LIFE OF FLOWER 41 



catalogue as the correct naming of the objects described 

 in it, this part of the subject has engaged a very large 

 share of attention in preparing the work. I am not 

 sanguine enough to suppose that the names I have 

 adopted always after careful research and considera- 

 tion will in every case be deemed satisfactory by other 

 zoologists, yet I hope that some advance will have been 

 made towards that most desirable end a fixed and 

 generally recognised nomenclature of all the best-known 

 species of mammals. Having selected the generic and 

 specific name which I considered most appropriate, I 

 have given the place and date of their first occurrence, 

 but have only admitted such synonyms as have found 

 their way into standard works, judging it better that 

 the remainder should be buried in oblivion, or at all 

 events only retained in professedly bibliographical 

 treatises. In selecting the name chosen, I have been mainly 

 guided by the views which have been gradually gain- 

 ing general currency among conscientious naturalists 

 of all nations, and which were formulated in what is 

 commonly called the Stricklandian Code, adopted by a 

 Committee of the British Association for the Advance- 

 ment of Science in 1842, and revised and reprinted by 

 the Association in 1 865) anc ^ again in 1878. . . . The 

 regulations laid down in these codes for the formation 

 of new names are unimpeachable; and although some 

 of the rules for the selection of names already in existence 

 have given rise to criticism, and are occasionally difficult 

 of practical application when an endeavour is made to 

 enforce them too rapidly, they do in the main, when 

 interpreted with discretion and common-sense, lead to 

 satisfactory results. As what we are aiming at is simply 



