PREFATORY NOTE 
THis work contains virtually all the non-technical material 
contained in the author’s “Guide to the Study of Fishes.” It 
lacks the considerable portion relating to the structure and 
classification of fishes, which is intended rather for the technical 
student of ichthyology. 
The present volume contains substantially all which the 
author would have written had his original purpose been to 
cover the subject of fishes in a general natural history of animals. 
The fishes used as food and those sought by anglers in America 
are treated fully, and proportionate attention is paid to all 
the existing as well as all extinct families of fishes. 
Notwithstanding the relative absence of technical material 
in the present volume, the writer hopes that it may still be 
valuable to students of ichthyology, though his chief aim has 
been to make it interesting to nature-lovers and anglers, and 
instructive to all who open its pages. 
Davip STARR JORDAN. 
June 15, 1907- 
