The Thoreau
Institute at Walden Woods Library
Thoreau's Life &
Writings: Correspondence
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HDT to James
Elliot Cabot
Concord, 08 May 1847
Dear
Sir.—
I believe that
I have not yet acknowledged the receipt of your notes, and a five
dollar bill. I am very glad that the fishes afforded Mr..Agassiz so
much pleasure. I could easily have obtained more specimens of the Sternothaerus
odoratus; they are quite numerous here. I will send more of them
erelong. Snapping turtles are perhaps as frequently met with in our
muddy river as anywhere, but they are not always to be had when
wanted. It is now rather late in the season for them. As no one
makes a business of seeking them, and they are valued for soups,
science may be forestalled by appetite in this market, and it will
be necessary to bid pretty high to induce persons to obtain or
preserve them. I think that from seventy-five cents to a dollar
apiece would secure all that are in any case to be had, and will set
this price upon their heads, if the treasury of science is full
enough to warrant it.
You will excuse me for taking toll in the
shape of some, it may be, impertinent and unscientific inquiries.
There are found in the waters of Concord, so far as I know, the
following kinds of fishes:—
Pickerel.
Besides the common, fishermen distinguish the Brook, or Grass
Pickerel, which bites differently, and has a shorter snout. Those
caught in Walden, hard by my house, are easily distinguished from
those caught in the river, being much heavier in proportion to their
size, stouter, firmer fleshed, and lighter colored. The little
pickerel which I sent last, jumped into the boat in its
fright.
Pouts. Those in the pond are of
different appearance from those I have sent.
Breams. Some more green, others more
brown.
Suckers. The horned, which I sent
first, and the black. I am not sure whether the Common or Boston
sucker is found here. Are the three which I sent last, which
were speared in the river, identical with the three black suckers,
taken by hand in the brook, which I sent before? I have never
examined them minutely.
Perch. The river perch, of which I
sent five specimens in the box, are darker colored than those found
in the pond. There are myriads of small ones in the latter place,
and but few large 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 Crysoleucas,
silver and golden.
What is the difference?
Roach or Chivin, 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 know ledge. 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-finned Minnows, of which I sent
you a dozen alive. I have never recognized these in any book. 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.<ep> 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, tortoises,
snakes, caddice-worms, leeches, muscles, etc., or rather, here
they are. The funds which you sent are nearly exhausted. Most
fishes can now be taken with the hook and it will cost but little
trouble or money to obtain them. The snapping turtles will be the
main expense. I should think that five dollars more at least might
be profitably expended here.
A
Note on the Text:
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Source:
The Correspondence of Henry David Thoreau edited by
Walter Harding and Carl Bode (New York: New York University
Press, c1958) p. 179-180.
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