62 



CODE OF NOMENCLATURE. 



1. Avoid adjective generic names. "Tiie names of genera are in all 

 cases essentially substantive, and hence adjective terms cannot be em- 

 ployed for them without doing violence to grammar. The generic names 

 Hians, Crinigcr, Cursorius, Nitidula, etc., are examples of this incorrect 

 usage." {B. A. Code.) 



2. Avoid generic names in the genitive case. Like adjective names, these 

 can be used only in violation of both good taste and grammatical construc- 

 tion. (Dall.) 



3. Avoid geographical names, which should never be used for genera, and 

 only with discrimination for species. — Even for species, formerly some au- 

 thors (VVagler, for instance) went so far as to substitute others whenever (hey 

 occurred, while other authors (Swainson, for example) would tolerate them 

 only when they applied exclusively j as, Lepus hibcrnicus, Troi^lodyics euro- 

 pceiis, etc. The B. A. Committee were " by no means disposed to go to this 

 length. It is not the less true that Hinindo javanica is a Javanese bird, 

 even though it mp.y occur in other countries also, and though other species 

 of Hinindo may occur in Java. Tlie utmost that can be urged against such 

 words is, that they do not tell the whole truth." {B. A. Code.) The B. A. 

 Committee advised restriction of such names to species confined to the 

 countries whose names they bear. 



4. Avoid barbarous names unless they are euphonious, easily mcdified to a 

 Latin form, and arc more or less well known in their original form as names 

 of the species or genera to which they are to be applied ; e. g., AJnja, Ara, 

 Macao, Ponipadora., Skua, Tijuca, etc. 



" Some authors protest strongly against the introduction of exotic words 

 into our Latin nomenclature, others defend the practice with equal warmth. 

 We may remark, first, that the practice is not contrary to classical usage, for 

 the Greeks and Romans did occasionally, though with reluctance, introduce 

 barbarous words in a modified form into their respective languages. Sec- 

 ondly, the preservation of the trivial names which animals bear in their 

 native countries is often of great use to the traveller in aiding him to dis- 

 cover and identify the species. We do not therefore consider, if such words 

 have a Latin termination given to them, that the occasional and judicious use 

 of them as scientific terms can be justly oI)jected to." {B. A. Code.) 



5. " Technical names. — All words expressive of trades and professions 

 have been by some writers excluded from zoology, but without sufficient 

 reason. Words of this class, ivhen carefully chosen, often express the pecu- 

 liar characters and habits of animals in a metaphorical manner, which is 

 highly elegant. We may cite the generic terms Arincola, Laniits, Pastor, 

 Tyraunus, Bei^uhts, Mimus, Ploceiis, etc , as favourable examples of this 

 class of names." (/?. A. Code.) 



6. Mythological names should be applied with great care, and only when 

 they have some perceptible reference or allusion to the object on which 

 they are conferred. They may sometimes be used as generic names ** with 



