36 On the arbitrary Alteration of 



In concluding these very imperfect remarks on Walton 

 Hall, I am sure that every one who, like myself, has shared 

 the hospitality and enjoyments of a visit to this second White 

 of Selborne, will join with me in these words of the Latin 

 poet: — 



" Hinc tibi copia 



Manabit ad plenum benigno, 

 Ruris honorum opulenta coinu." 



Here to thee shall plenty flow, 



And all her riches show, 



To raise the honour of the quiet plain.' 



Closebum Hall, Nov. 22. 1834. 



[The following particulars have been derived from another 

 source : — 



" W^alton Park consists of 260 acres. The wall around it 

 is, for above a mile, 10 ft. high; the remainder of it, 9ft. at 

 the lowest part. There is no public road or footpath through 

 this park, and no gun is ever allowed, upon any score, to be 

 fired in it. The park abounds with fine timber; and Mr. 

 Waterton, in laying out some new grounds about twenty-six 

 years ago, did every thing that love for birds could suggest, 

 to make them come and settle there. This protection to the 

 birds enables them to perform their daily functions without 

 fear and trembling. 



" In the centre of the park is a sheet of water, of 24 acres 

 in extent ; upon which, in winter, from 2000 to 3000 wild 

 fowl may sometimes be seen. In the lake is a rock, and on 

 this rock stands Walton Hall; now a modern building, but, 

 in times long gone by, a place of strength. "J 



Art. III. On the arbitrary Alteration of established Terms in 

 Natural History. By Hugh E. Strickland, Esq. 



" Trivial Names ought never to be changed without the most urgent 

 necessity." — Fabricius. 



I would offer a few remarks on a practice which appears 

 to me to be highly detrimental to the progress of natural his- 

 tory. I allude to the custom, which seems to be daily gaining 

 ground, of altering the established generic and specific names 

 of natural objects, without any sufficient reason for so doing. 

 I have frequently noticed the commission of this offence by 

 writers both in this Magazine and in other modern periodi- 

 cals; but I never met with a more barefaced instance of it 



