in- 

 finite variety of fishes, and accurately defined the divisions, 

 orders, families, and genera of the class, as they appear in 

 the various editions of the "Eegne animal." His industry 

 equalled his genius : he opened connections with almost every 

 accessible part of the globe ; not only French travellers and 

 naturalists, but also Germans, Englishmen, Americans, rivalled 

 one another to assist him with collections ; and for many years 

 the Museum of the Jardin des Plantes was the centre where 

 aU ichthyological treasures were deposited. Thus Cuvier 



^ Down to this period the history of Ichthyology is fuUy treated in the 

 first volume of Cuvier and Valenciennes " Hist. nat. d. Poiss." 



C 



