10 MAMMALS OF THE PACIFIC WORLD 



of scientific classification and nomenclature, gave man this 

 name. 



The scientific name of a species always consists of two words : 

 the first or generic name, analogous to a surname, begins with 

 a capital letter; the second or specific name, equivalent to a 

 Christian name, in Zoology begins with a small letter. Scientific 

 names should be printed in italics. 



In technical work races or geographic varieties, called sub- 

 species, are often recognized. A third Latin name is added to 

 the specific name of a new variety, and the second name of the 

 variety originally described is repeated. Man is divided into 

 several races; the white race bears the scientific name Homo 

 sapiens sapiens. In this handbook little attention except in the 

 monkeys is paid to such races because of limitations of time 

 and size. But the idea underlies much of the discussion. 



Finally we come to that indivisible element, the individual. 

 Just as no two people are entirely alike, and as a human race 

 contains many diverse individuals, so wild mammals vary indi- 

 vidually; no two are precisely alike. This individual variation 

 has been appreciated only recently, and its study is a difiicult 

 and lengthy task. Only by accumulating large numbers of 

 specimens can it be solved, which is one reason why many of the 

 mammals described here are of doubtful status — why we do 

 not always yet know whether they are actual species, races, or 

 merely individual variants. 



Measurements of mammals in scientific and foreign books and 

 articles are usually given in units of the metric system, com- 

 monly in millimeters. In this book, for the convenience of those 

 who do not readily estimate size in this more efficient system, 

 inches, feet, and yards are used. To find the metric equivalents, 

 inches are multiplied by 25 to give millimeters. 



