364 Bales for Rendering the Nomenclature of Zoology Uniform. 



such as too closely approximate words already adopted. So witli 

 respect to species, the judicious naturalist will aim ut variety of desig- 

 nation, and Avill not, for example, call a species vireiis, or virescens, in a 

 genus which already possesses a virldis. 



0. Corrupted words. — In the construction of compound Latin words, 

 there are certain grammatical rules which have been known, and acted 

 on for two thousand years, and which a naturalist is bound to acquaint 

 himself with, before he tries his skill in coining zoological terms. One 

 of the chief of these rules is, that in compounding words, all the radi- 

 cal or essential parts of the constituent members must be retained, and 

 no change made except in the variable termiuations. But several 

 generic names have been lately introduced which run counter to this 

 rule, and form most unsightly objects to all who are conversant with 

 the spirit of the Latin language. A name made up of the first half 

 of one word, and the last half of another, is as deformed a monster in 

 nomenclature as a mermaid or a centaur would be in zoology ; yet we 

 find examples in the names Corcorax (from Corvus and Pyrrlwcorax), 

 Cypsnagra (from Cypselm and Tanagrd), Merulaxis (^Menda and Lynal- 

 laxis), Loxkjilla (Loxia and Fringilla), etc. In other cases, when 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- Bucorvus (from Buceros and Corvus'), Ninox 

 (^Nisus and Noctua), etc. 



p. No7isense names. — Some authors having found difficulty in select- 

 ing generic 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, Assim- 

 inia, Quedius, Spisida. To the same class we may refer anagrams of 

 other generic names, as Dacelo and Cedolu of Alcedo, Zapornia oiDorzana^ 

 etc. 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 

 c[uibblings of the Middle Ages. It is contrary to the genius of all lan- 

 guages, which appear never to produce new words by spontaneous 

 generation, but always to derive them from some Other source, how- 

 ever distant or obscure. And it is peculiarly annoying to the 

 etymologist, who, after seeking in vain through the vast store-house of 

 human language for the parentage of such words, discovers at last that 

 he has been pursuing an ignis fatuus. 



q. Na lies previously canceled by the operation of § 6. — Some authors 

 consider that when a name has been reduced to a synonym by the 

 operations of the laws of priority, they are then at liberty to ap^Jy it 



