PREFACE. 13 



As the species alone is fixed', it were well to consider 

 the specific name once imposed as unalterable ; and up- 

 on this principle I shall always proceed, unless that 

 name has become liable to serious objections. The spe- 

 cific names imposed by Linnaeus, the first great reform- 

 er of natural history, ought to be held inviolable ; and 

 a specific name ought never to be converted into a ge- 

 neric one, when a group is broken up. The reason of 

 this is obvious, and deviations from the rule as obvious- 

 ly result from the desire of appending the so anxious- 

 ly coveted '* mihi." It is the duty of every one desi- 

 rous of advancing the science to pluck the borrowed 

 plumes from those jackdaws. Should the knowing cri- 

 tic discover any spurious feathers on my occipital re- 

 gion, or elsewhere, I request of him to blow them off. 

 From the professed ornithologists T expect little fa- 

 vour, and very certain it is that I desire none. 



I have observed that students of natural history fol- 

 low very different paths in the acquisition of knowledge. 

 Some are merely desirous of knowing objects by name. 

 They learn to distinguish the skins of birds in a mu- 

 seum, the shells in a cabinet, and the plants in a her- 

 barium, by fixing upon one or two characters ; and they 

 believe that the description of a species may with ad- 

 vantage be confined to a dozen words : — Homo sapiens. 

 Erectus, capite subgloboso, pedibus duobus, cauda ob- 

 soleta. It is in vain to argue with such persons. They 

 hate every thing that they deem superfluous, dock their 



