﻿85 
  

  

  tkat 
  species 
  and 
  the 
  true 
  Atheriivx 
  ; 
  the 
  nam3 
  must, 
  however, 
  

   ba 
  adopted, 
  and 
  the 
  species 
  called 
  Osmerus. 
  mordax." 
  As 
  

   Mr. 
  Gill 
  says, 
  the 
  description 
  is 
  not 
  bad 
  as 
  applied 
  to 
  the 
  

   Smelt, 
  bnt 
  it 
  would 
  apply 
  equally 
  as 
  well 
  to 
  stray 
  specimens 
  

   of 
  the 
  Ca'pclin, 
  Mallotus 
  villosus, 
  or 
  Argentine, 
  Argentina 
  — 
  . 
  

   DeKay 
  Nat. 
  Hist, 
  of 
  New 
  York, 
  18i2, 
  Zoology, 
  part 
  I, 
  page 
  

   143, 
  says 
  upon 
  this 
  point 
  : 
  ''With 
  regard 
  to 
  the 
  Atherina 
  

   mordax, 
  or 
  large 
  Silver-sides 
  of 
  Mitchill 
  there 
  is 
  more 
  diffi- 
  

   culty, 
  " 
  (i. 
  e., 
  than 
  homologizing 
  A. 
  viridescens 
  with 
  A. 
  

   menidia). 
  '' 
  From 
  its 
  dental 
  armature 
  and 
  adipose 
  dorsal, 
  

   it 
  cannot 
  be 
  arranged 
  in 
  this 
  family. 
  In 
  his 
  '' 
  report 
  in 
  

   part," 
  he 
  states 
  that 
  ' 
  it 
  may 
  be 
  A. 
  Brownii 
  ; 
  if 
  it 
  be 
  so 
  con- 
  

   sidered, 
  we 
  shall 
  know 
  it 
  better 
  for 
  the 
  future.' 
  I 
  am 
  not 
  

   acquainted 
  witii 
  the 
  species 
  referred 
  to, 
  but 
  have 
  no 
  doubt 
  

   that 
  the 
  mordax 
  is 
  the 
  true 
  Osmerus 
  of 
  the 
  family 
  Sal- 
  

   monidea. 
  I 
  am 
  disposed 
  to 
  believe 
  that 
  my 
  late 
  venerable 
  

   friend 
  has, 
  by 
  mistake, 
  applied 
  the 
  description 
  of 
  0. 
  eperlanus 
  

   this 
  species," 
  (A. 
  menidia). 
  

  

  If, 
  therefore, 
  a 
  person 
  does 
  a 
  thing 
  when 
  he 
  does 
  

   not 
  intend 
  it 
  at 
  all, 
  that 
  thing 
  must 
  be 
  binding 
  upon 
  

   all 
  who 
  come 
  after 
  him. 
  And 
  because 
  Mr. 
  Mitchill 
  

   wrote 
  a 
  description 
  of 
  some 
  kind 
  of 
  a 
  fish, 
  and 
  attached 
  

   the 
  specific 
  name 
  of 
  mordax 
  to 
  it, 
  therefore, 
  because 
  

   that 
  kind 
  of 
  fish 
  is 
  not 
  known 
  exactly, 
  and 
  because 
  the 
  de- 
  

   scription 
  applies 
  fairly 
  to 
  the 
  Smelt, 
  the 
  Smelt 
  must 
  be 
  

   known 
  as 
  mordax. 
  Mr. 
  DeKay 
  did 
  not 
  think 
  so 
  ; 
  Mr. 
  

   Gucnther 
  did 
  not 
  think 
  so 
  ; 
  accordingly, 
  neither 
  of 
  them 
  have 
  

   given 
  to 
  the 
  Smelt 
  the 
  synonym 
  of 
  mordax. 
  

  

  But 
  what 
  is 
  much 
  more 
  to 
  the 
  point 
  and 
  certain, 
  is 
  that 
  

   Mitchill 
  did 
  not 
  intend 
  this 
  description 
  to 
  apply 
  to 
  the 
  

   American 
  Smelt. 
  He 
  was 
  acquainted 
  with 
  the 
  Smelt, 
  and 
  

   in 
  this 
  same 
  report, 
  upon 
  a 
  previous 
  page, 
  (435,) 
  he 
  de- 
  

   scribes 
  it 
  as 
  Salmo 
  eperlanus; 
  and 
  again^ 
  at 
  a 
  later 
  date, 
  

   February, 
  1818, 
  in 
  American 
  Monthly 
  i\IagazinG 
  and 
  Crit- 
  

   ical 
  Review, 
  page 
  2i8, 
  he 
  says 
  : 
  "It 
  is, 
  beyond 
  a 
  doubt, 
  the 
  

   Smelt 
  of 
  the, 
  European 
  naturalists." 
  Wo 
  can^ 
  then, 
  adopt 
  

  

  