The record-union., 1896-04-30

bases of the dorsal and anal fins, the
smaller number of rays in the pectoraI
fins (there being thirteen or fourteen
instead of sixteen or seventeen), and
the lesser hight of the spinous dorsal
Numerous as have been the geological
names, they are outnumbered by the
popular names still in use in different
localities. Charlevoix, a Jesuit mis-
sionary, who explored Canada in 1121,
mentions fish called "Achigan," which
is thought to have been the large
mouth. An earlier allusion to this spe-
cies, which in the Southern States is
still called Trout" occurs in the writ
ings of Rene de Laudonniere, who de-
scribes the incidents of the first HUI
guenot expedition to Florida in 1867,
under command of Jean Ribault. The
large-mouth is known in the Great
Lake region, especially in Northern
New York, as the "Oswego Bass" This
name should not be confounded with
"Otsego Bass" a local name for the
common whitefish. In Kentucky it is
called Jumper; in Indiana, Moss
Bass; in the Southern States, gener-
ally Trout" though on the Tar River
of North Carolina it is called "Chub, !"
and on the Neuse ''Welshman.'
The small-mouth shares with the
large-mouth in the Southern States the
names Jumper" Perch" and Trout"
and in Alabama, according to Professor
Jordan, it is called the Mountain
Trout
Both species are very widely distrib-
uted over the Atlantic slope of the con-
tinent east of the Rocky Mountains,
and their range is probably much wider
than is now supposed, for many of our
northern and western waters are uneX-
plored. The large-mouth and the small
mouth dwell together in the Great
Lakes, and in the upper parts of the
st. Lawrence and Mississippi basins.
The small-mouth is found north to lat
itude Al degrees and west to Wiscon-
sin, while southwark it ranges to lati-
tude 33 degrees, where Professor Jor-
dan found it in the headwaters of the
Chattahooche and Ocmulgee Rivers, the
latter being the only instance of its
presence in a stream emptying east of
the Alleghenies into which it is not
known to have been introduced by man.
The large-mouth ranges farther to the
west and north, occurring in the Red
River of the North, perhaps as far as
Manitoba, in latitude so degrees. 1t
abounds in all the rivers of the South
ern States, from the James to the st.
John, and in the lower reaches of the
streams and bayous connected with the
Gulf of Mexico, around to Texas, in
latitude q degrees.
To the waters Of New England and
the eastern part of the Middle States
they are not native. The small-mouths
hQi
1926 or soon after, through the newly
opened Erie Canal, and they have since
been introduced by man into hundreds
Of Eastern lakes and rivers. Many cir
cumstances suggest the idea that in the
early days, before the various drainage
systems were connected by canals, the
distribution limits of the two species
were much more sharply defined, the
large-mouth inhabiting, perhaps, the
upper part of the basin of the Great
Lakes and ST. Lawrence and the rivers
of the Southern seaboard, while the
small-mouth was found chiefly in the
northern part of the Mississippi basin.
This theory can never be demonstrated,
however, for the early ichthyologists
had not adopted the accurate methods
of study now in use, and their descrip-
good enough to guess by. The ming
ling Of the two forms might have been
accomplished in an incredibly short
time. A few young bass will multiply
so rapidly as to stock a large lake in
FIVE years. The Potomac and its trib-
utaries swarmed with them ten years
after their first introduction.
The angler finds them at the proper
Tnx~ Hvy-h -hnO
trolling-spoon or still-bait, and always
ready for struggle which puts his rod
and line to a severe test. Their leaps
are almost as powerful as those of the
salmon. The negro fishermen Of Flor
ida often surround body Of large
mouths with a seine, but as the lines
are hauled in and the arc grows smaller
the dark forms Of the trout begin to
appear, springing over the cork line
and returning, with splash and jet
of spray, to liberty. l have seen them
rise five or six feet above the water.
They are said to be taken best at night,
or when the river is high and the water
muddy Otherwise they leap over the
seine. Expert seiners coil their nets in
such manner as to prevent the escape
of part Of the school. The small-mouths
are said, generally, to prefer deep or
swift. cool waters, while the large
mouths live in muddy, black pools, or
in the shelter of old stumps and ledges.
In Florida they lurk among the lily
pads and aquatic plants in shallow,
| dark streams, where they FEED on
| grub called the bonnet worm, which
| burrows in the flower buds of the bon
nets or yellow water lilies (Nuphar
/ advena).
! Concerning their spawning habits,
Mr.. Hallock, of the Blooming Grove AS
| sociation, wrote in 1879: -Four years
| ago 113 black bass from Lake Erie We're
placed in Lake Giles, and their progeny
| has increased so fast as TO insure Sood
| sport to the angler at any time. Ihe
/ late spawners are now (early July) IN
| their gravel beds, in the shallow waters
| along shore, protecting either their
| spawn or their newly hatched fry, as the
| case may be. 1t is interesting to note
| the pertinacity with which they guard
| their precious charges, and the Vigor
/ with which they drive away depredators
| and intruders of all kinds. They will
/ frequently allow a boat to pass over
| them, scarcely six inches above their
! backs, and obstinately keep their
| ground. Sunfish and such are impelled
| to keep their distance. There are hun
dreds of these bowl-shaped excavations,
| eighteen inches or so in diameter, all
| along the sandy shallow shores of this
| lake. which is very clear, and in the
| center some seventy feet deep. fed by
| bottom springs"
| THEIR HATCHING.
| The eggs are much smaller than those