, 1879-03-22
trated. J. 1,ranaer Matthews. Lfppine otfs
ll{dUdi{nf for AprIf,)


NOnTtT AMERICAN FISHES.
Seven pamphlets compiled Or edited i,y frof.
DAVID j. Jordan nldko sonic valuable contritu-
lions 10 our knowledge Of The 1shcs OF North
America. They arc, with two exceptions,
printed by the Government at Washington.
issued either a. bulletins OK the Nattonal
Museum or OF tho linytlen Survey. prof.
jordan, It will bc remembered, In the nuthor Of
the "sianaal of Verlcbratcs," rcccntlv noticed
IN these columns. The pamphlets may DO taken
up separately.
Fl.het Of Northern Indiana.-This pnpcs il
taken entire from The proceedings Of the Arad,
etny of Natural 5clGnces, Of tlifadelphia. T1c
material nt which It Is basc,l was COLLECTED III
tho strcatns md c'caf, doep lakes of the
northern part Of Indiana, by Mr.. Caleb Cooke,
IN the tntcrcat Of the Peabody Museum ot
Science, mud DR.. q. ". Lovc'te, In the interest
OF the tnd!ana Geological survey. The co'ice~
t!on consists chiefly Of ANAL GslI,-tlartcra, sun
fish, and tntnnowe with the young Of some
larger species. About sixty species are rep
within radtus Of tfty miles. but on different
sides, Of tile watershed Of Northern. Indiana.
l,sh fauna Is essentially tic same, although I'll
sume cases tho waters flow TO tic Gulf Of Mex
leo and In others " thu fluff Of St. 1.awronct.
On the 0ther llanl letwecn the fauna u tho
Upper ts a eoar.o Of te Wsba, RIVE, and ,lat r.
fauna u White River, there will bo no.
ticcd certain striking differences. 1lIeao facts
iray be formulated rs follows: More species Of
fishes are common to the head-watcts Of streams
aro con,mon to the tlpland asd iowland courses
Of tho same stream." In thls pamphlet Is IN
eludcd anothcr paper BY Prof Jordan and
Charles II; Gilbert "un the t'cnera Of North
logical order OF the names Of all the gcnera thus
fur proposed Is here strictly observed. Follow
tng tn.s discussion uf synonyms is given, fornl-
Ing a'completo repository Of Information Tor tho
ready use Of the naturalist. This paper COM
lnrtius tsclt at once To tho consideration Of thu
ichthyo1ogist IS important, not only for refer
enca but as contribution to knowledge
Contribution 10 North A,nerican lehthyo!oav.
This pnmpllct is Bulletin No. Of the United
f,lesquo's Memoirs Of North American ilslcs.
RafnesQuo ia his work on the fishes Of Ohio
seems to have made his COLLECTIONS In tho sum
mer, anl to have described bis Brcclcs the fol-
lowing winter from memory. 1t IS also evident
eye, wittluut the rcstrnsnt oil TUG tnpu.litlc. As
a result the descriptions are Often fnexack al
though usually striking" His works n!so
abound In .'ntsprints.,. Dr.. Jorlan Observes:
''that, making due allowance Tor tlIcse fGcts,
unl kccping, IL mind tho proposition, ,ulustls
controycrtcd BY some writers, that kat5nesque
WIS not nltuge .cr knave or n fool. ! nave sue
cceled tn tIguslfytng, more orlcss satisfactorily,
nearly a. s specss aa resso5ng TO nu
doubt Prof. Jordan has completely .y1udlcased
nailucsquc. Agasstz 1as also something tokay
oil the matter: "foth!nE ~ to le More regretted
for the progress Of uatural history IN thIs cu,iu-
try THAI tint Railuesque lid not put up sosne-
where collection Of all the genera ansi species
f,c lind established, with well authenticated
labels, or TINT his contemporaries did not follow
In bis steps, or at led1t preserve tue tradition Of
Ills uUTDgs. Instead Of decrylng him ullu appeal
ing TO iurcign authority aaatnst him. 1racllg
his COURSE as naturalist during his residence
IN this coustry it Is plan that Ec alarmed tI08g
with whom he had intercourse by bis innovations,
md that they preferred to lcan upon tho authot.
