INTRODUCTION. Xlll 



As this arrangement* is very different from the quinary one advocated by 

 Mc Leay, the nomenclature of that gentleman and his followers, which is adopted 

 in the second volume of this Fauna, is inapplicable here, and Cuvier's names are 

 therefore given to the various groups, except in a few instances, where the French 

 term used by him did not readily admit of a direct Latin translation, as in the case 

 of " Poissons Plats" for which Platessoidece is substituted. 



I gladly avail myself of this introductory chapter to notice the kindness of 

 various gentlemen by whom I have been assisted in the progress of the work. In 

 the first place, I have to express my gratitude to the Right Honourable Lord 

 Glenelg, Secretary of State, for his recommendation of an additional grant in aid 

 of the publication, and to William Hay, Esq., Under Secretary for Colonial Affairs, 

 for his efficient support of my application, and invariable personal kindness when- 

 ever I have had occasion to address him. I have likewise to express my obliga- 

 tions in an especial manner to Captain Pelly, Governor of the Hudson's Bay 

 Company, and Nicolas Garry, Esq., Deputy Governor, for the liberality with which 

 they have always promoted my endeavours to illustrate the zoology of the fur- 

 countries ; also to James Keith, Esq., of La Chine, and to the other gentlemen 

 already named, to whom I am indebted for specimens of American fish. My thanks 

 are also due to the following gentlemen, who procured for me, in most instances 

 with considerable difficulty and trouble, specimens of European fish for the pur- 

 pose of comparison, viz. : Dr. Graham, F.R.S.E., Professor of Botany, Edinburgh ; 

 Mr. Scobie, of Kioldale, Sutherlandshire ; Mr. John Burnet of Dumfries ; P. J. 

 Selby, Esq., F.R.S.E.,of Twissel House ; G. A. W. Arnott, Esq., F.R.S.E.; Cap- 

 tain Barou, Royal Engineers ; John Lloyd Wynne, Esq., of Coed-Coch, Denbigh- 

 shire ; the Rev. T. W. Booth, Vicar of Friskney, Lincolnshire, and W. Yarrell, Esq., 



* Professor Agassiz, of Neufchatel, has recently given to the world an entirely new arrangement of fish, founded 

 chiefly on the form and structure of the scales, upon which he establishes four orders : — 1. Ctenoidians, which are the 

 Acanthopterijgii of Cuvier and Artedi, with the exception of those which have smooth scales, and with the addition of the 

 Flat-fish, or Platessoidew, removed from the Malacopterygii. 2. Cyci.oidians, which are principally Malacopterygii, but 

 take in also the smooth-scaled fishes excluded from the Acanthopienjqii. 3. Ganoidians, comprising the Lophobranchii, 

 Pi'ectognathii, and Sturionidece, together with a great number of extinct genera. 4. PlacoYdians, which are the Selaclui 

 and CycloUomata of Cuvier. 



