174 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 



tician, a writer of books of travel, sculptor, editor, and orator. He 

 kept a whole set of the Encyclopaedia Britannica on his office table and 

 ncarl}' every page was said to have a bookmark in it. He was a suc- 

 cessful modeler in cla\'. Although a busy and active man, his practice 

 was never a large one, but he nevertheless acquired considerable prop- 

 erty" — testifying to another important talent! 



Smith was a voluminous author and, besides numerous contributions 

 to the periodicals he edited, published nearly a dozen independent vol- 

 umes on various subjects. The only one of interest in the present con- 

 nection is his "Natural Histor^^ of the Fishes of Massachusetts," issued 

 first in 1838, and again, as a "second edition," in 1843.^' It may be 

 added, however, that he supplied catalogues of the fishes of the state 

 to E. Hitchcock, the state geologist of Massachusetts, which mani- 

 fested no increase of knowledge of ichthyology. ^ The second edition 

 of the "Natural History"" is a mere reissue, apparently, of the unsold 

 remainder of the original with a new title-page and publisher's name. 

 Even the original list of "errata" is retained without any additions. 

 Now let us examine the work and we will find out what a strange pro- 

 duction it was. 



n The only variations between the two editions are tlie title pages, viz: 



(1) Natural History of tho Fishes of Massachusetts, embracing a practical essay on angling. By 

 Jerome V. C. Smith, M. D. [Fig. of Traun Fall.] Boston: Allen and Ticknor. 1833. [12mo, vii + 

 399 (+1) pp.] 



(2) The same. With fifty-four Avood engravings. By Jerome V. C. Smith, M. D. [Fig. of Men- 

 haden.] Second Edition. Boston: William D. Ticknor. MDCCCXLIII. [12mo, vii +399 (-f- 1) pp.] 



The character of the work was exposed in "Remarks on the Natural History oE the Fishes of Massa- 

 chusetts. * * * Read before the Boston Society of Natural History, March 20, 1839. By D. Hum- 

 phreys Storcr, M. D." < American Journal of Science and Arts (Silliman's), Vol. XXXVI, July, 18;i9, 

 pp. 337-349. According to Doctor Storer (p. 318), the work of his compatriot contains "notices of 105 

 species, of which 80 are foreigners and but 2.5 are found iu the waters of our State. Of these 105 spe- 

 cies, 3«) are illustrated by figures; of these 36 illustrations, but 9 accompany species whi('h arc found 

 on our coa.st; of these 9 figures, G are copied from Strack's Plates and 3 from Mitchill's Fishes of New 

 York; of the 36 illustratious [small wood-cut figures] contained in this history, not one is drawn 

 from nature." The unacknowledged figure of a cataract on the title-page of the first edition appears 

 to be a very poor and much modified reproduction of a cut of "Traun Fall," from Sir Humphrey 

 Davy's Salmoiiia (4th ed., p. 222), combined with a figure of the " Salino hucfio" (p. 231). 



b The other contributions of Smith to the ichthyology of Massachusetts are mere lists of names, viz: 



(1) A Catalogue of the Marine Fishes taken on the Atlantic Coast of Massachusetts. * * * [Also, 

 Fishes found in the Rivers, Mountain Streams, and Ponds of Massachusetts.] < Report on tlie 

 geology, mineralogy, botany, and zoology of Massachusetts. By Edward Hitchcock. Boston, 1833, 

 pp. 553-554. 



A list of 52 nominal species of marine and 17 of fresh-water fishes. 



(2) [Revised Catalogue of the Fishes of Massachusetts.] < Op. cit., 1833, pp. 597-598. 



A list of 102 nominal species, 83 of which (including the Bodiani = Morone) are salt or brackish 

 water, and 19 fresh-water. 



(3) A Catalogue of the Marine and Fresh- Water Fishes of Massachusetts. < Op. cit., second edition. 

 Boston, 1835, pp. 534-538. 



A list of the same character as the preceding, enumerating 106 nominal species (and 2 varieties), of 

 which 89 are salt or brackish water and 17 fresh-water. Reproduced (pp. 1.5-18) in the Catalogues of 

 the Animals and Plants of Massachusetts (edited by Edward Hitchcock), Amherst, 1835, reprinted 

 (same type) from the sccoud edition of the above-cited work. 



The catalogue is a repetition of the names (without descriptions or remarks) of the author's Natural 

 History of the Fishes of Massachusetts. 



This compilation was also criticised (by Dr. D. H. Storer) in 1837 in "An Examination of the Cata- 

 logue of the Marine and Fresh-Water Fishes of Massachu.setts, by J. V. C. Smith, M. D.," contained 

 in Professor Hitchcock's Report on the Geology, Mineralogy, etc., of Massachusetts, by D. Humphreys 

 Storer, M. D. < Boston Journal of Natural History, Vol. I, pp. 347-365, PI. viii. (May, 1836.) 



