FOWLER'S "IIETKUOGXATOOrs F[SIIKS" WITH A 

 XOTK ()\ TWK STI-rilAlMMOXlXAF/ 



At (livers times and })la('es I have pointed out that tlie South 

 Ameriean lietero^niatlis, or characius, offer us an unparalleled 

 opportunity for a study of diverfjjent evohilion. 'Vhvy |)n)l)al>ly 



was small and its river systems comparatively iiisio-nificanr. Tlicy 

 have literally o-rown up with the country, keepino- pac(> with t!it^ 

 de^cl..])ment of it^ tun-ivaled fresh^^ate^ .yMem. Tn-^hv ihrvr 

 are ..^,M■ <.ne hmidre.l -enera and more then IInc hi.ndn.l >pf<-i... 



part the ovnera rej)reseiit steps alonu' (hllVrent dinM'ticns of a(hipta- 



will make mnneroiis mistak.^s in i.lentihcalion ; he will (-niphasi/.e 

 in his .l(^s(■riplions chara.iers of no importance, and will omit or 

 slur otlHMN that arc sionifi<.am. The pcncnta^c < f mistake, 

 made in identilicalion and die nnnd.er of imsatisfartoiy descrip- 

 tions vary with dillerent men. A lar-c penviit is fo/iml in the 

 ichthyolo-ical uritin-s of the late i'rofew.r Cope Hi. South 



lation for recent writers. It is a thankless task for any naturalist 

 to ^o over such work and yet this is what Dr. Henry W\ Fowler 

 has recently done for the characins." ].)r. Fowler has redescribed 



