FOR EST AND STREAM, 
777 ™ L**o„ 
curious industry in France, we believe will be novel to many ^ In examiniDg the eyes of many mackerel on ( May 23 
... J... • nnrl 27 and October 27. m different years, I have found tuat. 
enthusiastic fish culturists : 
of the leech farms which were established by M. 
T norms is at Parompuyre, about nine miles from Bordeaux. 
Hera ^n araa of aboutVur hundred acres, near the Garonne, 
5 devoted to this industry. The marsh is subdivided into 
oommu-tmeDts of five or six acres in extent, each of which 
rlnESndatcd separately. Each e .mpartment is intersected 
withdraws and can he flooded or laid dry at will by °P ei “ D 8 
toe batches with which the ditches are provided Besides 
these breeding grounds, there is a reservoir, which is re 
olenished at every opporluuity with the larger leccb ^®-®® 
that when the other beds are laid dry, there is always a stock 
on hand ready for the market. This reservoir is always kept 
covered with water to the depth of three to five inches and 
holds from forty to fifty thousand leeches to the acre, a rate 
rather larger than that observed in the breeding ponds, which 
are populated to the extent of thirty or 1 orty thousand leeches 
ner acre. During the cold season the leech remains quite 
underground: but the first rays of the spring sun bring b 1 m 
out, and then a troop of horses is made to enter ^ b reedmg 
-rounds in the proportion of ten to the acre. lbe leecnes 
attach themselves to the lower part of the legs of the animals 
SKSSE themselves. The same troop of horses remain 
“■ Urridlof a« or six hour*, when tliey m led 
anil sent hack to their pastures, where they are 
allowed to rest and regain strength. Aftcr eight ten days 
die of June 8 they are thus led about eig. t or ten times ? acb - 
d In June the leeches all go underground, and tbe layi^ y 
nf ih« narks commences : the horses are kept out of them, the 
w(»ds and raedT arc allowed to grow, and the ao> becomes 
hptter knitted together, as it were. In July and August the 
laches come out to deposit their eggs m the tufts of berbagft 
and then the drains before mentioned are filled with water 
mnueh to keep the ground moist. The leeches, having per- 
formed this duty, again burrow underground and in a short 
time the young ones make their escape from the eggs. 
The parks are inundated, and at the end of Aupist the 
fishing commences. The fishers, protected by high boots 
enter ?he ponds, arranged in lines, and beat the water with 
sticks to arouse the dormant leeches, which soon appear in 
great numbers, ready after their long fast for another feast. 
The large ones arc carefully lifted out and placed 
with which each person is provided ; and the line of fishers 
gradually advances till the whole bed is thoroughly beaten, 
ft is then left to be subjected, three or four days afterwards, 
to another careful search, a sufficient stock being always 
reserved, in the shape of young and small leeches, and those 
that not having digested their food, do not put in an appear- 
ance on the unceremonious summons of the collectors. 
Si establishment such as that described above will produce 
several million leeches annually in a healthy condition. 
Pari 9 alone consumes some twelve million leeches annually , 
and prior to the establishment of the system of producing 
tbemin artifical reservoirs, the annual importation into France 
from abroad, exclusive of its own production, was nearly 
fifty milions. The enormous demand for these useful surgical 
attendants throughout the world may be estimated from the 
above figures. 
