60 



CLASSIFICATION OF FISHES. 



importance on the general subject had appeared. We 

 here except the compilation of Gmelin, which, however 

 useful it might have been in regard to species, cannot be 

 said to have permanently advanced the science. But no 

 sooner had the great reformations effected by Lacepede 

 become generally diffused, by reprints and translations, 

 than ichthyology received a new impetus ; whether this, 

 however, was the true cause, or whether, about this time, 

 zoology in general began to be more studied, certain it is 

 that it advanced more rapidly. The clear and compen- 

 dious tables of M. Dumeril*, which incorporated the 

 new divisions of Lacepede, placed all the modern im- 

 provements of artificial classification in the hands of 

 students j and although the naturalists of Britain still 

 adhered to the Linnaean system, that of Lacepede was 

 generally adopted on the Continent. A most valuable 

 addition to our knowledge of the fishes of India was 

 made in 1803 by Dr. Russell ; the descriptions are excel- 

 lent, and the figures, although in outline, and executed by 

 Indian artists, sufficiently good for scientific purposes. 



(5$.) The year 1810 was remarkable in the annals 

 of our science for the appearance of two important works 

 on the ichtbyology of the Mediterranean : one was by 

 M. Rafinesque Schmaltz, subsequently professor of natural 

 history in Lexington, U. S. ; the other, relative chiefly 

 to the fishes of Nice, was from the pen of M. Risso. 

 The first of these is of much importance; and, from 

 particular circumstances, will claim more of our attention 

 than would at first appear necessary. M. Rafinesque's 

 Sicilian works are now become so very scarce (the greater 

 part of the unsold copies having been lost at sea), that 

 few naturalists will have the power of consulting them. 

 His chief ichthyological work is a synopsis of " New 

 Genera and Species of Animals and Plants " found by 

 the author in Sicily; and this was followed by a pamphlet, 

 entitled " Indice d'lttiologia Siciliana." The details of 

 the new views of M. Rafinesque, in regard to classifica- 



* Dumeril, Zoologis Analytique, 1 vol. 8vo. Paris, 180& 



