96 Prof. Newton on the Assignation 



of a type to any of his genera ; and the only mode of avoid- 

 ing errors in so doing, is by making him the interpreter of 

 his own intentions. It is not that we have to put ourselves 

 in his place, but to imagine him put in ours, and called on 

 to show which he would consider his type species according 

 to modern ideas. 



Fortunately this process is by no means so difficult to effect 

 as might at first sight appear; and, after some study, I think the 

 types of Linnaean genera can be determined to the satisfaction 

 of any reasonable mind, accurately in more than two thirds 

 of the cases, and within very narrow limits in several others. 

 All naturalists have long been accustomed to look upon Lin- 

 naeus as a great reformer ; and so he unquestionably was ; but 

 he showed himself in nothing greater than in the manner of 

 effecting his reforms. Wherever he could he built on ancient 

 foundations. No man could be more conservative than he in 

 retaining, when possible, an old name ; and hence it only re- 

 quires some degree of attention to the works of his prede- 

 cessors, to hunt down almost every name used by him, and, 

 so far as ornithology is concerned, care and common sense 

 seem to be all that is wanted. When w^e find Linnseus using 

 an old name, we generally find him citing the author from 

 whom he borrows it ; and therefore the discovery of its origin 

 costs but little trouble ; for we all know that the amount of 

 ornithological literature in his day was very small. 



Of the 78 genera which Linnaeus, in the 12th edition of 

 his ' Systema Naturae," established for the class Aves, I can- 

 not find more than twelve the name of which he can be said 

 to have invented ; and I will not answer for it that the use of 

 some of these by prior or contemporary authors may not have 

 escaped me. Howbeit these twelve seem to be : — 



Rhamphastos, Diomedea, Myderia, Didus, 



Buceros, Phaeton, Cancroma, Numida, 



Procellaria, Palamedea, Parra, Pipra. 



All the rest are names adopted from his predecessors, by whom 

 the majority were used absolutely and in a specific sense. 

 When this was the case there can scarcely be a reasonable 