since, in examining , , " frilinf i »),„» 
and 27 and October 27, in different YcarB l bave found^hat 
as in most flab, the bony orbit is much larger than the Dase or 
the eye, and that the space is filled by geiutinous snbsUnce, 
which may be called cellular membrane and adipora deposit 
to this transparent membrane arising from the outer angle of 
nrhit Hnreads half way over the pupil of the eye. It may 
Sly b. defined by uriSg . peb.knife between; 
S the eye. At the inner angle there is dec a aim, 1st, but 
much smaller, membrane, nut reaching to tbc eye. Ai the 
mackerel appear on our coasts about the 15th of May, anu 
these observations were made the 23d, I do not think it can 
be asserted the eye is closed entirely in spring ; and as the 
sfme appearance is found in September, we must admtit to 
S a permanent structure. An analogous membrane is found 
iu Uie clupide, and doubtless other fish. On asking Thomas 
Lovd our P roughest and oldest fisherman : “I don t know any- 
thing ’about the scales of the eyes, hut I do know that, curse 
[hem they see too sharp for us, steering clear of our spring 
nets," and doubtless old Tom was right 
On dissecting a mackerel, May 23, I found the heart first 
presenting the tricornered ventrical with its white aorta and 
deep red auricle resting upon the fringe of emea that covered 
thc^ intestines, sweeping down to the vent. The liver and 
stomach were both covered by the coeca. The latter was 
about three inches long, its upper lobe toick and round, 
ending in a narrow tail or pomt. The cardiac end of the 
stomach was prolonged two and a half inches, ending m a 
DOiut The ccecse were attached to the gut about an inch be 
low the pylorus. There was hut little difference in appear- 
ance and size between stomach and gut. This we may rough- 
ly sum up : Stomach and gut very simple ; coeca unusually 
large and complicated ; liver small, all noteworthy facts in the 
study of comparative life. The fish beinga male one lobe on 
either side of ivory-white ; melt reached from gills to vent, 
slightly adhering to the sides by thin membrane, 
and covered by a similar one. They were di- 
vided in lobes by shallow lines, the upper lobes slight y 
fimbriated. On removing both entrails and milt a dark- 
purple space about an inch wide extended from gills to vent 
beneath the hack bone. This, when opened, seemed filled 
with coagulated blood. It had in some respects the appear- 
ance of the air bladder in the salmonidas, though wanting iu 
the direct communication they have with the cesophagus. 
But this communication is also wanting in the gadidw, where 
especially in the hake, the air bladder assumes its highest 
form of organization. I have often found coagulation and 
reticulated plexi in air bladders of other fish. 
It has been asserted the European mackerel have no air 
bladders, and a new genus proposed, but with more probability 
they have the same organization as our own, and the dilier- 
ence lies in the opinion whether or not it is un air bladder. 
The mackerel appear on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia 
and almost simultaneously on the Bay of Fundy, about the 
15th of May. Nearly all spawners, male and female perform a 
somewhat easterly and northerly route, disappear from 
the surface in a few weeks and reappear again in bep- 
of the water In this bay (Pensacola), with a slight wound In the belly 
and apparently dying." The only known specimen of Trichidion octo- 
filin is the one taken at New York by Mr. J. Carson Brevoort, and pre- 
sented by him to the U. 8. National Museum. 
3. Lota maculosa (Le Sueur), Rich.— The American fresh water ling, 
burbot, or eel-pont. has been the occasiou of no little description and 
disputation. Forster and Pennant referred It to the Gadus lote of 
Llnne Their examples were from the Hudson's Bay region. In 1S17, 
M. LoSocur, In the Journal 01 iho Aoademy of Natural Sciences of 
Philadelphia, published descriptions of two supposed new species of 
burbot— &a<2<u maeulosus, from Lake Erie, and Oadus comprestus, from 
Northampton, Connecticut. In Febtuary, ISIS, Mitchell described his 
Gadus lacustris In the American Monthly Magazine lie spoke of It at 
the time as Identical with the Lake Erie burbot, which Is true, and the 
name must be regarded as a synonym of Gadus maeulosus. In 1819, 
Le Sueur. In Memolres du Museum d'Hlstoire Nalurelle, re-dcscrlbed Oa- 
dus compressus under the name of Moira huntia. Iu 1849, Zoology of 
New York Fishes, DeKay described Lota inornate, from the State 
Cabinet at’ Albany. In J8U, Boston journal of Natural History, D. H. 
Siorer described the Wlnnlplsslogee Lake burbot- Lota brosmiana. 
From this It will be seen that six species of burbot have been claimed 
for American waters, that from the Hudson's Bay region being identi- 
cal with the European. Various and conflicting have been ihe opinions 
of writers concerning the validity of these species and their relation 
to oue another. L. inornate was early challenged and relegated to the 
shades of synonomy, L. brotmiana with Gadus lota soon 
following to keep It company. Lota comprcsea was believed 
In longer, but that, too, has lost supporters. Gunther, 
in the Catalogue of Fishes in the British Museum, vol. IV. 
