PROSPECTUS. 
“The illustrated work now placed in the hands 
of the public is designed not only to supply scientific 
men with accurate and trustworthy figures of the 
piscine species of Scandinavia, and to throw greater 
light on this section of the Scandinavian fauna; it 
has a further object, no less important — to assist 
the general reader in recognizing the different species, 
and to render the study of them practicable to all 
who desire to join to the pleasure and profit of the 
fisherman the zoologist’s knowledge of the fishes and 
of their life and habits.” Such was the plan of Scan- 
dinavian Fishes, painted from living specimens 
and engraved on stone by W1LH. von WRIGHT, 
and described by B. FR. FRIES and C. U. EK- 
STROM, at the first appearance of this work in 1836. 
Three friends, all with the same object at heart, and 
each among the foremost in his department of know- 
ledge, had joined forces to render scientific ichthyology 
a popular study. The work was interrupted in 1839 
by the death of one of their number; but C. J. SUN- 
DEVALL stepped into the place left by Fries, the 
acute man of science again stood shoulder to shoulder 
with the practical zoologist, and the artist continued 
to wield his brush with unsurpassed skill, until his 
hand was enfeebled by sickness, and the work was 
abandoned in 1857. In its incomplete form, however, 
it gained a world-wide reputation. 
Every age has its characteristic peculiarities. 
All the efforts of modern natural science are bent on 
unravelling the problem of evolution. The claims on 
a zoological description at the present day are not 
what they were fifty-seven or even thirty-six years 
ago; but with comparatively slight alterations and 
additions the text of ‘Scandinavian Fishes’ will still 
rank as a pattern of excellence. As several paintings 
by v. Wright, hitherto unpublished, were besides 
preserved in the archives of the Royal Swedish Aca- 
demy of Science, the publishers determined upon 
issuing a new edition of the work, and with this aim 
consulted the present occupier of Sundevall’s post 
at the Royal Zoological Museum. With the type- 
specimens of the former descriptions at his disposal, 
and with the other rich collections of fishes possessed 
by the Museum to draw upon, Professor F. A. Smitt 
has endeavoured to revise the text so as to satisfy 
the requirements of modern science, and in accord- 
ance with the opinions which he has maintained in 
his previous zoological writings. According to the 
opinions pronounced in several quarters by competent 
judges his researches have elicited so much new 
and valuable information that the revised edition 
may with full justice be regarded as an entirely 
new work. The plates are composed principally of 
v. Wright’s paintings, reproduced in colours; but 
where coloured figures, drawn from living or perfectly 
fresh specimens, were to be found among the collec- 
tions of the Royal Museum, or where such figures 
could be procured from other sources, these are also 
given, printed in colours and executed with all the 
accuracy and finish attainable in this country, the 
lithography and printing being the work of the Litho- 
graphic Press of the Royal Swedish Ordnance Survey. 
Where such drawings could not be procured, or 
where the species in point is not of essential im- 
portance either in the Scandinavian fauna, or from an 
economic point of view, zincotypes, cast at the same 
establishment, are inserted in the text, from drawings, 
executed with all possible accuracy, of specimens 
preserved in spirits at the Royal Museum, or of 
examples borrowed from other collections. Most of 
these figures have been drawn by Carl Erdmann, 
an artist whose early loss to science and art must 
be greatly deplored. 
The piscine fauna of Scandinavia includes 224 
species. In the former edition of this work 64 species 
were figured; in the present edition reproductions are 
given of 223 species. Of one species it has proved 
impossible to obtain any figure, no example of the 
said fish being now to be found in any museum. The 
new edition besides contains representations of 5 
Cyprinoid hybrids and 9 Arctic species. The total 
number of coloured figures is 190, of zincotypes in 
the text 380. 
The situation of the Scandinavian Peninsula is 
such that nearly all the piscine species of Central 
and Northern Europe occur in its inland waters or 
off its coasts. As almost all these species find a 
place in the new edition, the work is consequently 
a handbook of importance for our part of the 
globe. 
o o 
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The work, containing 1239 pages of text and 55 plates, is published, in paper covers complete, at a 
price of 12 Guineas — 224 Mark — 280 Francs. 
Separate parts not supplied. 
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