PREFACE. 
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i 
In preparing this work, I have tried to make it, as 
nearly as I could, what it professes to be, viz. a Hand- 
book. In fact, when commencing on it, I intended it 
as much for my own use as for that of others, to save 
perpetual references to and comparisons among various 
books and publications. When I first took up the 
study of Ichthyology I found, and still find, that the 
great difficulty is to know where to look for any par- 
ticular information one requires : and I have therefore 
attempted to bring together, in a compact form, such 
items as I have found practically to be most frequently 
wanted. It may be some time before a complete work 
on the Indian Fishes, with full descriptions of their 
peculiarities and habits, and copiously illustrated, can 
appear ; in the meantime I trust that this little work 
may supply a want, and perhaps assist in creating an in- 
terest in a subject that has at present but few students. 
My hope therefore is that this compilation (for it 
does not profess to be anything more than a compila- 
tion) may prove useful to my fellow-workers in this 
