220 NATURAL SCIENCE. April, 



preparation of a mere list would be an enormous undertaking : we 

 learn from Dr. David Sharp and the workers on the Zoological Record 

 that there are 386,000 recent species ; no one has reckoned the 

 number of extinct species. Some such work as the " Index generum 

 et specierum animalium," now being compiled with a minimum of 

 support and under constant difficulties by Mr. Charles Davies Sher- 

 born, must form the basis of any such synopsis as that here proposed. 

 The first duty of naturalists is to help Mr. Sherborn, who works at 

 the British Museum under a Committee of the British Association. 

 We also have to consider what is to be done when our list is com- 

 pleted. First of all, it must constantly be kept up to date. It seems 

 to us that some restriction will have to be laid upon the place and 

 manner of publication of new specific names, and we would suggest 

 that, when the time comes, no specific name should be recognised 

 unless it be entered by the author at some central office, together with 

 a properly published copy of the work in which the description 

 appears. The name would then be checked, dated, and placed at 

 once in the Index. 



It is not contended that the acceptance of our proposal would 

 obviate the need for a code of nomenclature. But it would be a far 

 simpler code, free from the doubt as to whether its rules were to be 

 retrospective ; and its action would be uniform and stringent. Nor 

 is it contended that the validity of a name carries with it the validity 

 of a species. For the stability of nomenclature, it would be advisable 

 to include in the list as many names as possible, and to leave to 

 specialists the duty of deciding on the distinctness and systematic 

 position of species. But whether our aim be the completion of an 

 Index, the compilation of a Synopsis, or the construction of a Code, it 

 is necessary that there should be absolute and loyal co-operation 

 between zoologists of every kind and every country, since by this 

 means alone can the required sanction be obtained. 



The Taming of the Shrews. 



We have lately received, from the U.S. Department of Agricul- 

 ture, " North American Fauna, No. 10," which contains a " Revision 

 of the Shrews of the North American Genera Blarina and Notiosorex" 

 and a " Synopsis of the American Shrews of the Genus Sorex," both 

 written by Dr. C. Hart Merriam, Chief of the Division of Ornithology 

 and Mammalogy ; also a paper upon " The Long-tailed Shrews of the 

 Eastern United States," by Mr. Gerrit S. Miller, junr., of Cambridge,. 

 Mass. Here, as in previous contributions that we have received, 

 Dr. Merriam manifests his great ability, thoroughness, and fair dealing, 

 together with his pleasant manner of making the dryer details inte- 

 resting and a clear way of putting forward his views. He supposes 

 the short-tailed shrews to have originated in the south, while the long- 

 tailed shrews came from the north. He does not, we presume,. 



