4 HOYLE, Generic Names Octopus, Eledone, and Histiopsis. 



it as " nOAY'nOYS antiquoruvi " and " POLYPUS 

 Rondeletii" In a later work ('5'^) the word '' antiquomni " 

 appears as a specific name, chiving colour to the supposi- 

 tion that he looked back to Aristotle as the creator 

 of the genus, which is rendered still more likely by his 

 quoting Eledone as " 'EAEA^'NH Aristotclis." There is 

 no evidence that he was acquainted with Schneider's 

 work. 



Gray ('40), curiously enough, adopts the genus 

 Teuihis, and gives a correct reference to Schneider's work 

 (except that the page should be 113 not 112); in the 

 s}-nonymy of the genus Sepiola, however, is an entry 

 " Octopodia sp. ScJuieid. Saminl. Venn. Abli. 116, 1784" : 

 under Eledone we have " Moschites Schneider, Sannnl. 

 Venn. Abhandl. 1835" and under Eledone nioschatus we 

 find " Moschites Schneider, Collect de div. Dissert.',' which 

 suggests very strongly the idea that Gray was quoting at 

 second hand. This is confirmed by finding a precisely 

 similar form of reference in Ferussac and d'Orbigny's 

 monumental work ('^5). We may therefore fairly con- 

 clude that Gray knew nothing of Schneider's memoir, but 

 merely filled up his pages with unverified references. 



In any case the fact remains that a serious contribu- 

 tion to our knowledge of these animals has been most 

 unaccountably neglected. In answer to the question 

 " Why rake it up again ? " I can only say that there 

 appears to me to be only one hope for deliverance from the 

 Babel which now reigns in zoological nomenclature and 

 that is a rigid application of the law of priority as far 

 back as the tenth edition of Linnc's " Systema natur.-t" 

 (1758). There is only a limited amount of literature to 

 be examined ; much of the work has been already done, 

 and what remains will be greatly facilitated by the issue 

 of Mr. Sherborn's invaluable index. Then we may hope 



