Vlil 
PREFACE. 
em fishes, and it was found a much more difficult matter than 
was at first imagined ; yet the necessity of the case seemed 
to invite a continuation of the task. With the object in 
view of a small pocket edition, of 150 pages, the work was 
commenced and prosecuted under many difficulties ; but it 
was found that the field was vast and almost unlimited ; that 
compared with England, a work to embrace all the varieties 
of the subject in the United States, would require the labor 
of many years, and almost countless pages. The work there- 
fore has been restricted to the description of fishes most gen- 
erally angled for in the United States. The writer has endea- 
vored to give in plain language, and as far as could be ascer- 
tained, the modes adopted by the anglers and experienced 
authors of both hemispheres, leaving the amateur, in many 
cases, a selection of all, according to his own views, as occa- 
sion may require. 
To the friends who have assisted him, and to the authors 
consulted, he considers himself under many obligations for 
the favors bestowed and the benefits derived. To those into 
whose hands the work may fall, he submits it as an humblo 
attempt to impart practical information on an interesting 
subject. 
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