3 8o 



Black Bass Fishing. 



The sun was just topping the maples when the impatient team 

 went dashing through the road-gate. 



"The bass should rise well to-day," said the Professor. 

 " They are well through spawning, and if the water is right, 

 everything else is propitious," replied Ignatius. 



"Mighty perfishus for chan'l cats, too," put in Luke; "'sides 

 yaller bass an' green bass, an' black bass, too ; any kind o' bass." 



" Professor, how many kinds of black bass are there ? " inquired 

 Ignatius, as he lightly touched up the flank of the off horse. 



" There are but two species of black bass, and they are as 

 much alike as that span of horses ; but from the many different 

 names used to designate them in different parts of the country one 

 would be led to think there were many species." 



" Local fishermen say there are three kinds here, — black, yellow, 

 and green bass," asserted Ignatius. 



LARGE-MOUTHED BLACK BASS — MICROPTERUS SALMOIDES. (LACEPEDE.) [AFTER A DRAWING 

 FROM NATURE BY DR. E. R. COPELAND.] 



" There are but two well-defined species, the large-mouthed bass 

 and the small-mouthed bass," continued the Professor, settling him- 

 self for a lecture. " There has been more confusion and uncertainty 

 attending the scientific classification and nomenclature of the black 

 bass than usually falls to the lot of fishes, some dozen generic appel- 

 lations and nearly fifty specific titles having been bestowed upon the 

 two species by naturalists since their first scientific descriptions by 

 Count Lacepede in 1802. Nor has this polyonomous feature 

 been confined to their scientific terminology, for their vernacular 

 names have been as numerous and varied ; thus they are known 

 in different sections of our country as bass, perch, trout, chub, or 

 salmon, with or without various qualifying adjectives descriptive of 

 color or habits." 



dr 



