( Ivi ) 



nomenclature is to be respected at all, are the rules upon which 

 our nomenclature must be based, even tliough at times a 

 certain laxity is now advisable in regard to rigid adherence. 

 Advocates of original spelling either seek to save themselves 

 trouble or seek to conceal their ignorance of orthography. A 

 few days ago I was reading some " reasons " for rejecting 

 "emendations," and the answer to them is absurdly easy. 

 They were — " 1. They are fatal to stability in nomenclature," 

 to which the answer is that ignorance and cacography are 

 fatal to stabilit}' in nomenclature, and consequently must be 

 ejected." " 2. It is sometimes very difficult to say what is 

 absolutely the ideally classical form of a name." Everybody 

 admits that, and nobod}- tiies to turn Rhinoceros into Cerator- 

 rhinus. " 3. Names are names, and nothing more," is simply 

 answered by the fact, the names used in Natui-al History under 

 the binomial nomenclature must be names which could have 

 been used by the Latins in the prime of their language. I 

 think that the most advanced advocate of inviolability, if his 

 name were Smith, would jib at such a name for a new insect 

 as (say) Pediculus smithicola, and such a name would be against 

 the canons of binomial nomenclature as originally established. 

 Inviolability is inniiossible because of printers' errors, ortho- 

 graphy, and good taste, and consequently the only question is 

 as to where the limit of emendation should be drawn, and the 

 original laws of binomial nomenclature draw these limits in a 

 fully satisfactory manner. 



Never will I agi-ee to ask careful scientific students to learn 

 from the ignorant and careless. 



Gentlemen, one word more on a curiously different subject, 

 but one which may enable any of us to refute the cui bono 

 argument so often used against Entomology. It is an 

 argument which is used by unscientific or ignorant people 

 only, but those are essentially a set of people who can 

 be attracted by Art and Romance ; they have given up 

 their gibes against Music, Astronomy, etc., but some still fail to 

 understand what possible good an Entomologist can be to (say) 

 the Romantic section of society. Dr. Conan Doyle, in one of his 



