The Pike Family 125 



Dictionary, which gives the following variations : 

 maskalonge, mascalonge, maskalunge, maskal- 

 longe, masquallonge, masq'allonge, mascallonge, 

 muscalonge, muskalonge, muskalinge, muskel- 

 lunge, moskalonge, moscononge, maskinonge, 

 maskanonge, maskenonge, maskenozha, maski- 

 noje, and maskenonge, to which might be added 

 muscalinga, mascalinga, etc. There is no author- 

 ity or precedent for the name " muskellunge " as 

 used by some writers and anglers, as neither the 

 original French or Indian words have the letter 

 " u " in either the first or last syllable. Moreover, 

 the term " lunge " is in some sections applied to 

 the lake trout. I am aware, of course, that the 

 name has obtained considerable currency, but in 

 much the same way that the black-bass is called 

 " trout " in the South, and the pike-perch is de- 

 nominated "salmon" in certain localities. 



Rev. Zadoc Thompson, who was the first to call 

 attention to the scaling of the cheeks as a diagnos- 

 tic character, gives the vernacular name "masqual- 

 longe," and attributes it to French derivation, to 

 which opinion I am inclined. As the most prom- 

 inent writers on fish and fishing give it as " mas- 

 calonge," that name should be universally adopted, 

 no matter what its origin, or whether derived 



