124 Bass, Pike, and Percb 



men from Lake Erie, and it is upon this evidence, 

 principally, that this name has been adopted as 

 the specific title of the mascalonge. 



But afterward Dr. Kirtland used Thompson's 

 name nobilis (meaning nobi/ior) and Le Sueur's 

 name esfor for the mascalonge. He also subse- 

 quently described the mascalonge from Lake Erie 

 as atromaculatus, and one from the Mahoning 

 River, Ohio, as ohiensis. From this it would ap- 

 pear that Dr. Kirtland, although a good naturalist 

 in his day, was not at all clear in his estimation of 

 the mascalonge. 



There has been considerable controversy con- 

 cerning the common or vernacular name of the 

 mascalonge. Some claim it is from the French, 

 and derived from the words " masque " and " al- 

 longe," which virtually mean "long face," and 

 which is certainly nearer to the common pronun- 

 ciation of mascalonge or muscalunge. Others 

 claim it is an Indian name from the Ojibwa lan- 

 guage, as " mash," meaning " strong," and " kinoje," 

 meaning "pike." "Mash" is also said to mean 

 " spotted " and " deformed." From mash and 

 kinoje come " maskinonge," as it appears in the 

 statutes of Canada. The name has been spelled 

 in numerous ways, as evidenced in the Century 



