Essential Fish Biology provides an introductory overview of the functional biology of fish and how this may be affected by the widely contrasting habitat conditions within the aquatic environment. It describes the recent advances in comparative animal physiology which have greatly influenced our understanding of fish function as well as generating questions that have yet to be resolved. Fish taxa represent the largest number of vertebrates, with over 25,000 extant species. However, much of our knowledge, apart from taxonomy and habitat descriptions, has been based on relatively few of them , usually those which live in fresh water and/or are of commercial interest. Unfortunately there has also been a tendency to base our interpretation of fish physiology on that of mammalian systems, as well as to rely on a few type species of fish. This accessible textbook will redress the balance by using examples of fish from a wide range of species and habitats, emphasizing diversity as well as recognizing shared attributes with other vertebrates.

Essential Fish Biology provides an introductory overview of the functional biology of fish and how this may be affected by the widely contrasting habitat conditions within the aquatic environment. It describes the recent advances in comparative animal physiology which have greatly influenced our understanding of fish function as well as generating questions that have yet to be resolved. Fish taxa represent the largest number of vertebrates, with over 25,000 extant species. However, much of our knowledge, apart from taxonomy and habitat descriptions, has been based on relatively few of them , usually those which live in fresh water and/or are of commercial interest. Unfortunately there has also been a tendency to base our interpretation of fish physiology on that of mammalian systems, as well as to rely on a few type species of fish. This accessible textbook will redress the balance by using examples of fish from a wide range of species and habitats, emphasizing diversity as well as recognizing shared attributes with other vertebrates.

THE WORLDS GREAT LIBRARIES Surveyed by ARUNDELL ESDAILE ef.. The British Museum II. FAMOUS LIBRARIES OF THE WORLD Their History, Collections and Administrations By MARGARET BURTON, M. A., F. L. A. Under the Direction of and with an Introduction by ARUNDELL ESDAILE, M. A., F. S. A., F. L. A. LONDON GRAFTON GO. 51 GREAT RUSSELL STREET 1937 MADI 1J CKIAT BtlTAIX MIWTID BY THt LOWOON AHD HOUWtCK Pftt, LJM1UI IT OILI4 WOK XORW1CH PREFACE THIS book was originally planned by Mr. Esdaile as a sequel to his former volume, The National Libraries of the World. Ill health, however, compelled him to abandon the under taking when much of the available data was already in his possession, and to me he entrusted the preparation of the second volume on the Famous Libraries of the World. Hence I owe a debt of gratitude to all those librarians who allowed me to use the information communicated in the first instance to Mr. Esdaile as the onlie begetter of the work. The chief sources used in its compilation are indicated in the lists of authorities following each chapter. In many cases these have been supplemented by recent and personal information from the librarians concerned. My thanks are specially due to the Chief Librarians of the McGill University Library, the Turnbull Library, the Mitchell Library, the Gennadius Library and the New York Public Library, who themselves wrote the articles here adapted and con densed to come within the scope of this work. To Monsignor Tisserant, till recently Pro-Prefetto of the Vatican Library, I am indebted for the great assistance afforded me by his article on the Vatican, and I owe like gratitude to Mr. S. G. West, till recently Professor of English at CoimbraUniversity, for sending me the account of the University Library, authorised and approved by the Director, Dr. J. da ProvidSncia e Costa. I have also to thank the librarians of the following Libraries for their kindness in supplying illustrations Trinity College Library, Dublin, McGill University Library, vi PREFACE the Mitchell Library, Bibliotheque Nationale et Universi taire, Strasbourg where the Director had photographs taken specially for the purpose, the Bavarian State Library, Gottingen University Library, the Wolfenbiittel Library, the Gennadeion, the Casanatense, the Jagiellonska, Coimbra University Library, Uppsala University Library, Army Medical Library, Boston Public Library, Harvard, Henry E. Huntington also M. Norbert Dufourcq of la maison Larousse, who kindly lent for reproduction the photos of Ste-Genevifeve, and the Library Association for their courtesy in lending blocks. The wealth of material available for the study of historic libraries is great, and my chief regret is that within the compass of a single volume I have had to omit much that I should like to have included. Students of the History of Libraries will, however, find here brought together informa tion scattered in numerous volumes and many tongues. If in their journeyings among foreign libraries this book should serve as a vade mecum for scholars, it will have served its purpose. MARGARET BURTON. LONDON, April, 1937, CONTENTS I. BRITISH EMPIRE ENGLAND Bodleian Library, Oxford ... 3 Cambridge University Library . . 33 John Rylands Library, Manchester . 50 IRISH FREE STATE Trinity College Library, Dublin 60 CANADA McGill University Library ... 72 AUSTRALIA The Mitchell Library, Sydney . . 76 NEW ZEALAND TheAlexander Turnbull Library, Wellington 81 II. FRANCE BibHothque de 1 Arsenal, Paris .... 89 Bibliotheque du Mus6um National dHistoire Naturelle, Paris 102 Bibliotheque de Tlnstitut National de France, Paris 109 Bibliotheque de Saint e-Genevieve, Paris . .113 Bibliotheque de la ville de Lyon . . .130 La Bibliotheque et Mus6e de la Guerre Office de documentation internationale contemporaine, Paris, 142 Bibliothdque Nationale et Universitaire, Strasbourg 147 III. GERMANY Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Munich . . . 165 Universitatsbibliothek, Gdttingen . . ...