﻿x NOTE TO SECOND EDITION. 



eminent naturalist of Philadelphia stated that in the present condition of 

 nomenclature the common name of an animal was oftentimes more reli- 

 able than the scientific one ! Now, while these rectifications are in many 

 cases essential, the names themselves are of little consequence to those 

 who are to learn the brief outlines of the subject, and in this work it is 

 desired to teach only a few characters of the snail, insect, spider, worm, 

 and the like. The names learned to-day would, with few exceptions, 

 be of no use ten years hence. More than this, they would be an abso 

 lute hinderance. 



Gladiolus remains gladiolus. Verbena has been verbena for a long 

 time, and even Calla persists, when its true name is Richardia. Mya 

 is still Mya, but Natica, as applied to the large beach-snail, is now Lu- 

 natia. That teachers may fully appreciate how rapidly these names 

 change, the following examples are given : The shell, figured on page 23, 

 was known to the author not many years ago as Pyrula ; since then it 

 has been called Fulgar, Busycon, and now it is called Sycotycus ! In 

 Gould's "Invertebrata" the author used to study the following species, 

 among others, under the genus Buccinum, which are given in the first 

 column, the second column indicating the new generic names which 

 stand for the same species at the date of going to press : 



Buccinum undatum, Buccinum undatum. 



" obsoletum, Ilyanassa obsoleta. 



" trivittatum, Tritia trivittata. 



" plicosum, Eurosalpinx cinerea. 



" rosaceum, Astyris rosacea. 



" vibex. Nassa vibex. 



An extreme instance might be given regarding one of the most 

 common animals of our coast, the sea-urchin. This creature is still 

 known by many as Echinus granulatus, this name being given within 

 twelve years by Agassiz in his "Methods of Study in Natural History." 

 The following list shows the successive changes in its name since that 

 time: 



Echinus granulatus, 

 Euryechinus granulatus, 



Toxopneustes drobachiensis, 

 Euryechinus drobachiensis ; 



and, at the date of going to press, this unfortunate creature bears the 

 name of 



Stkongylocentkotus drobachiensis ! ! ! 



and yet, this little animal will be known by the name of sea-urchin long 

 after the time when the systematists and their distracting nomenclature 

 shall have been forgotten. E. S. M. 



Salem, Mass., October 12, 1875. 



