54 Proposed new name for the genus Proteus. 



any other of the like sciences, should receive the same name, 

 — it is fit that one of these two genera of Proteus be changed. 

 Laurenti, when he gave that name to his new amphibious 

 animal, seems not to have been aware that it had already been 

 bestowed upon a minute animal, belonging to the last order 

 of the lowest class of the Animal Kingdom. Another rule 

 also prevails in Natural History; which is this, — that the 

 name of a second animal, or plant, &c. to which the same ge- 

 neric appellation shall have been given, shall yield the pre- 

 ference to the one which was first so designated ; — hence, we 

 must ascertain which of the two animals is able to claim the 

 priority of that term. Roesel, I find, discovered the infusori- 

 al! animalcule which he has described under the title of * der 

 kleine Proteus,' i. e. — P. minutus, at p. 621, vol. 8, of his 'In- 

 secten,' which was published in the year 1755. Now Lau- 

 renti did not give to the world his account and name of the 

 P. anguinus until the year 1768, in his work entitled — ' Spe- 

 cimen Medicum exhibens Synopsin Keptilium ; ' and this was 

 the first notice of it that had ever appeared. Wherefore it is 

 evident that the least of these animals is the most worthy of, 

 and ought strictly to retain, that generic term. But, since the 

 amphibious creature is now so well known by that appella- 

 tion, and since, in all probability, he is wont, (amongst other 

 tiny food), to devour some myriads of his aquatic namesake, 

 it would, in this case, be manifestly injudicious to change it : I 

 therefore propose to call the infusorian genus, Thetis* instead 

 of Proteus, in order to bear in mind the tale of Proteus and 

 Thetis, in Ovid's elegant verses. — (Vide Met. XI. fab. 7). — 

 And the name of Thetis is especially appropriate to this ani- 

 malcule, because as she "centum mentita figuras," — so this 

 diminutive creature, in the words of Lamark, "jamais ne se 

 presente une minute de suite, sous la meme forme," — several 

 •of whose different forms are well represented in the 101st 

 plate of RoeseFs Insects. There appear to be only two spe- 

 cies, viz. Thetis dijffluens, and T. ten ax, which are described 

 by Bosc in his Histoire des Vers, torn. 3, p. 258, and fey La- 

 marck, in torn. 1, p. 416, Hist. Nat. des Animaux sans Verte- 

 bres. — Viator. London, Dec. 22nd, 1837. 



* I have had some trouble in ascertaining -whether any genus in Zoology is 

 already dedicated to Thetis, but, as far as I can find, there is none. If there 

 be, of course, I have fallen into the very same mistake, which I have here 

 wished to remedy ; and then the infusorian Proteus must be re-named. An 

 alphabetical List of all the names of the families, genera, species, and their 

 synonymes, in every branch of Natural History, with references to the au- 

 thors, is much wanted, and would prove of great assistance to Naturalists, 