1SG2 places all the names applied to the Amerlcau burbot In the 
synonomy of Lota vulgaris, believing that wo have only ono species, and 
that Identical with the European. Even If his view wore correct, he 
should use the name Lota maculosa, which really has priority over L. 
vulgaris Cuvier difKiot use the name Lota vulgaris anywhere, so far 
as I can loam, although It Is attributed to him. He do«s refer to 
Gadus lota and La Lotte commune, but he who seeks Lota vulgaris In the 
Kegne Animal, or in Griffith’s Cuvier will seek In vain. Jardlue says 
nothing of Lota vulgaris, though It Is credited to him. The first author 
to use and claim the combination was Jenyns, la "A Manual of British 
Vertebrate Animals.” Cambridge, 1835. If. then. Europe and America 
have but odc species of burbot In common, its name -hould be Lota 
maculosa, but of this more hereafter. Just here It may be supposed 
that I have overlooked Walbanm’s Gadus lacustris, based on Pennant's 
description of the ‘•mathemeg," or *• land cod." of the H idson's Bay 
region, and referred by late writers to the genus Lota, but not so : 
Pennant probably desorlbed the " m»tiemeg ” from hearsay, and 
supposed It to be allied to the burbot, to which It has no close rela- 
tionship. The *• mathomeg ” was really a catfish (See Rlchardaon, 
-Fauna Boreall Americana,” page 135, and Jordan. In Bulletin X., of 
the United Stales National Maseum, 1S77, page 84). Walbanm wasrnis- 
led by Pennant's curious blunder, and In his turn misled others. It Is 
now pretty generally believed that only one species of Lota is fe ond 
in the Old World and the New ; but perhaps no better opportunity for 
reaching a conclusion oonld be afforded than that presented by the 
large collections of the National Museum. It has been my privilege to 
study specimens from the Hudson Bay region, the Yukon Fiver, the 
Yellowstone, the Little Big Horn, the Great Lakes, Seneca Lake, Lako 
the surface in a few weeks anti reappear ogam iu oep- wlnnlplsslogee, the Connecticut River, and othor parts of our own 
tember without spawn and fat, remain in numbers during CO antry, and from England, Sweden, France, Switzerland and other 
November, and very sparingly during December, coming pana 0 t Europe. Many individuals u«ve been submitted 
from the eastward and then disappear. It may be asserted measurement and comparison. I have been unable to find aT.ythlDg - 
ohaorvfttinn pxtendine over a series of 8 or „ nnn which to separate the Eurooean and American species, save thn 
Natural W istor, v. 
MACKEREL ON THE NOVA SCOTIA 
COAST. 
Halifax, June 10, 1878. 
Mr. Editor : In some papers published some time since in 
the Forest and Stream upon the habits of the mackerel, it is 
asserted by Prof. Brown Goode that Ihere is no reliable evi- 
dence of mackerel being Been upon the coast of Nova Scotia 
after the 25th of October, quoting me as his authority. 
Had he quoted me as giving the 1st of November, 1868, when 
the fish market at Halifax was full, I should have felt more 
complimented, as I should have known he had read my pa- 
per with more attenlion. In summing up my remarks I stated 
that mackerel remain usually all November on the imfo^ « 
N Scotia, and during mild winters linger to December. 
This, Prof. Goode says, is not reliable as scientific evidence, 
because no specifio dales are given. To admit this would be 
to destroy almost the whole mass of information compiled in 
the report of both the Iloyal and American Commissioners of 
English and American Fisheries. But as I am certain that 
Prof. Goode’s desire is to have the truth simply, will you al- 
low me a place in your columns to add to my previous asser- 
tions such specific dates as I may be able now to obtain 
though not admitting his principle. 
On May 23, 1875, going into the Halifax fish market, I 
asked generally how long are mackerel in market? I was 
answered, generally all through November. On asking how 
long in December they had known them in market, Mr. Grey- 
wire said : “ 1 recollect them as late as the 10th of December. 
