EXPLORATIONS OF THE ALLEGHANY REGION AND WESTERN INDIANA. 107 
Cottus Cuvier & Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss., iv, 1829, 142 (gobio, mentioned as “ typeprimitif”) 
Uranidea DeKay, N. Y. Fauna, Fishes, 1842, 61 {quiescens— gracilis). 
Cottus Girard, Proc. Host. Soc. Nat. Hist., 1850, iii, 183, 303 (gobio). 
Cottopsis Girard, Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., ill, 1850, 303 (asper). 
Uranidea Putnam, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., i, 1863, 2 (gracilis), and of recent American writers. 
Potamocottus Gill, Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., viii, 40, l-i61 (punctulatus). 
Tauridea Jordan & Rice, Jordan, Man. Vert. E. U. S., ed. 2, 1878, 255 (ricei). 
ACANTHOCOTTUS, Girard, 
(Sculpins; Chaboisseaux.) 
<Cottus Artedi, Genera Piscium, etc., 1738. 
<;Cottu3 Linnaeus, Systema Naturae, 1758, 264 (in part). 
Myoxocephalus Steller MSS, Tilesius, M4m. Acad. Petersb., 1811, iv, 273 (non-binomial; no spe- 
cific name; description from M. polgacanthocsplialus, Pallas). 
<]Cottus Cuvier, Rbgue Animal, ii, 1827 (Chaboisseaux). 
Acanthocottus Girard, Proc. Bost. Soc., in, 1850, 183, 30'.i (variabilis, scorpiua, etc.). 
Cottus Putnam, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., i, 1863, 2 (scorpius). 
Boreocottus Gill, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1859, 166 (axillaris). 
Porocottus Gill, Proc. Ac;id. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1859, 166 (qiiadriflis). 
Megalocottus Gill, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1861, 166 (plafgcephalus). 
Oncocottus Gill, Proc. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1862, 13 (quadricornis ; i)osaibly a valid genus). 
The oldest name possibly applicable to this species is Cottus cognatus of Richard- 
son, based on specimens from Great Bear Lake. As our species is very abundant in 
Lake Superior, it is not unlikely that this cognatus is the same. Richardson’s descrip- 
tion agrees well with our Lake Superior specimens, but it is too brief to give certainty 
of identihcation. The Cottus richardsoni of Agassiz, from Lake Superior, seems to be 
not sjiecifically different from specimens from Virginia, Kentucky, and Missouri. The 
name richardsoni should not be used, as the earlier Trachidermis richardsoni of Heckel 
is also a Cottus { = Cottus asper, Richardson). The oldest unquestionable name is ap- 
parently that of Cottus bairdi Girard. 
For the present, then, the commonest American Cottus, the miller’s thumb, blob, 
mull-head, bull-head, or muffle-jaws, may stand as Cottus bairdi. 
Crayfishes were abundant at Wayuesborough, but none were seen at Luray. 
The fish fauna of the Shenandoah, as a whole, does not seem to be a rich one, notwith- 
standing the favorable character of the waters. This fact accords with the view 
already stated by me (Science Sketches, p. 114), that connection with a large hydro- 
graphic basin is one of the chief elements in giving to a river a varied fish fauna. A 
large number of the species found in the Kanawha or the Holston would doubtless live 
and multiply in the Shenandoah if they could get there. Probably the channel cat 
{Ictalurus punctatus) could be as profitably and as successfully introduced as the black 
bass has been. 
B.— THE JAMES RIVER. 
The James River has its rise in the Alleghany Mountains in West Virginia. It 
breaks through the Alleghany Chain and the Blue Ridge, and then, a considerable 
river, flows eastward to the sea. Its waters for the most part are clear, and in its 
upper course comparatively cold. Most of its tributaries are swift, spring-fed mount- 
