SCIENTIFIC HISTORY OF THE BLACK BASS. 45 



Omitting papers of les.ser importance, we come finally to the very- 

 able discussion of these questions by Professor Gill (Proc. Am. Ass. 

 Adv. !Sei., 1873, p. 55-72), in wliich the wliole subject is exhaustively 

 treated, and the name Micropterus sabnoides is definitely adopted ibr 

 the small-mouthed Black Bass. This arrangement has been followed 

 by most recent ichthyologists. In an important paper just now pass- 

 ing tljrougli the press (Mission Scientifique au Mexique), however, 

 Messrs. Vaillant and Bocourt have adopted the name Micropterus sal- 

 moides for the large-mouthed species, for the reasons indicated above. 



This question resolves itself into two. Is the specific name sal- 

 mokles available for either species? and if so, for which? 



Between the publication of the works of Lncepede and Cuvier 

 both species had been more than once described under different 

 names by Rafinesque and Le Sueur. Of these names, Lepom'ts pal- 

 lida Raf. for the large-mouthed Black Bass, M'/iroi^terus dolomieu Lac. 

 for the southern, and Bodtaims acJrifjan Raf. for the northern variety 

 of the small-mouth have priority over the gthers. All these, there- 

 fore, antedate any precise definition of the name sahnoides. 



The question as to whether a specific name, at first loosely applied 

 and afterwards precisely fixed, shall claim priority from its first use 

 or not, has been differently answered by different writers, and has 

 perhaps never- been settled by general usage. I suppose that the 

 amount of doubt or confusion arising from its use or rejection enters 

 with most writers as an element. The name sulmoides, left unsettled 

 by Lacejidde, has been generally received by writers, in consequence 

 of the supposed precision given to it by Cuvier. We have seen, 

 however, that both species were included by Cuvier under one name, 

 and that we must look farther for real restriction of the species. 

 The first distinct use of the name sabnoides for any particular species 

 is by Hoi brook, for the large-mouthed form. (J>n the basis of the 

 first unquestionable restriction, the name, if used at all, must be 

 applied to that species. Forty years previous to this restriction, 

 however, the specific name pallid us was conferred on the same fish 

 by Rafinesque. 



In the writings of nearly all the older naturalists, as well as in 

 many of the later ones, we find descriptions of species which are 

 really generic in their value, and which, as our knowledge of species 

 becomes greater, can not be disposed of with certainty or even with 



