298 BIOLOGY: GENERAL AND MEDICAL 



dachschund, though all dogs are regarded as of the 

 same species. 



Specific grouping is, therefore, chiefly a matter of 

 personal equation with the systematist. Fortunately, 

 it has little or no practical importance in the general 

 plan of classification. 



At this point it may be well to digress and say a few 

 words about the binomial nomenclature of Linnaeus, 

 which has now been adopted by international agree- 

 ment among scientific men. Experience has shown 

 that in naming men but small confusion occurs when 

 each individual receives two names. Thus John Smith 

 is understood to be a member of the Smith family indi- 

 vidually known as John. As, however, the Smith family 

 is large, and John is a favorite name, there may be several 

 individuals known as John Smith. Such confusion 

 rarely arises, however, in scientific nomenclature, be- 

 cause the name is not the designation of an individual, 

 but of a kind. Greek and Latin names have been 

 agreed upon for scientific nomenclature, because they 

 are, so to speak, international languages and less likely 

 to cause confusion than English, German, French, or 

 Italian. For example, the common black and white 

 hornet that builds the large rounded paper nests 

 was described by Linnaeus as Vespa maculata. By 

 agreement the name of every organism is followed by 

 the name (usually abbreviated) of the man first describ- 

 ing it. The name of this insect is, therefore, now written 

 Vespa maculata Linn. The word maculata is the name 

 of the species or particular kind, and is always written 

 with a small letter, even if derived from a proper noun. 

 Thus Megatherium cuveri, Mimisa cressoni, Bacillus 

 welchi, etc. This specific name must be the first name 

 applied, no matter by whom or when, and regardless of 

 its appropriateness. The specific name is always 

 Latin or latinized. The specific name by itself is com- 

 paratively meaningless, just as though one spoke of 

 Clarence. Who is Clarence? What Clarence? So, 



