I.] INTRODUCTION. Xxiii 



unfortunate state of things certainly retarded scientific 

 progress in Great Britain to a very great extent; and 

 the friendly sympathy which now exists between the 

 naturalists of all countries cannot be sufficiently ap- 

 preciated. In one sense the multiplication of species 

 and addition of synonyms are convertible terms ; and 

 that is^ where local varieties have been described and 

 raised to the rank of species. This evil it is impossible 

 to prevent ; but as science does not march '' pede claudOy" 

 but regularly and steadily, it is to be hoped that each 

 succeeding year will bring with further discoveries the 

 occasional publication of monographs by experienced na- 

 turalists, so as gradually to rectify this crying evil. The 

 introduction to the ^ Flora Indica/ by Drs. Hooker and 

 Thomson, contains a valuable remark which deserves the 

 attention of zoologists as well as botanists, viz., " The 

 discovery of a form uniting two others, previously thought 

 distinct, is much more important than that of a totally 

 new species, inasmuch as the coiTcction of an error is a 

 greater boon to science than a step in advance.^^ 



Nomenclature. — Very often the longest and most un- 

 pronounceable names have been bestowed on minute 

 and almost microscopic species. When the student meets 

 with such names as Cerithiopsis tubercularis and Omalo- 

 gyra nitidisslma, he is scarcely prepared to find that one 

 of the objects designated by these more than sesqui- 

 pedalian words is scarcely more than a quarter of an 

 inch in length, and that the other is only about one- 

 fifteenth of an inch in diameter ! There is, however, no 

 way of preventing this abuse of language for scientific 

 purposes, except by making a new coinage; and this 

 would be attended with more inconvenience to naturalists 

 in the substitution of new for old and familiar names, 

 than in the retention of a few long words. 



