41 
and Thomas Cliristy, who have sent me specimens from the 
Edwards Eiver, Eiverina. Several of the leading fishmongers 
have kindly assisted me ; hut even their influence has been of 
little avail with the fishermen. 
At the Cape of Grood Hope, fish forms the principal article of the 
food of the population, and the poorer classes live almost entirely 
on it, its price being lower than in almost all other civilised 
countries. In Australia, on the contrary, its very high price 
makes it an object of luxury, almost entirely reserved for the 
tables of the wealthy. Till this day very little has been done to 
provide Melbourne with an efficient supply of this useful com- 
modity, and high prices making the demand very limited, the 
fishermen have little inducement to send large quantities to the 
market. It would be much to be desired that the Grovernment 
of the Colony should make some attempts towards giving to the 
working-classes a sufficient supply of this wholesome article of 
food. 
It was the intention of the Acclimatisation Society to publish 
with this paper illustrations representing the difierent sorts of 
fishes observed, till this day, in Victoria, and mentioned in this 
paper ; but great difficulties have been encountered, and it has 
been resolved to postpone to a more favourable opportunity the 
execution of this project. It is to be hopied that these plates will 
be published in the next Annual Eeport, at the same time as a 
supplement containing notices of all the new sorts that will most 
likely be obtained in the course of the year. 
I think it useful to give here the characters of all the families 
of fishes found up till this day in Australia. These are extracted 
from Dr. Grunther’s work. I thought it better to compile this 
part than to attempt to convey the same ideas in dilfereut words, 
which could never have been done in such a concise and correct 
way. In doing so, I follow the example of the learned zoologist, 
Mr. Gerard Krefl’t. (“ Industrial Progress of New South Wales, 
1871 .”) 
