10 THE MAMMALS, REPTILES, AND FISHES OF ESSEX.
records in local papers, and these without any exacti-
tude of detail, can by no means claim to be final.
It might have been expected that, in at least one of
our numerous fishing villages, there would have been
found some educated and intelligent observer who
would interest himself in the study of how his fishing
neighbours subsisted, on what their marketable fish
fed, and what species were brought in their nets to the
surface. Unfortunately, however, this branch of
Natural History appears to have been entirely
neglected in this district, and those who have culti-
vated scientific tastes have apparently confined them to
the more generally interesting studies of Ornithology,
Entomology, and especially Lepidoptera.
It may be that the great difficulties in preservation
and the impossibility of retaining the splendid piscal
colouring have contributed to this result. Anyhow,
whatever the cause, the fact remains that there are few
Essex records, and no later lists to refer to than that
in Dale's History of Harwich and Dovercourt (1732) and
those of later writers who have copied from him. Con-
sidering the class from which our professional sea-fisher-
men are drawn, it is hardly to be expected that any
records by them would find their way into print. From
my knowledge of them, I should say they pay little
attention to the produce drawn from their nets, except
the marketable kinds. Even of these, no attempt