Contents: Preface. 1. Introductory. 2. Form and locomotion. 3. Respiration. 4. Fins. 5. Skin, scales, and spines. 6. Mouths and Jaws. 7. Teeth and food. 8. Venom, electricity, light, and sound. 9. Internal organs. 10. Nervous system, senses, and sense organs. 11. Coloration. 12. Conditions of life. 13. Distribution and migrations. 14. Breeding. 15. Pairing, courtship, and parental care. 16. Development. 17. Fossils and pedigrees. 18. Classification. 19. Fishes and mankind. 20. Fishes and mankind (contd.). 21. Myths and legends, etc. Index.

"Mr. Norman was, until his death in 1944, Assistant Keeper of the Department of Zoology of the British Museum, and was in charge of the fish collections in the National History Galleries. Since the publication of Gunther's "Introduction to the study of Fishes" in 1880, no satisfactory work has appeared in this country dealing with fish alone, which is intelligible to those who are without the zoological training necessary for the understanding of the more technical books on the subject.

In the present work, every side of fish life is dealt with, special stress being laid throughout on the evolutionary aspect and the importance of the environment in molding the bodies of fishes. Chapters are devoted to form, locomotion, respiration, fins, scales, breeding, parental care, development, distribution, fossils, food and so on. Nor has the relation of fishes to the life of mankind been neglected, and chapters dealing with fisheries, fishing methods, fishery research and even fish mythology are included. Finally, an extensive index should make the book valuable for purposes of reference." (jacket)