CORRESPONDENCE. 



Emendations of Nomenclature. 



With all due deference to the Editor, I must confess to agreeing with " Macaulay's 

 Schoolboy," that in certain cases the emendation of generic and specific names is 

 not only pardonable but imperative. Such small alterations as the addition of an 

 aspirate or the change of a letter can scarcely afTect the intelligibility of a namei 

 Take, for instance, Oxynoticeras which should be Oxynotoceras, — serrodens, serridens, — 

 heterogeimvi, hetei'ogenes. These alterations are desirable, though I own that, copying 

 others, I have allowed the incorrect forms to pass. Again, what warrant is there 

 for the declension of nanus and capricorniis as adjectives, giving them the endings 

 a, um when they are substantives ? Is not StraparoUus derived from a man's 

 name, and, therefore, to be written StraparolUa, so as to avoid sending anyone on a 

 wild-goose chase through Latin and Greek dictionaries for its derivation ? As to 

 more serious alterations, the proposed changing of barbarous compounds of a man's 

 name with ichthys or ceras into mere ia, I personally agree with, but I consider, if they 

 are to be carried out, that there should be a statute of limitations in those cases — 

 say 20 years; and that older names should be exempt. Although scientific nomen- 

 clature is for scientific men, it is certainly desirable that they should do their best 

 to conform to classical usage. 



S. S. BUCKMAN. 



Elementary Zoology. 



Can you or any of your readers recommend me a cheap but correct book dealing 

 with the general anatomy of common marine animals, such as are commonly pre- 

 served in the fossil state? I would specially instance the mussel, cockle, oyster, 

 whelk, cuttle-fish, sea-urchin, sea-anemone (as an example of an Actinozoan), crab, 

 lobster, some brachiopod and Flustra, or any common Bryozoan. One is constantly 

 being asked about some such book, but the few that I know are either too expensive, 

 too old-fashioned, or too technical for the beginner. 



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