272 Propositions for rendering the Nomenclature of 



(from Cypselus and Tanagra), Merulaxis (Merula and Synallaxis), Loxigilla 

 (Loxia and Fringilla), &c. In other cases, where the commencement of both 

 the simple words is retained in the compound, a fault is still committed by 

 cutting off too much of the radical and vital portions, as is the case in Bu- 

 corvus (from Buceros and Corvus), Ninox (Nisus and Noctua), &c. 



p. Nonsense names. — Some authors having found difficulty in selecting ge- 

 neric names which have not been used before, have adopted the plan of coining 

 words at random without any derivation or meaning whatever. The following 

 are examples : Viralva, Xema, Azeca, Assiminia, Quedius, Spisula. To the 

 same class we may refer anagrams of other generic names, as Dacelo and Ce~ 

 dola of Alcedo, Zapomia of Porzana, &c. Such verbal trifling as this is in 

 very bad taste, and is especially calculated to bring the science into contempt. 

 It finds no precedent in the Augustan age of Latin, but can be compared only 

 to the puerile quibblings of the middle ages. It is contrary to the genius of 

 all languages, which appear never to produce new words by spontaneous ge- 

 neration, but always to derive them from some other source, however distant 

 or obscure. And it is peculiarly annoying to the etymologist, who after seek- 

 ing in vain through the vast storehouses of human language for the parentage 

 of such words, discovers at last that he has been pursuing an ignis fatuus. 



q. Names previously cancelled by the operation of § 6. — Some authors con- 

 sider that when a name has been reduced to a synonym by the operations of 

 the laws of priority, they are then at liberty to apply it at pleasure to any new 

 group which may be in want of a name. We consider, however, that when a 

 word has once been proposed in a given sense, and has afterwards sunk into 

 a synonym, it is far better to lay it aside for ever than to run the risk of ma- 

 king confusion by re-issuing it with a new meaning attached. 



r. Specific names raised into generic. — It has sometimes been the practice* 

 in subdividing an old genus to give to the lesser genera so formed, the names 

 of their respective typical species. Our Rule IS authorizes the forming a 

 new specific name in such cases ; but we further wish to state our objections 

 to the practice altogether. Considering as we do that the original specific 

 names should as far as possible be held sacred, both on the grounds of justice 

 to their authors and of practical convenience to naturalists, we would strongly 

 dissuade from the further continuance of a practice which is gratuitous in itself, 

 and which involves the necessity of altering long-established specific names. 



We have now pointed out the principal rocks and shoals which lie in the 

 path of the nomenclator ; and it will be seen that the navigation through 

 them is by no means easy. The task of constructing a language which shall 

 supply the demands of scientific accuracy on the one hand, and of literary 

 elegance on the other, is not to be inconsiderately undertaken by unqualified 

 persons. Our nomenclature presents but too many flaws and inelegancies 

 already, and as the stern law of priority forbids their removal, it follows that 

 they must remain as monuments of the bad taste or bad scholarship of their 

 authors to the latest ages in which zoology shall be studied. 



[Families to end in idae, and Subfamilies in inse.] 

 The practice suggested in the following proposition has been adopted by 

 many recent authors, and its simplicity and convenience is so great that we 

 strongly recommend its universal use. 



§ B. It is recommended that the assemblages of genera termed fa- 

 milies should be uniformly named by adding the termination idee to 



