10 



two best modern works on ornithology. In one, it is 

 called " Motacilla rnbecnla ; " in the other, " Rnbecnla 

 familiaris." 



7. It is indeed one of the most serions, as one of the 

 most absurd, weaknesses, of modern naturalists to imagine 

 that any presently invented nomenclature can stand, even 

 were it adopted by the consent of nations, instead of the 

 conceit of individuals. It will take fifty years' digestion 

 before the recently ascertained elements of natural sci- 

 ence can permit the arrangement of species in any per- 

 manently (even over a limited period) nameable order; 

 nor then, unless a great man is born to perceive and 

 exhibit such order. In the meantime, the simplest and 

 most descriptive nomenclature is the best. Every one of 

 these birds, for instance, might be called falco in Latin, 

 hawk in English, some w^ord being added to distinguish 

 the genus, which should describe its principal aspect or 

 habit. Falco montium, Mountain Hawk ; Falco silvarum, 

 Wood Hawk; Falco procellarum, Sea Hawk; and the 

 like. Then, one descriptive epithet would mark species. 

 Falco montium, aureus. Golden Eagle ; Falco silvarum, 

 apivorus. Honey Buzzard ; and so on ; and the naturalists 

 of Vienna, Paris, and London should confirm the names 

 of known creatures, in conclave, once every half century, 

 and let them so stand for the next fifty years. 



8. In the meantime, you yourselves, or, to speak more 

 generally, the young rising scholars of England, — all of 

 you who care for life as well as literature, and for 



