VI 



PREFACE. 



them are beautifully and accurately executed ; but others 

 are miserable caricatures. The artist was young and 

 inexperienced, — and when he would have willingly 

 made a second drawing, the press could not be kept in 

 waiting. As a revised and enlarged edition> embracing 

 the natural history of all the fishes of the North, is con- 

 templated, the engravings in that will not only be more 

 numerous, but correctly delineated on copper. 



No pretensions are made to originality ; the object 

 has been to collect and preserve such facts as are already 

 known in this interesting department of local Natural 

 History. The remarks and observations of other writers 

 have been freely introduced, wherever they were perti- 

 nent to the subject under consideration. 



The collection of native fishes, from which the scien- 

 tific arrangement has been made, will probably be 

 deposited with the Boston Society of Natural History. 

 With a little exertion on the part of the members, it 

 might become a most valuable ichthyological cabinet. 



Those gentlemen who have so promptly and kindly 

 forwarded specimens from various sections of the State, 

 will please accept our sincere thanks. To David 

 Ecklet, Esq., of Boston, the author is particularly in- 

 debted. His exact knowledge of the habits and char- 

 acters of the aquatic tribes, and his truly philosophical 

 energy, demand the warmest gratitude. All that is 

 interesting to the practical angler, in the second part of 

 the volume, originated with that gentleman. 



The services of Capt. J. P. Couthout, in procuring 

 and preserving the marine fishes of this coast, during 

 a period of several years, with reference to a correct 

 classification, also place the writer under lasting obliga- 

 tions. 



