426 PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



occurring in the Indian Ocean. The identity of the two has been 

 assumed by Dr. Glinther,* but since no American specimens have ever 

 been seen by this authority, I hesitate for the jiresent to follow his lead. 



This history of the Sail-tish in ichthyological literature is as follows : 



The first allusion to the genus occurs in Piso's " Historia Xaturalis 

 Brazilise", printed at Amsterdam, in 1648. In this bookt may be found 

 an identifiable though rough figure of the American species, accom- 

 panied by a feAv lines of description, which, though good, when the 

 fact that they were written in the seventeenth century is brought to 

 mind, are of no value for critical comparison. 



The name given to the Brazilian Sail-fish by Marcgrave, the talented 

 young German who described the fishes in the book referred to, and 

 who afterwards sacrificed his life in exploring the unknown fields of 

 American zoology, was Guebucu hrasiliensibus. The use of the name 

 Guehucu is interesting, since it gives a clue to the derivation of the 

 name ''Boohoo," by which this fish, and probably the Spear-fishes, are 

 known to English-speaking sailors in the tropical Atlantic. 



Sail-fishes were observed in the East Indies by Kenard and Valentijn, 

 explorers of that region from 1G80 to 1720, and by other eastern voy- 

 agers. No species of the genus was, however, systematically described 

 until 1780, when a stuft'ed specimen from the Indian Ocean, eight feet 

 long, was taken to London, where it still remains in the collections of 

 the British Museum. From this specimen M. Broussonet prepared a 

 description, giving it the name Scotnber gladius, rightly regarding it as 

 a species allied to mackerel. 



In 1803 Lacepede established the genus Histiophorus for the recep- 

 tion of this species. 



When Ouvier and Valenciennes published the eighth volume of their 

 Natural History of Fishes they ignored the name gladius, which had 

 been given to the East Indian fish by Broussonet, redescribing it under 



* Catalogue of the fishes in the British Museum, ii, 1860, p. 513. 



1 1648, Piso aud Marcgrave. 



Historia Naturalis | Brazilite, | Auspicio et Beneficio | Ulustrisa | Maurittii Com. 

 Nassau | illius Provincite et Maris sumrai Prsefecti Adornata: | In qua | Non tantum 

 Plantse et Auimalia, sed et In- | digenarum morbi, ingenia et mores describuntur et | 

 Iconibus qungentus illustrautur | (Elaborate engraved title-jiage, upou which the 

 preceding inscription is inserted upon a scroll, the following upon a shell:) Lvgyn 

 Batauorum, | A^jud Franciscum Hackium | et | Amstelodami, | Apud Lud. Elzevirium 

 1648 I pp. (12) 122 (2) (8) 293 (7). 



SECOND TITLE. 



Guilielmi Pisonis, M. D. | Lugduno-Batavi, | de Medicina Braziliensi | Libri Qua- 

 tuor : I I De Aere, Aquis & Locis | II De Morbis Endemiis. | III De Venenatis & Anti- 

 dotis. I IV De facultatibus Simplicium | et Georgi Marcgravi de Liebstad | Misnici 

 Germani, | HistoriiB Rerum Naturaliura | Braziliaj, j Libri octa: | Quorum | Tres 

 puores agunt de plautis | Quartus de Piscibus. | Quintus de Avibus. | Sextus de Qua- 

 drupedibus &. Serpentibus | Septimus de Insectis. | Octavus de Ipsa Regione, & Illius 

 Incolis. I Cum | Appendice de Tapuyis, et Chilensibus | loannes de Lset, | Antwerp- 

 ianus, | In ordinem digessit & Annotationea addidit, & varies ah Auctore j Omissa 

 supplevit & illustravit. * 



