SCIENTIFIC HISTOEY OF THE BLACK BASS. 13 



fin was a permanent and distinctive feature, and of generic 

 value ; he accordingly created the new genus Micropterus, 

 and named the type in honor of his friend Dolomieu. 



In 1817, Rafinesque,* another French naturalist, then 

 living in America, procured specimens of the small-mouthed 

 Bass in the region of Lake Champlain, which he named Bodi- 

 anus achigan, from the Canadian vulgar name of Vachigan. 

 He either failed to recognize, or repudiated, Lacepede's 

 former descriptions of Labrus salmoides and Micropterus 

 dolomieu. During the next few years, from 1818 to 1820, 

 while fishing in the Ohio River and its tributaries, in 

 Kentucky, Rafinesque took and described specimens of 

 the small-mouthed Black Bass, at different stages of its 

 growth, as Galliums punctulatus, Lepomis trifasciata, Lepo- 

 mis flexuolaris, Lepomis salmonea, Lepomis notata, and 

 Etheostoma calliura, and specimens of the large-mouthed 

 Bass he described as Lepomis pallida. 



In 1822, Le Sueur, also a French naturalist, while in this 

 country described and named specimens, of various ages, 

 of the small-mouthed Black Bass, as Cichla variabilis, 

 (this name was never published by Le Sueur, but specimens 

 sent by him and thus labeled, are still preserved in the 

 Museum D'Historie Naturelle at Paris,) Cichla fasciata, 



* " If I have dwelt too long upon this subject, I hope the benevolent 

 and candid reader will excuse me; it has originated in my desire to do 

 adequate, though tardy, justice to one whose whole life has been devoted to 

 science, and who has been singularly unfortunate in his worldly concerns; 

 who, notwithstanding his eccentricities, has a kind and benevolent heart ; 

 and whose labors have never been appreciated as I think they deserve. 

 But for this, M. Rafinesque would not, in advancing life, have to contend 

 with pecuniary difficulties, from which a small pension from the Ameri- 

 ican Government, proverbially generous to her scientific sons, would set 

 him free." SWAINSON, Nat. Hist, and Class, of Fishes, I., 62, 1838. 