fly OF the grrnt nnturallsts Of the ngc, then re-
siding in Europe, who, however, kbcw little oi
the specIal natural Eistury In this country than
to trust a somewhat itnsty ,nnh who wna hring
among them, nnd Who had collected vast
States upon variety of 0bjects eulireis. now to
HcIcnec. From what can tearn VI knfncs1uc
am satisfied TINT ho Is II bettur tnnn ttan he
appcarcd. His misfortune was bis prnrtent
desire for novelties, md flis rasnucss IN puo!lsh-
tng them. anA yet boil, tn Europe and An,crlca
10 anticlated itlost of his contemporaries IN the
discovery Of nvv genera H,tl speeiek III thosu de-
partncnts of scicnco which l,e has cultivated
t,ost perscycrugly, airl 1t is hut Justice III re-.
storing them to him. Whenever It Gun f,e done. y
Ths pamphlet contains list Of species described
prior 10 HallncsQue's observations, and closes
with list not noticed by him.
Contributions, &c, No. 2.--Bu'iettu No. 10 OF
the National Muses,m follows il!c preceding
work. II has been received With hugh coin
mendatioH by naturalIsts, mud Will hold n high
rauk among the best OF contributions TO Au,crf-
ran natural scicnce. Unfortunately the wn1k
haa no preface. It contains, however, the de-
srr!ptipt, Of some sixty nsw Or aittte'known ape.
c!rs OF fish, and a asnopsis ct tho frcsll-wntcr
si',trttte {scaleIcss ilsh) OF North AmcEic1, with
q photography Of tho Hitter. This pamphlet Ia
Illustrated with forty-a1o plafcs. exhibiting scy-
scientifically specific. It. Is hoped tllat Prof.
Jordan will noto the Modern revolution in de-
seriptio!,, ui.tl make uso Of popular language
wt1cro possible. There ute many Tint ara inter
csted tu natural history at tic present tno who
Partial Synopss of tts Fishes Of Upjsr 1corVta.
This Is an Interesting publication reprinted
from lie annnls OF tAr New York Lyreunl ol
Natural 1Iislory. The work Is rather more lie.
Us s sono Of them. "Tls material on which i
assistant, Alr. Charles II. Gilbert, H. inontii'e
| residence and constant lcla.work at Rome, Tn.
weeks acintng ln ,t!c south fork of the Octln'
| Tributaries Of tho Chattoloochec River, ncnI
Atlanta" Tho t1sh fauna wcro found 10 differ
materially. The author verified ~ nuntcF o.
little known species u; consigned '!nunhcE o.
StEClEb ~ lAu VI u0utn4S iHAt4t
/ known IN few peculiar forms Which aro bclaycG
To be new to scIencc.'' Tllo palnphlatis Ia mluus
preface and !udex.
Notes on Il Collection Of Fithes from. tho Ri
Grande, at Urolm.svilit, 1ezas--Th!s 'ittlo pamph
let Is tie autl,or's edition from thu Bulletin o
Or. Hayden's Geological Survey, Vol. ~, No
2. rrof. Jordan remarks that ~ small lnr o,
fishes collected at brownsville. Tex, has beer
latgiy discovered In oycthauliNg tho collection
Of tho United States National Museum. Tit
na1no of the collector ald the date Of the colec
ttuu nro lost, and most ot tho specimens aru II
| poor condition from long negtect; still stud,
| Of them has added something to our mcagtt
knowledge of the lsh-fauna Of the Rio Graule
With one 0r two exceptions thu species haV0 nl
been described BY Hirltd, often unaor severn
different nau,es In tho hciciihYology Of tho Unltct
| States n,ll Mexican boundary,
Rtf,ori On a Collection Of tIshS I1fatls hs Ia
kota and .uontaAd.-Thts pamphlet Is also taIsef
from Bulletin Of thu Hayden Surrey, Vol. ".
No, 1. The collection was made by DR.. Elliot
Coues, us. A. Dr. cours, ,I'e editor Ut III!
bulletin, says: "'Tho fishes wor.el up by Prof
Jordan In the present communication Eeprcsuu
probably abouttwothirds OF thu COLLECTION nlat'
tlnrlng NY connectlun with tho United htate
NortEeru BOUNDARY Commission, tho rGmainde
Ut succiuuns having been lost VI nlstaid. au
Informed, however, that thu scrics subintttel u
prof. jordan contains sou,a novelties, rarttcs
and other spec!nleus oi sufficient Interest lcsir