SCIENTIFIC NAMES—PRONUNCIATION. 299 
remaining consonants may be pronounced as at present; by some v is 
sounded like v, by others like w. It is not my business here to enter 
into the reasons which have led to the conclusion that these are the 
proper sounds of the letters, but it may be noticed that j and i were 
originally the same letter, and may be presumed to have been 
pronounced the same, while the evidence in favour of the hardness of 
c and g is overwhelming. 
But here, to prevent misapprehension, it must be observed that no 
one proposes to introduce this change into English words, as is some- 
times imagined. No one wishes us to pronounce circle, kerkle. In all 
truly naturalised words English habits will of course prevail; even the 
ill-used Cicero, when occurring with English words in an English 
sentence will be pronounced as at present; the reformation only applies 
to classical words used as such, and those formed in imitation of them. 
Tt will be certainly some time before it will be generally accepted, but 
its ultimate triumph seems at least probable. In the case of g there is 
not so much difficulty, as many English words contain a hard g before 
e ori, as gear and gift; but there seems to be a considerable reluctance 
to apply the same principle toc, though we have a precedent in the word 
sceptic, and also in Celt, Celtic, which are sometimes pronounced as if 
written with ak. If we adopt the ‘‘ reformed ” principles, we must sound 
all scientific names in this way, as, for instance, Cerastium and Geum ; 
but the practice seems as yet so like an affectation that very few have 
adopted it. The novelty once overcome, it will be found that to an 
unprejudiced ear the new sounds are, to say the least, as euphonious as 
the old. The greatest obstacle lies in such words as Geranium and 
Cyclamen, which are used in English in an unchanged form. It seems 
strange to pronounce these in different ways at different times, as must 
be done in that case. Thus we may talk of scarlet Geranium as at 
present, but we should say Geranium coccineum with ahard g and c. Now 
to pronounce in this two-fold way words which are spelled alike is no 
more than is done every day by those persons who can speak more than 
one language. No one thinks of pronouncing the German general like the 
Euglish general, or the French voyage like the English voyage, though 
they may have the same spelling and meaning. 
There is one point in connection with the reformed scheme which finds 
admirers even amongst those who do not adopt the changes in the sound 
of the letters. I mean the pronunciation of the vowels strictly according 
to ‘“‘ quantity.” As was explained above, (p. 269) every vowel-sound has 
two varieties, called respectively ‘‘long” and ‘‘ short,” but in the former 
conventional mode of pronouncing Latin this distinction was grossly 
neglected. Thus, génus was generally pronounced with the e long, as if 
written jeenus; the word Ptéris is often similarly mispronounced. To 
take another instance, it is usual to say ‘‘dulce ddmum,” but the o is 
short, and the word should be pronounced thus—dom-um. To apply 
this principle, however, to scientific names requiresan acquaintance with 
the quantity of the vowels in the different words, which can be obtained 
only by frequently consulting the dictionary, and is within the reach of few. 
