The _Descriptions and Figures of Two Hundred Fishes collected at Vizagapatam on the Coast of Coromandel_ (Lond., 1803, 2 vols.) by Patrick Russel, and _An Account of the Fishes found in the River Ganges and its Branches_ (Edin., 1822, 2 vols.) by F. Hamilton (formerly Buchanan), were works distinguished by greater accuracy of the drawings (especially the latter) than was ever attained before. A _Natural History of British Fishes_ was published by E. Donovan (Lond., 1802-1808); and the Mediterranean fauna formed the study of the lifetime of A. Risso, _Ichthyologie de Nice_ (Paris, 1810); and _Histoire naturelle de l'Europe méridionale_ (Paris, 1827). A slight beginning in the description of the fishes of the United States was made by Samuel Latham Mitchell (1764-1831), who published, besides various papers, a _Memoir on the Ichthyology of New York_, in 1815. Cuvier. Valenciennes. G. Cuvier (1769-1832) devoted himself to the study of fishes with particular predilection. The investigation of their anatomy, and especially their skeleton, was continued until he had succeeded in completing so perfect a framework of the system of the whole class that his immediate successors required only to fill up those details for which their master had had no leisure. He ascertained the natural affinities of the infinite variety of forms, and accurately defined the divisions, orders, families and genera of the class, as they appear in the various editions of the _Règne Animal_. His industry equalled his genius; he formed connections with almost every accessible part of the globe; and for many years the museum of the Jardin des Plantes was the centre where all ichthyological treasures were deposited. Thus Cuvier brought together a collection which, as it contains all the materials on which his labours were based, must still be considered as the most important. Soon after the year 1820, Cuvier, assisted by one of his pupils, A. Valenciennes, commenced his great work on fishes, _Historie naturelle des Poissons_, of which the first volume appeared in 1828. After Cuvier's death in 1832 the work was left entirely in the hands of Valenciennes, whose energy and interest gradually slackened, rising to their former pitch in some parts only, as, for instance, in the treatise, on the herring. He left the work unfinished with the twenty-second volume (1848), which treats of the Salmonoids. Yet, incomplete as it is, it is indispensable to the student. The system finally adopted by Cuvier is the following:-- A. POISSONS OSSEUX. I. A BRANCHIES EN PEIGNES OU EN LAMES. 1. _A Mâchoire Supérieure Libre._ a. Acanthoptérygiens. Percoïdes. Sparoïdes. Branchies labyrinthiques. Polynèmes. Chétodonoïdes. Lophioïdes. Mulles. Scombéroïdes. Gobioïdes. Joues cuirassées. Muges. Labroïdes. Sciénoïdes. b. Malacoptérygiens.