124 BOOK OF THE BLACK BASS. 



"The head is dusky above, and silveiy though shghtly 

 clouded on the sides, with a bluish green blotch at the opercle ; 

 the body is also dusky above, or of a bronzed colour with a 

 greenish tint; the belly is silvery, and along the flanks runs a 

 duskv band more or less evident according to the age of the 

 animal ; it is remarkable in the young. The dorsal fin is trans- 

 parent, with only here and there dusky shades ; the membrane 

 of the pectoral is transparent, but the rays have a yellowish tint; 

 the ventral is yellowish, and the anal is slightly tinted with the 

 same color ; the caudal is dusky, with a very obscure yellowish 

 shade. 



"The entire length from the opercle to the tip of the tail is 

 equal to two heads and a half; the greatest elevation is seven 

 eights of a head ; total length 14 inches ; specimens have been 

 observed nearly 2 feet in length. 



"The peritoneum is silvery. The liver is large, and of a very 

 pale color ; it consists of a single rhomboidal mass, as there are 

 no marks of lobes ; it is placed mostly in the left side, and pro- 

 jects but slightly into the right. The gall bladder is large, 

 round, and is in great measure uncovered by the right margin of 

 the liver. The oesophagus is large and broad. The stomach is 

 large, and has thick, firm muscular walls, with deep folds of its 

 mucous membrane witliin ; the pyloric portion is short, thick, 

 stout, and departs at a right angle at its posterior third. The 

 intestine runs to the vent whence it is reflected to the pylorus, 

 and then it turns backwards to end in the rectum ; its walls are 

 remarkably thick and firm, and its mucous membrane is beauti- 

 fully reticulated, and presents numerous small areola? for two- 

 thirds of its length, and beyond this, longitudinal folds begin 

 which are continued into the rectum. There are 11 primitive 

 coecal appendages, which soon divide into 2 or 3 others, so that 

 as many as 28 may at times be counted. The spleen is rather 

 small, very pale, and is situated so fiir back that its anterior ex- 

 tremity scarcely reaches the stomach. The air-bladder is large, 