"We keep our nets out to the 30th of November. Men hire to 
that time. Mackerel are seen after that date, but the seas are 
bo boisterous that our ne*s are destroyed. t?ome few parties 
will keep them out in December in spile of cold and storms. 
Mr. White corroborated this. Mr. Thomas Brackett said he 
had taken them often in December, and often in weather so 
cold that the fish were frozen in removing them from the 
meshes of the nets, but could remember no dates. Mr. Wm. 
Duffy stated be saw one once on the 24lh of December. He 
reoollecled it because it was Christmas Eve. and on account of 
iu rarity but he had frequently taken them during Decem- 
ber, though having no dates. The nets uBed are about two 
fathoms deep, set near the shore in about five to ten fathoms 
of water. My own recollections, but without dales, are see- 
ing stops made in very cold weather and frozen ground, 
which must have been late in November. I think I have now 
made good my assertion that they linger to December, and 
that in any future history of their habits it must be assumed 
as trutb that they remain in numbers during November, but are 
found sparingly later on our coasts. Where they are during 
those dates iu any intermediate point from Maine to Virginia, 
must be left to American observers. When these blanks are 
filled and a generalization made their history will be more 
complete, a task we may well leave in the hands of the 
American Commissioners of Fisheries. 
In my paper (1865) I speak of their asserted torpidity and 
generalizing from observation extending over a series of 8 or 
10 years that they are irregular in their movements as regards 
localities, though probably not as regards ocean surfaces. 
The very great difflculiy of accounting how these enormous 
•masses of surface feeders find food after disappearing from 
the surface has caused many ingenious theories, as to the 
question in what state aBd where they pass that time. Ihese 
are all pleasant reading, but valuable more or less as regards 
the ingenuity and scientific standing of the. writers. In this 
paper and the one I enclose (1865) I have stated what 1 think 
are facts, and which must be accepted in the future history of 
American mackerel, which I hope soon to see written by that 
Commission which has already done so much in Atlantic 
waters. Bernard Gilpin. 
OBSERVATIONS ON CERTAIN FISH IN 
THE U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM. 
The following carefully prepared description of some new 
fish is a valuable contribution to ichthyology. The Burbot, 
or American fresh water ling, has caused a large amount of 
disputation. Dr. Bean seems to have considerably narrowed 
down the question, as he proves quite clearly to our mind 
that there is but one species in American waters : 
1. Lucania parvus (B. and G.) Bean.— In tUe Ninth Smithsonian Re- 
port, 1855, Baird and Girard described a small Cyprinodont under the 
name of Cyprinodon parvus. An examination of the type specimens 
proves the species to belong to the genus Lucania of Girard. They 
haveaslDgie series of coBlcal, recurved teeih In each Jaw, $nrt the 
other characters ascribed to the genus. The afflnltle< of Lucania par- 
vus are with L. venusta and L afilnis, Guard; not with hi* unoamed 
species which Gunther has taken as the type of the genus Limnurgus. 
The National Museum has L. parvus from Beesly’a Point, New Jersey, 
and Greenport, Long Island (S. F. Baud), Slnepuxent Bay, Maryland 
(Otto Lugger), and Noank, Connecticut (U 8. F. C.). 
2. Trichidion octoncmus (Girard), Gin, — In a One collection of fishes 
received last week from Mr. Silas Stearns, of Pensacola, Florida, 1 b 
one individual of the above species. Inasmuch os It Is not often ob- 
served, I give some additional particulars drawn from two of Girard's 
types aud the Pensacola specimen : Sizo— Types from Brazos Santiago, 
Texas, 09 to 8S millimetres (2 11-10 to 3# inches). Pensacola specimen, 
62 millimetres (2 7-10 Inches). Proportions— Eye, 3 y, times In length of 
side of head ; upper Jaw, half the length of side of head. Head con- 
tained abont 3 2-3 times In length to end of middle caudal rays. Some 
Girard refers to the Brazos Santiago specimens as adults. If so, they 
represent a very small species of the genus. 
