PREFACE.

A PREFACE has been so long the customary method of an author introducing himself to his readers, that it has become almost a breach of good manners to obtrude on the public notice without it. Cap in hand, then, his first prefatory remark is, that the Piscatory collection which follows, was commenced by him very many years ago, solely for his own amusement, and was so continued, until it became of such magnitude as to awaken a thought that these high-way and by-way gatherings might also prove not altogether unacceptable to the public in general, but more particularly to the gentle brothers of the craft. From boyhood to his present decline in the vale of years, the author has been a practical Angler, as well as a diligent collector of whatever fell in his way that was in any degree connected with his favourite amusement. As a bookseller and publisher, of some little notoriety, it may be supposed that his opportunities of piscatory gleaning have been both numerous and varied; and if he cannot

boast of offering much that is original, he may at least claim something on the score of industry, in letting nothing escape unnoticed that came before him. The practice of Angling has been so often and so well described, that while he cannot altogether pass over his favourite pursuit, without some glancings at the best methods of fishing with rod and line; the most judicious choice of times and seasons; and the most favourable selection of stations for the purpose, as they have presented themselves in his own practice; he, nevertheless, principally builds his hope of interesting the reader by his anecdotical and bibliographical notices.

In this age of improvement, even our sports are wont to be offered to us with a philosophic halo around them. Walton long ago made Angling a medium for inculcating the most fervent piety and the purest morality. Nor can the finny tribes themselves fail to excite in our minds surprise and admiration, whether we consider the singularities of their construction, the diversities of their forms, or their vast importance to man. On these interesting subjects, the author has confined himself to a few cursory remarks in his introductory chapter, and to the small

gleanings from the labours of Cuvier and Roget, which commence his Piscatorial reminiscences. Fearful of wading beyond his depth, he has principally directed his attention to such anecdotes, and facts, as he trusts will prove acceptable to the public in general, and to Anglers in particular.

The subjects of the work will be offered under the following divisions:-1st. Descriptive Anecdotes of British Fishes and Fishing. 2nd. Descriptive Anecdotes of Foreign Fishes and Fishing. 3rd. The Naturalization of Sea Fish to Fresh Water. 4th. A Continuation of Anecdotes connected with Fish and Fishing. 5th. The Bibliography of Angling, which portion the author hopes will be found the most complete of any previous catalogue of British works on Angling.

The Editor gladly avails himself of this opportunity of returning his best thanks to Sir Henry Ellis, for the handsome manner which he has allowed him the free use of his printed and manuscript catalogue of Books on Angling, which gives considerable interest to the volume.

T. B.

INTRODUCTION.

As the aqueous surface of the globe is supposed to exceed the terrestrial by one third, it is evident that the inhabitants of the seas and rivers must form a very distinguished feature in Zoology. In the vast world of waters the animal kingdom presents the extremes of bulk and minuteness; from the myriads of minute beings, which would be invisible to us without the assistance of the microscope, up to those stupendous masses, whales and cachalots. Until natural history attained some precision, the term "fish," however, was often misapplied, and was used to include all aquatic animals whatever; thus cetaceous, molluscous, and crustaceous animals were most erroneously admitted into the class of Fishes.

Fortunately for the necessary precision of zoological classification, fish are now readily separated from other vertebrated animals, by their capability of absorbing atmospherical