"2 04- Correspo?idetice. [July 



another genus in, the same kingdom, in the case of a generic name, or to 

 another species in the same genus, in the case of a specific name. But 

 a name may have gained a currency to which it is not entitled, in conse- 

 quence of an earlier name having been overlooked, owing to obscurity of 

 publication or other causes. As fixity of names is the prime desideratum 

 in our nomenclature, we must not only have fixed rules for determining 

 the tenabilitj' of names, but must adhere to them inflexibly, otherwise 

 the shuffling of names would never cease. 



Just at the present time 'The Auk' is bristling with these technicalities 

 of nomenclature, which so naturally disgust the lay mind. And why.? 

 Simply because the 'closet' or 'museum' ornithologists of this country wish 

 to settle at once, and if possible fofever, as regards North American birds, 

 these vexed questions of synomymy, in view of the proposed new A. O. 

 U. List of North American Birds. The end in view is not the upsetting 

 of names for the mere sake of upsetting them, or for any personal ends 

 or ambitions, but simply and purely to secure a stable foundation for the 

 future. We are simply repairing our tools and setting in order the great 

 North American ornithological household. 



We are quite aware that a considerable number of our readers share the 

 'lay view' of the case, as presented by our correspondent, and we even 

 sympathise with them in their disgust, but beg to assui'e them that it is 

 just such discussions of abstract and dry details of nomenclature that 

 advance, in a certain necessary way, the science of ornithology; although 

 nomenclature is not in itself science, but mei-ely one of the indispensible 

 tools of science. — J. A. A.] 



NOTES AND NEWS. 



Some weeks since we received Heft I of the new quarterly journal of 

 ornithology — 'Zeitschrift fiir die gesammte Ornithologie' — published at 

 Budapest, and edited by Dr. Julius von Madarasz. It is large octavo in 

 form, and the present number consists of 74 pages and two colored plates. 

 The articles are mainly written in German, but there are also several 

 papers in Hungarian and one in English. The matter relates mainly to 

 Hungarian ornithology, but contains a paper of eight pages by Dr. L. 

 Stejneger on the Wrens of the subgenus Anorthura, which we shall 

 notice more fully later. Dr. E. F. von Homeyer, ;n a short opening 

 article, proposes to cut the 'gordian knot' of nomenclature by the general 

 adoption of a rule providing that specific names which have been in 

 general use for a considerable period — say twenty years — shall not be 

 subject to alteration ; but we fear the practical difficulties of such a scheme 

 have not been carefully weighed by the suggester of this supposed easy 

 way out of the difficulty. 



