THE LAWYER. 179 
the capacious mouth will open, and in rushes the entire host of little ones; the ugly 
maw is at once closed, and off she rushes to a place of security, where again the little 
captives are set at liberty.” 
As indicated in the synonymy above, this fish has been made the sub- 
ject of many nominal species, most of them based on specimens in the 
Museum at Paris. The discovery that the differences in color and size 
are merely sexual differences, which, by the way, was the first piece of 
ichthyological work attempted by the present writer, has caused them 
to fall into the synonymy. After laboriously distinguishing twelve 
‘“snecies”, among the thirty or so specimens at his disposal, M. Dumeril 
very naively remarks, ‘‘ I am unable to determine for which, among the 
species with a black caudal spot, the name Ama calva was intended.” 
The Vernacular names of this species are rather interesting. Some 
of its earlier describers called it Mud-fish, and this name is frequently 
met with in anatomical works. Itis very rarely heard among the fisher- 
men. Throughout the Great Lake Region the prevailing name is Dog- 
fish, which name is there also applied to Melanura limi, most fishermen 
supposing the latter to be the young of Ama. In Lake Champlain it is 
said to be called “‘ Bow-fin”. In the Western States, the name “ Lawyer” 
is frequently applied to it, often with the remark that “this is not the 
real Lawyer” (Lota maculosa). The alleged reason for the application of 
this name, as Dr. Kirtland once told me, is that ‘‘ it will bite at anything, 
and is good for nothing when caught.” <A correspondent of the Chicago 
Wield informs us that “ these ornary customers are called Lawyers because 
they are bull headed and slippery.” 
Of wider range than any of these names is the name Grindle, with 
its variations Grinnel, Grindle-fish, Brindle-fish and John A Grindle. 
This name is applied to the fish in the Dismal Swamp Region of Vir- 
ginia, where I have found the species abundant, and in Southern Illinois, 
as well as in all the streams of the low country of the South where the 
fish is known. No hint has yet been given as to its origin. The fol- 
lowing remarks from the pen of Mr. Fred. Mather on this name are very 
pertinent : 
‘¢ We fancy the Southern name of ‘ Grindle’ for the Amia for several reasons, one of 
which is that no other fish bears it, and another is its striking oddity. The fish bears 
this name, as we have seen, in nearly all the Southern states and also parts of Illinois 
and Ohio. Its other names are all shared with other fishes, for instance, ‘dog-fish’ is 
applied to a kind of Shark, ‘ mud-fish’ is shared with the little Mud Minnow, Melanura, 
and ‘lawyer’, with the Ling or Kel-pout, Lota. Besides, ‘ grindle’. covers more terri- 
tory, and is consequently less local than any of the trivial names. But who was old 
Grindle, anyway ?” 
