1905] Pease, Accentuation of Generic Names 159 
once apparent, the difficulties narrow themselves to those words in 
whose penults vowels whose quantity is not obvious precede single 
consonants. The quantity of the penultimate vowels of Latin and 
Greek words is generally known, either from derivation or from use 
of the words in poetry. Thus Homer, Iliad xxi. 350, corrects the 
Manual pronunciation of PTELEA and Irea and proves that of 
Myrica. Words, however, which do not occur in Greek or Latin 
poetry but merely in prose are sometimes uncertain (eg. CARDAMINE, 
ELATINE). Uncertainty as to the etymologies of some words (such 
as VERONICA, ARNICA, ABUTILON) is a great obstacle to the deter- 
mination of the proper accent. The quantities also of the penul- 
timate vowels of many native words are uncertain and await the 
attention of persons conversant with the languages from which 
these names are drawn. In such cases, until positive evidence is 
forthcoming, a deviation from current usage is undesirable, and 
indeed we may count ourselves fortunate when usage does not split 
upon this very point. 
In the case of names formed from. proper names by the addition 
of -a, it has been a convenient custom arbitrarily to consider penul- 
timate a, o, or was long and e, ¢, or y as short: BERTEROA; MUNROA 
not Múnroa as in the Manual; LisrERA ; LÍPPIA; etc. 
These preliminary remarks are intended to apply to the so-called 
‘English method’ of pronouncing Latin, so firmly established in this 
country for scientific names that nothing short of a revolution in 
pronunciation could supplant it. But while this system differs in 
the sounds given to various vowels and consonants from other more 
correct systems its theory of accentuation is in agreement with other 
methods. 
I shall now speak of certain generic names incorrectly accented 
.in Gray's Manual, grouping them in two lists: 1) of names in 
which the mistaken quantity of the vowel has led to placing the 
accent on the wrong syllable; 2) of cases in which the accent 
is placed on the correct syllable but in which the length of the 
vowel of that syllable is wrongly indicated. For the accented 
syllables I shall employ the notation used in the Manual, the 
grave accent indicating a long vowel and the acute ' a short vowel. 
t. CAUCALIS not Caucalis 1 
ERIGENIA not Ærigènia. From s9pvyévea, a Homeric epithet of 
Dawn. 
