130 SMITH, ON THE DETERMINATION OF 



called upon thee to curse this people, and, lo ! thou hast blessed 

 them these many times." 



So far as I am personally concerned, I care little enough 

 about being absorbed, after Professor Kolliker's ordinary 

 fashion, in the next edition of the ' Mikroskopische Anatomic,' 

 where we shall, I doubt not, read, "I and Huxley have made 

 out that the enamel is formed under the membrana preforma- 

 tiva," &c., &c. But I think that Professor Kolliker will do 

 well to reflect whether he is likely to increase his most de- 

 servedly high reputation, by encouraging in a student a dis- 

 ingenuousness of which he himself, I hope, would be heartily 

 ashamed. 



I may add, in conclusion, that there are, I believe, two very 

 good minor grounds of cavil in my paper. One is at page 159, 

 where I state incidentally that Professor Kolliker does not 

 mention Nasmyth's discovery in his ' Mikroskopische Ana- 

 tomic ' — an error for which I cannot account, and for which I 

 can only apologise, as a complete oversight. The other is the 

 description of the cement of the calf's tooth at page 162 ; in 

 which, a subsequent examination has led me to think there are 

 errors of interpretation. I have had no leisure to re-examine 

 this point, and I recommend it to MM. Lent and Kolliker, if, 

 as it would seem, they have some unaccountable source of 

 satisfaction in finding me wrong — a thing I do myself, quite 

 without satisfaction, every day. 



Oil the Determination of Species in the Diatomace^. By 

 the Rev. Wm. Smith, F.L.S., Professor of Natural History, 

 Queen's College, Cork. 



It has been said, that " Synonymy is the opprobrium of 

 Science," and not without reason ; for synonymy owes its 

 existence to imperfect knowledge, imperfect observation, or 

 imperfect judgment. 



Still, as few authors can be required to possess a thorough 

 acquaintance with the literature of science, and still fewer can 

 be supposed to exercise perfect accuracy of eye and unerring 

 powers of judgment, synonymy is, to a certain extent, unavoid- 

 able. 



Facts or circumstances first received by one student, will 

 be again rediscovered by a subsequent observer ignorant of 

 the former record, and registered as new ; and known pro- 

 perties or characters, hitherto regarded as of transient or 

 inferior importance, will be seized upon by a new writer, and 

 made the basis of important distinctions. 



