M. O. A. L. Morch on Concholoyical Nomenclature. 135 



mittee of the British Association has advanced the doctrine that 

 no name older than the twelfth edition of the ' Systema Natural 

 can be recognized ; but it is evident that Linnaeus fully established 

 his binomial nomenclature in the tenth edition, — a work which 

 would have been sufficient for the introduction of that system even 

 if the twelfth edition had never appeared. In 1756, species were 

 for the first time distinguished by a word instead of a phrase. 

 The specific names of Linnaeus could not, however, have existed 

 without genera to which they could be referred, " uti campana 

 sine pistillo;" and generic divisions and names had in fact been 

 in use long before. In 1735 appeared the first edition of the 

 ' Systema Naturae/ in which all organic nature was divided into 

 Classes, Orders, and genera, in accordance with the laws pub- 

 lished by the author in the following year, 1736, in his l Funda- 

 menta Botanica/ the soundness of which has since been gene- 

 rally acknowledged. The Linnsean aera commences therefore 

 with that year, and not with the date of his last work, because 

 it is the spirit of his system that we adopt, and not his nomen- 

 clature, which is now entirely changed. His method was im- 

 mediately followed by several naturalists (Hill, Patrick Browne, 

 Adanson, &c.) long before the twelfth edition of the ( Systema 

 Naturae ' appeared. Ray and Willughby were the first who in- 

 troduced good genera, as Linnaeus himself acknowledges. In 

 the works of these authors names were introduced, such as Felis, 

 Leo, Tigris ; but these names are not truly generic, but verna- 

 cular ; and for that reason also the names of Aristotle, Pliny, 

 Gesner, Buonanni, &c, cannot be adopted. 



Again, it is objected that some genera " were never charac- 

 terized." If a generic character is required as a sine qua non, 

 it is necessary that such a character should be a true one ; but 

 this character will always be changing according to the different 

 views of authors at different periods. The generic character is 

 a good guide, but not a necessity, for the professional zoologist, 

 who must be able to judge among the specific characters which 

 are of generic and which of specific value. The first process in 

 establishing a genus is to select those species which possess 

 characteristics not found in other genera ; and from these, again, 

 to choose the most characteristic as the type. No definition at 

 all is better than one that is inaccurate. The genera Ranella 

 and Triton are established upon the position of the varices of 

 their shells ; and although many species have since been dis- 

 covered without any varices, the genera must nevertheless be 

 considered as established. The genus Cylindrella now contains 

 many species differing from the original definition. 



What is the type of a genus ? — The Committee of the British 

 Association maintains that the species first mentioned must be 



10* 