Two other species of the same genus are known from the coast 
of North America— T. plumieri (Lac.) Gill, and T. oclofilis, QtlL The 
former has but seven pectoral appendages, wntle T. actonsmus has 
eight. T. oclofilis may be distinguished from T. octonsmus by observing 
that It has In the second dorsal eleven soft rays, its first dorsal Is 
pnnctulated with black, and Its pectoral Is almost wholly black, while 
T. octoncmus has no such marklogs. The upper Jaw In T. oclofilis 1s 
contained nearly 2 2-3 limes In head, and the longest pectoral filament 
reaches scarcey to the vertical from the middle of the Interval be- 
tween the dorsals. The longest pectoral filament In T. octoncmus ex- 
tends beyond the origin of the anal. Concerning this species Mr. 
Stearns writes : •' No. 45 unknown. The first and only specimen that 
I have seen, Unknown to the fishermen. Captured by me at the surface 
uinxuivm.u. - r anything 
upon which to senarnte the Eurooean and American species, save the 
number of vertebra:. Of course Fokkst and Strkam could not burden 
Its columns with the long tables of measurements which have been 
prepared, but they will be presented at another time and place. I can 
only say here that I am forced to believe that but ono species of Lota 
la so far known to America, and tbls la to be determined In no other 
way than by comparison of specimens from all the localities whence 
species have been described. Differences more apparent than real 
scon me't away under dividers and the proportional scale. 1 Having 
adopted lhe name Lota maculosa for the American species, since the 
European, so far as my examination of the skeletons goes, has a 
smatler'number of vertebra: I propose, for the present, lo call it Lota 
maculosa (Le Snenr), Rich., variety, vulgaris, Jenyns. 1 have oounted 
the veterbrm In two American specimens, and find twenty-fonr ab- 
dominal and forty caudal. In two European they were, abdominal 
twenty-two to iwenty-tbree, caudal thirty-eight to thirty-nine. 
Gunther gives a etill smaller number (21x28). 
Notes on the habits, distribution, etc., of the Lola maculosa roust be 
reserved for a future paper. To those who doubt the propriety of 
using Le Sueurs’ name Maculosa, I mast say that a series of surprises 
awaits the student of Its synonomy. 
In unraveling this synonomy, I have received valuable assistance 
from Professor GUI, and In determining the significance of certain 
anatomical characters. 
4. Amiurus lacustris (Walbanm), Bean. — The Pimsloius borealis of 
Rlcbaruson (Amiuru* borealis, Gill ), Is, In my estimation, the 
“ mathemeg” of Pennant and the Gadus lacustris of Walbanm, hence I 
adopt for It the name A miurus lacustris. 
U. S. National Museum, June 22, 1878. Tarleton H. Bean. 
RARE 
ANIMALS OF THE 
MOUNTAINS. 
ROCKY 
BY J. H. BATTY. 
T HE fauna of the Rocky Mountains, and particularly that 
of their highest peaks, is exceedingly interesting. In 
the snow ranges, animals of curious forms and habits abound, 
and but few zoologists have had an opportunity of studying 
them. Even those who have made short excursions in the 
lower and most accessible ranges have visited them when hos- 
tile Indians were least liable to be met, and but partial inves- 
tigations and hasty returns were made. The geology, botany, 
Having made a special study of the animals of tfic i 
tain9 duriDg two years of steady hunting and trapping, I give 
the following original data on the rarer species, which is a part 
of the results of my researches : The Rocky Mountain bison 
is now nearly extinct, and, though accepted by some as a 
species, it is nothing more than a small dark variety of the 
common buffalo. I have found their skulls on many of tbo 
highest peaks of the mountains, also on the tops of the Bear’s 
Paw, Sweet Grass and Sierra Madre mountains. They were 
commonly found in the ltocky Mountains above the 
ninth parallel, and they are probably to be found much 
further north, to the extreme northern range of the buffalo. 
In accordance to the statements of old Indian and white 
hunters, the bisons of the mountains were all bulls, roaming 
