334 LIFE AT DOWN. ^TAT. 33-45- [i249. 



have, and would give it to me, I should be truly obliged, for I 

 grudge buying the volume for it. I have found the rules very 

 useful, it is quite a comfort to have something to rest on in 

 the turbulent ocean of nomenclature (and am accordingly 

 gratefal to you), though I find it very difficult to obey always. 

 Here is a case (and I think it should have been noticed in the 

 rules), Coronula, Cineras and Otion, are names adopted by 

 Cuvier, Lamarck, Owen, and almost every well-known writer, 

 but I find that all three names were anticipated by a German : 

 now I believe if I were to follow the strict rule of priority, 

 more harm would be done than good, and more especially as 

 I feel sure that the newly fished-up names would not be 

 adopted. I have almost made up my mind to reject the rule 

 of priority in this case ; would you grudge the trouble to send 

 me your opinion ? I have been led of late to reflect much on 

 the subject of naming, and I have come to a fixed opinion 

 that the plan of the first describer's name, being appended 

 for perpetuity to a species, had been the greatest curse to 

 Natural History. Some months since, I wrote out the en- 

 closed badly drawn-up paper, thinking that perhaps I would 

 agitate the subject ; but the fit has passed, and I do not sup- 

 pose I ever shall ; I send it you for the chance of your caring 

 to see my notions. I have been surprised to find in con- 

 versation that several naturalist were of nearly my way of 

 thinking. I feel sure as long as species-mongers have their 

 vanity tickled by seeing their own names appended to a 

 species, because they miserably described it in two or three 

 lines, we shall have the same vast amount of bad w^ork as at 

 present, and which is enough to dishearten any man who is 

 willing to work out any branch with care and time. I find 

 every genus of Cirripedia has half-a-dozen names, and not 

 one careful description of any one species in any one genus. 

 I do not believe that this would have been the case if each 

 man knew that the memory of his own name depended on his 

 doing his work well, and not upon merely appending a name 

 with a few wretched lines indicating only a few prominent 

 external characters. But I will not weary you with any 



