FOREWORD 
S INCE the earliest days of the white man’s settlement in North America, 
when the seemingly unlimited supply of food fish taken from the waters 
of the Grand Banks beckoned French fishermen-explorers to American 
shores and the courageous Pilgrims at isolated Plymouth planted fish as 
fertilizer with their seed to derive sufficient crops from Mother Earth to 
keep alive the struggling colony of home seekers, the products of the waters 
of the United States have become increasingly important to the growing 
Nation. 
These same fresh and salt water areas, in addition to being reservoirs 
of food, have offered unending recreation and healthy sport to people in 
every walk of life, young and old, because the thrill of search and contest 
between man and fighting fish, be it angled for with bent pin or giant hook 
of steel, has few equals. 
The Book of Fishes, it is hoped, will be of interest and value to fisherman 
and layman alike because it presents an authoritative life story of the 
most important of the fishes to be found in American waters which are 
so vital a factor in the Nation’s food supply. 
So rich are American coastal waters, rivers and bays in variety of fishes 
that to describe comprehensively every known species would necessitate 
a dozen encyclopedic volumes, too costly for general ownership. There¬ 
fore, out of the great treasure of ichthyological material gathered by 
the National Geographic Society, the chapters, photographic illustra¬ 
tions and color plates of this volume have been selected, and the most 
famous fishes of the diverse regions of the country are described and 
pictured. 
The paintings from life of ninety-two species of fishes, especially, offer 
means of easy identification of the fisherman’s catch. These, together 
with the amazing biographies and life histories, derived from extensive 
scientific and practical study, comprise a book which will prove, it is 
believed, a welcome addition to your natural history library. 
John Oliver La Gorge. 
Washington, D. C., 1924. 
