PRE PACK 



Museum of Natural History happily came to my aid: it allowed me 

 the help of a secretary for transcribing references, and since then it has 

 with great generosity provided the means for editing and enlarging the 

 work. And it now assumes the burden of publishing it. In this it was 

 aided by the Jesup Fund and b>' certain private subscriptions, notably 

 by Mrs. Isaac M. Dyckman and Mrs. Baslifonl Dean. 



The labor of completing the Bibhography proved difficult and exact- 

 ing. About H)10 my former colleague in the Museum, Dr. Louis Hus- 

 sakof, was induced to become m>' collaborator. During 1913-1914 he 

 controlled the results of the compiler Miss Evelyn Tripp, whose faith- 

 ful work deserves great credit. But Dr. Hussakof found that the 

 enterprise, added to his other museum duties, was an overtax upon 

 him, so in 1914 he felt obliged, to our mutual regret, to retire as a joint 

 author. He merits, none the less, the sincere thanks of all who use 

 the Bibliograijhy, for the part which he contributed. 



In the same year, 1914, Dr. Charles R. Eastman was persuaded to 

 assume the editorship. He was aided during 1915-1916 by Miss Mar- 

 guerite Engler, who gave her time devotedly to the Authors' volumes, 

 and from the summer of 1916 onward by Miss Florence Schwarzwaelder 

 and Mr. Arthur Henn, who made a great number of entries for the in- 

 dexing. And at this moment, when the work is in press, I need hardly 

 assure the Editor and his assistants of my great gratitude for their 

 help — for no one reahzes better than myself that to finish the task 

 fully and accurately demanded sustained and meticulous labor. 

 Dr. Eastman, I should note, was keenly interested in the work from 

 its inception, for from his own studies as a palaeichthyologist he ap- 

 preciated its general importance to investigators and he had already 

 gone widely into the bibliographical field, especially that province of it 

 which has to do with the earlier writers. In this connection he is to 

 be credited with bringing together the principal part of the pre-Linnsean 

 literature of Fishes, which appears at the end of the second volume. 

 In fact, while I am writing my acknowledgments, I should make it 

 clear that had not Dr. Eastman come to my literary rescue at the time 

 he did, the bibliography might never have been published, for I myself 

 had become entangled with other matters and could afford neither the 

 time nor the energy to complete it. Dr. Eastman's name would indeed 

 have appeared as co-author of the present work had he himself not 

 modestly declined this "responsibility." 



Hence there must be laid to my own scoic any omissions or defects 

 which may be discovered in the following pages, especially since I have 

 followed the steps in the work with great interest, corrected the galley 

 proof and revised the material for the index. But when slips are 

 pointed out I will not hesitate to console myself with the reflection 

 that no bibhography is perfect even for the most special subject. 

 Stevenson knew his theme when he wrote "if you are troubled with a 

 pride of accuracy and would have it completely taken out of you, 



