SCIENTIFIC HISTORY OF THE BLACK BASS. 51 



Now, the writer proposes to show that this is the actual 

 state of the case, and that Lacepede really described and 

 named 3Ilcropterus dolomieu, from tlie s})ecimen which is 

 still preserved in the Museum D'Histoire Naturelle at 

 Paris (and which Professor Jordan examined and declared 

 to be a small-mouthed Black Bass), before he described and 

 named Labrus salmoides from M. Bosc's drawing and de- 

 scription of the Carolina " Trout." ^ 



After reading Professor Jordan's paper, so often referred 

 to here, and from my personal knowledge of the Carolina 

 Black Bass or " Trout," I became convinced, in my own 

 mind, that the name Micropterus dolomieu should be re- 

 stored to the small-mouthed Bass, and that the name Labrus 

 salmoides should be restricted to the large-mouthed Bass ; 

 and entertaining these heretical views, I scanned closely 

 the literature relating to the early history of the species. 



In collating the bibliography of the Black Bass for the 

 present work, I discovered an apparent discrepancy, which, 

 if it really existed, had an important and significant bear- 

 ing on the proper nomenclature of the species. I noticed 

 that most American authors, in referring to Lacepede's de- 

 scription of Labrus salmoides, gave the reference as " La- 

 cepede, Hist. Nat. des Poiss. Vol. Ill, p. TIG, 1800?", 

 and that of Micropterus dolomieu as " Lacepede, Hist. Nat. 

 des Poiss. Vol. IV, p. 325, 1800?"; thus, of course, giving 

 the priority to Labrus salmoides, as we have always un- 

 derstood and accepted it. 



On the other hand, I noticed that Cuvier and Valen- 

 ciennes* gave the reference to LjCibrus salmoides in La- 

 cepede's work as " Vol. IV. p. 716, 717," and that of 



® Cuv. & Val. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. Vol. Ill, p. 55, 1829, and Vol. V, 

 p. V, 1830. 



