NOMENCLATURE 227 



of later investigators. Very many of the more familiar plants 

 and animals are, however, still known by the names which 

 Linnaeus gave to them. 



It still frequently happens that newly discovered species have 

 to be named and new genera denned, and various attempts have 

 been made to formulate a code of rules for the guidance of those 

 engaged in this work. This is necessary in order to secure, so 

 far as possible, uniformity of method, and to avoid confusion 

 such as would arise by giving the same name to different genera 

 or different species within a genus, or different names to the same 

 genus or species. The chief points so far agreed upon are that 

 generic and specific names (as well as those of larger groups) 

 should be given in either Latin or Greek and that strict attention 

 should be paid to the law of priority, the name first given 

 taking precedence over any which may be proposed subsequently, 

 as is often the case owing to ignorance of the work of previous 

 writers. 



The greatest latitude has, however, been allowed in the past 

 with regard to the coining of generic and specific names. Even 

 the resources of the Latin and Greek languages have proved hardly 

 sufficient to meet all requirements, and many generic names have 

 been given which, though euphonious enough, have no meaning 

 whatever. It is said that one eminent naturalist (Dr. Gray) 

 used to make up such names by drawing letters out of a hat, and 

 it is certain that Dr. Leach derived the generic names of a whole 

 series of parasitic Crustacea (Cirolana, Conilera, Nerocila, &c.) from 

 anagrams on his wife's name, Caroline. The most satisfactory 

 names, on the other hand, are those which convey some definite 

 information as to the characters of the genus or species concerned 

 or as to the place where it is found. 



If we have to classify a number of inorganic bodies we may 

 set about our work in a variety of ways. We may arrange them 

 according to colour, or size, or weight, or shape, or texture, or 

 chemical composition, or according to the places they come from, 

 the precise method adopted depending upon what it is that we 

 wish to express by means of our classification. 



It is exactly the same with plants and animals, the way in 

 which we classify them will depend upon our point of view. A 

 fisherman classifies fishes largely according to their food-value, and 

 various other animals according to whether or not they are good for 

 bait, and such classification serves its purpose quite satisfactorily. 



Q 2 



