CLASSIFICATION OF THE LEPIDOPTERA 59 



Now, every butterfly has a Latin or Greek name in addition to 

 that by which it is popularly known. I should have said two Latin 

 or Greek names. The first of these is always the generic name, 

 and the second is the one by which we denote the particular 

 member or species of that genus. Thus, the scientific name of the 

 Brimstone Butterfly is Gonopieryx Rhamni. 



' But,' the reader may be inclined to ask, ' why should we not 

 be satisfied with the one popular name only ? ' And, ' If we must 

 have a separate scientific name, could we not find suitable terms 

 among our English words to build up such a name one that 

 might express the principal characteristics of the insect, and also 

 serve all the purposes of classification ? ' 



Such questions sound very reasonable, and so they are. But 

 the entomologist's answer is this. We ourselves may get on well 

 without the help of the dead languages, but we have brother 

 naturalists all over the world, speaking a great variety of different 

 languages. We endeavour to help one another to exchange notes 

 and generally to assist one another in our labours ; and this can be 

 greatly facilitated if we all adopt the same system of nomenclature. 

 The educated of most of the great nations generally know some- 

 thing of Latin and Greek, and consequently the adoption of these 

 languages is generally acceptable to all. 



This sounds well, but for my own part I believe that if we are 

 to make any branch of natural history a popular study, especially 

 with the young, we must to a certain extent avoid anything that 

 may prove distasteful. There is no doubt whatever that many a 

 youngster has been turned away from the pursuit of the study of 

 nature by the formidable array of almost unpronounceable names 

 that stretch nearly halfway across a page ; and those who desire 

 to make such a study pleasant to beginners should be very cautious 

 with the use of these necessary evils. One would think, on glan- 

 cing over some of the scientific manuals that are written ' especially 

 for the young,' that the authors considered our own too mean a 

 language for so exalted a purpose, for in such works we find all or 

 nearly all the popular names by which the schoolboy knows certain 

 creatures he has seen entirely omitted, and the description of a 

 species appended to a long Latin term that conveys no idea what- 

 ever to the reader, who is studying the description of a well-known 

 animal or plant and doesn't know it. 



m Our plan will be to give the popular names throughout, except 

 in the case of those few species that are not so well known as to 



