98 



THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST. 



Mallard Duck, the Black Duck &c.; and under the 

 old genus Ladybird (a genus of Beetles called in 

 scientific language Voccinella) are comprehended 

 many species described by various Entomologists, 

 the r2-spotted Ladybird, the 9-spotted Ladybird, 

 the 2-dotted Ladybird, &c. To refer a newly-dis- 

 covered species to its proper genus is often a work 

 of great labor, and it is continually the case that 

 mistakes are made on this point, and the generic 

 name has to be subsequently changed by the same 

 writer or by succeediilg writers. But, by scientific 

 etiquette, the specific name always remains the same. 

 The great Linnaeus about a hundred years ago de- 

 scribed hundreds of our N. A. insects. In every 

 case his specific names are retained in use to the 

 present day; but in very numerous cases his generic 

 names are not retained, because the old Linnaean 

 genera have since his time been very generally split 

 up each into a great number of modern genera. 

 Perhaps in these modern days this propensity has 

 by certain writers been carried to an undue excess; 

 but in the scientific world, as in the moral or in the 

 political world, we are often obliged to accept a state 

 of things, not because it is the best possible, but 

 because it is the best that we cau obtain short of 

 turning the whole world up^de down. 



"But," it will be said, "why require all scientific 

 names to be in the Latin language? Why not say 

 'White oak' instead of 'Querous alba,' 'Wood Duck' 

 instead of 'Anas (or Aix) sponsa,' and 'Nine-spotted 

 Ladybird' instead of 'Coccinella novemnotata?'" 

 The reason is, that scientific names are intended for 

 the use of Naturalists of all nations, the Russian as 

 well as the Swede, the German as well as the Hol- 

 lander, the Frenchman as well as the Englishman 

 or the American. Now what could we do in America 

 with a scientific name in the Swedish or in the 

 Russian language? And what could a Swede or a 

 Russian do with one in the English language ? 

 Clearly such names would often be unintelligible, 

 and give rise to numerous mistakes and misappre- 

 hensions; and if they were translated from the 

 Swedish or Russian into English, or from the En- 

 glish into Swedish or Russian, some writers would 

 translate them one way, some another; which would 

 again give rise to error and confusion. Whereas 

 in the scientific world the Latin is a kind of uni- 

 versal language, understood more or less perfectly 

 by every one; and it was therefore very properly- 

 laid down as a universal rule by Linnaeus, that all 

 scientific names should be Latin. 



"But," it will be again objected, "why select 

 such intolerably lung crack-jaw names? Why not, 

 for instance, confine naturalists to words of two syl- 

 lables and such as are easily pronounced?" The 

 answer is that it is physically impossible to do any 

 such thing. There are now at least a hundred 

 thousand different genera in Animated Nature, in- 

 cluding of course both the Vegetable and Animal 

 Kingdoms, each of which has to be designated by 

 a di.stiiict name. How can you ever obtain, by any 

 reasonable combination of consonants and vowels, a 

 hundred thousand different and distinct words all 

 of not more than two syllables ? In the richest lan- 



guages there are only one or two thousand words of 

 one or two syllables each, and all the rest are several 

 syllables long. Frequently, too, even in the popu- 

 lar mouth, long words are used in preference to 

 short ones, and instead of " a school-teacher getting 

 pay for his work," it is " the Professor in an Aca- 

 demy that receives compensation for his services." 

 There are, I believe, somewhere about a thousand 

 distinct ropes in the rigging of a ship, each of 

 which is designated by a distinct name. Yet, in- 

 stead of all the thousand ropes receiving names of 

 one or two syllables apiece, one rope is called the 

 " Main-topgallant-sail-halyard" another the "Mizen- 

 royal-clewline," &c. &c. Surely the licence which 

 is conceded to the Sailor, with his one thousand 

 ropes, ought not to be grudged to the Naturalist, 

 with his one hundred thousand genera. Neverthe- 

 less I freely confess, that some few Naturalists have 

 gone beyond all reasonable bounds, in this matter 

 of coining barbarous and ungrammatical and unpro- 

 nounceable names, not haying the fear of Linnaeus 

 before their eyes, who laid it down as a rule, that 

 " Names which are a foot an a half long, or diffi- 

 cult of pronunciation, or offensive to the ear should 

 be avoided.* 



" But," some thoughtless reader may suggest, 

 " why give fixed and definite names at all to the 

 different species of animals and plants? Why not 

 let every man, who has got anything to say about 

 a particular animal or plant, explain for himself 

 which species he refers to?'' It is precisely this 

 ignorance or neglect of system, which renders the 

 labors of many otherwise good observers utterly 

 valueless. A fiirmer finds a particular Noxious In- 

 sect infesting his crops; he ascertains that by a 

 particular mode of treatment he can subdue it; but 

 as he cannot explain to the world what particular 

 insect he refers to, the world is none the wiser or 

 the richer for his discovery. Whereas if he had 

 been able himself to specify the name of the Noxi- 

 ous Insect, or had been careful enough to send spe- 

 cimens to some reliable Entomologist who might 

 do it for him, his discovery might be put on record 

 for all future time. It is true, he may go to work 

 and draw up what he considers as a description of 

 his Insect Foe; but in ninety-nine cases out of a 

 hundred, as I know by experience, he will dwell 

 upon points of no systematic importance whatever, 

 and omit everything that is essential towards deter- 

 mining the true name of his species. Besides, what 

 a waste of time to describe the same species over 

 and over again ! Only think for a moment how 

 such a system would work on shipboard ! At pre- 

 sent every rope in a ship has its name, and if, for 

 example, the Captain wants the Main topsail lower- 

 ed for reefing he cries out "Man the main-topsail- 

 halyards." But suppose neither this nor any other 

 rope, sail or mast in a ship had a fixed and definite 

 name, and the Captain had to describe to the 

 Sailors the particular rope he wished them to take 

 hdld of, every time he gave an order, in some such 

 language as this: — " Man that rope the use of which 



*Nomina sesquipedalia, enunciatu dilBcilia, ct uauso- 

 abuuda, fugienda sunt. 



