BOOK NOTICES. 



A NEW POPULAR FISH BOOK. 



American Food and Game Fishes, by 

 David Jordan, Ph.D., President of Leland 

 Stanford Junior University, and Barton W. 

 Evermann, Ph.D., Ichthyologist of the 

 United States Fish Commission, is a popu- 

 lar account of all the species of fish found 

 in America North of the equator, with keys 

 for ready identification, life histories, and 

 methods of capture. This is a really great 

 book; and in it the art of making beautiful 

 books has reached highwater mark. A 

 more attractive book, or one which will 

 bring pleasure and delight to more classes 

 of people, has never come from the Amer- 

 ican press. It's purpose, as stated by the 

 authors, is "to furnish that which well in- 

 formed men and women, and those who de- 

 sire to become well informed, might wish 

 to know of the food and game fishes which 

 inhabit American waters." The book con- 

 tains 621 pages of text, 221 text cuts, 10 

 lithographed plates in colors, and 64 full 

 page photographs, from life, of 107 species 

 of important food and game fishes. The 

 colored plates are from the remarkable 

 paintings from life by the well known 

 artists, Captain Chas. B. Hudson and Mr. 

 A. H. Baldwin. These plates are mar- 

 velously beautiful and scientifically accu- 

 rate, and far surpass all previous efforts 

 in this line. That of the brook trout de- 

 serves special mention. 



In the text an equally high standard of 

 excellence has been attained. It describes 

 in language simple and easily understood 

 every species of fish used in America as 

 food or which possesses those qualities 

 called game. The families are taken up in 

 systematic order. Diagnoses are given of 

 all the families and genera containing 

 food or game fishes, and the number of 

 species described is about 1,000. There 

 are keys to all the families, genera, and 

 species, so simple and easily understood 

 that anyone who can read can, with speci- 

 men in hand, identify any American food 

 or game fish. To render the identification 

 of fishes even more easy, the authors have 

 given a full glossary of all the terms which 

 might by the novice be considered difficult 

 or technical. 



The feature which will prove of greatest 

 interest and value to anglers and all others 

 who are interested in 'nature is the natural 

 history side of the book. Full, accurate 

 and exceedingly entertaining accounts are 

 given of the habits or life histories of the 

 various species, their geographic distribu- 

 tion, the kinds of lakes and streams in 

 which found, their feeding and spawning 



habits, and the game qualities of each, to- 

 gether with their food and commercial 

 value. Commercial fishermen are given a 

 vast amount of information regarding the 

 food fishes of America, where the different 

 species are found, their abundance, habits, 

 the methods employed in their capture, and 

 their commercial value. This will prove 

 also of much value to teachers and the gen- 

 eral reader. 



Anglers are told what the game fishes of 

 America are, not only those of the lakes 

 and streams but of the ocean as well, 

 where to find them, and when and how to 

 catch them. The game and food qualities 

 of each are discussed and many fish stories 

 and bits of angling lore are given. 



Every member of the League of Amer- 

 ican Sportsmen will be pleased at the firm 

 stand the authors take in favor of fish 

 protection. Both are members of the 

 League. 



Dr. Jordan and Dr. Evermann, the auth- 

 ors of this popular book, are well known as 

 the most voluminous writers and the lead- 

 ing authorities on American fishes. They 

 are both naturalists of world-wide fame 

 and have been associated in ichthyological 

 investigations almost continuously since 

 1878. During their study of the geographic 

 distribution and habits of fishes they have 

 each traveled more than 200,000 miles. 

 They have each caught fish in Mexico, 

 Canada, British Columbia, Alaska, the 

 Hawaiian islands and in every State and 

 Territory in the Union. Dr. Jordan, in ad- 

 dition, has fished in Cuba, most parts of 

 Europe, and in Japan and Samoa; while 

 Dr. Evermann has "wet a line" in Porto 

 Rico, the Danish West Indies, the 

 Bahamas, and in far away Kamchatka. 

 While collecting fishes for study they have 

 waded more than a thousand miles in a 

 thousand streams and lakes; sometimes 

 when the temperature of the water was 

 above 100 degrees, and many a time when 

 it was down to freezing. Either one or 

 both have caught about every species of 

 food and game fish known to American 

 waters ; and they have eaten or tried to eat 

 them all. 



This book is published by Doubleday, 

 Page & Co., New York, at $4 net, a price 

 remarkably low when the size and artistic 

 character of the volume are considered. 



"The War in South Africa," by Dr. A. 

 Conan Doyle, is a wide departure from Dr. 

 Doyle's previous work. Its title is self- 

 explanatory, and its purpose is best set 



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