Page:Familiar letters of Henry David Thoreau.djvu/176

 152 GOLDEN AGE OF ACHIEVEMENT. [1847,

ones. I have counted ten transverse bands on some of the smaller.

Lampreys. Very scarce since the dams at Lowell and Billerica were built.

Shiners. Leuciscus chrysoleucas, silver and golden.

What is the difference ?

Roach or Chiverin, Leuciscus pulchellus, argenteus, or what not. The white and the red. The former described by Storer, but the latter, which deserves distinct notice, not described, to my knowledge. Are the minnows (called here dace), of which I sent three live specimens, I believe, one larger and two smaller, the young of this species?

Trout. Of different appearance in different brooks in this neighborhood.

Eels.

Red-Jinned Minnows, of which I sent you a dozen alive. I have never recognized them in any books. Have they any scientific name ?

If convenient, will you let Dr. Storer see these brook minnows ? There is also a kind of dace or fresh-water smelt in the pond, which is, perhaps, distinct from any of the above. What of the above does M. Agassiz particularly wish to see ? Does he want more specimens of kinds which I have already sent ? There are also minks, muskrats, frogs, lizards, tortoise, snakes,