RULES OF ZOOLOGICAL NOMENCLATURE. 37 



[Classes of objectionable names.'] 



It follows from hence that the following classes of words are more or less 

 objectionable in point of taste, though, in the case of genera, it is often neces- 

 sary to use them, from the impossibility of finding characteristic words which 

 have not before been employed for other genera. We will commence with 

 those which appear the least open to objection, such as 



a. Geographical names. — These words being for the most part adjectives 

 can rarely be used for genera. As designations of species they have been 

 so strongly objected to, that some authors (Wagler, for instance) have gone 

 the length of substituting fresh names wherever they occur ; others (e. g. 

 Swainson) will only tolerate them where they apply exclusively. We are by 

 no means exposed to go to this length. It is not the less true that the 

 Hirundo javanica is a Javanese bird, even though it may occur in other 

 countries also, and though other species of Hirundo may occur in Java. The 

 utmost that can be urged against such words is, that they do not tell the 

 whole truth. However, as so many authors object to this class of names, it 

 is. better to avoid giving them, except where there is reason to believe that 

 the species is confined to the country whose name it bears. 



b. Barbarous names. — Some authors protest strongly against the introduc- 

 tion 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 Eomans did occasionally, though with 

 reluctance, introduce barbarous words in a modified form into their respec- 

 tive languages. Secondly, the preservation of trivial names which animals 

 bear in their native countries is often of great use to the traveller in aiding 

 him to discover and identify species. We do not therefore consider, if such 

 words have a Latin termination given to them, that the occasional and judi- 

 cious use of them as scientific terms can be justly objected to. 



c. Technical namcs.^-All words expressive of trades and professions have 

 been by some writers excluded from zoology, but without sufficient reason. 

 Words of this class, when carefully chosen, often express the peculiar cha- 

 racters and habits of animals in a metaphorical manner, which is highly 

 elegant. We may cite the generic terms Arvicola, Lanius, Pastor, Tyrannus, 

 Hegulus, Ploceus, &c, as favourable examples of this class of names. 



d. Mythological or historical names. — When these have no perceptible re- 

 ference or allusion to the characters of the object on which they are conferred, 

 they may properly be regarded as unmeaning and in bad taste. Thus the 

 generic names Lesbia, Leilus, Remus, Corydon, Pasijmae, have been applied 

 to a Humming bird, a Butterfly, a Beetle, a Parrot, and a Crab respectively, 

 without any perceptible association of ideas. But mythological names may 

 sometimes be used as generic with the same propriety as technical ones, in 

 cases where a direct allusion can be traced between the narrated actions of a 

 personage and the observed habits or structure of an animal. Thus when the 

 name Progne is given to a Swallow, Clotho to a Spider, Hydra to a Polyp, Athene 

 to an Owl, Nestor to a grey-headed Parrot, &c, a pleasing and beneficial con- 

 nexion is established between classical literature and physical science. 



e. Comparative names. — The objections which have been raised to words of 

 this class are not without foundation. The names, no less than the defini- 

 tions of objects, should, where practicable, be drawn from positive and self- 

 evident characters, and not from a comparison with other objects, which may 

 be less known to the reader than the one before him. Specific names ex- 

 pressive of comparative size are also to be avoided, as they may be rendered 

 inaccurate by the after discovery of additional species. The names Picoides, 



