3G2 ZOOLOGICAL NOMENCLATURE. 



[Not to extend to authors older than Linnaus.~] 



As our subject matter is strictly confined to the binomial 

 system of nomenclature, or that which indicates species by 

 means of two Latin words, the one generic, the other specific, 

 and as this invaluable method originated solely with Linnaeus, 

 it is clear that, as for as species are concerned, we ought not to 

 attempt to carry back the principle of priority beyond the date 

 of the 12th edition of the " System a Naturae." Previous to 

 that period, naturalists were wont to indicate species not by a 

 name comprised in one word, but by a definition which occupied 

 a sentence, the extreme verbosity of which method was pro- 

 ductive of great inconvenience. It is true that one word 

 sometimes sufficed for the definition of a species, but these 

 rare cases were only binomial by accident and not by principle, 

 and ought not therefore in any instance to supersede the 

 binomial designations imposed by Linnaeus. 



The same reasons apply also to generic names. Linnaeus 

 was the first to attach a definite value to genera, and to give 

 them a systematic character by means of exact definitions ; 

 and therefore, although the names used by previous authors 

 may often be applied with propriety to modern genera, yet in 

 such cases they acquire a new meaning, and should be 

 quoted on the authority of the first person who used them 

 in this secondary sense. It is true that several of the old 

 authors made occasional approaches to the Linnaean exactness 

 of generic definition, but still these were but partial attempts ; 

 and it is certain that if in our rectification of the binomial 

 nomenclature we once trace back our authorities into the 

 obscurity which preceded the epoch of its foundation, we shall 

 find no resting-place or fixed boundary for our researches. 

 The nomenclature of Ray is chiefly derived from that of Gesner 

 and Aldrovandus, and from these authors we might proceed 

 backward to iElian, Pliny, and Aristotle, till our zoological 

 studies would be frittered away amid the refinements of clas- 

 sical learning.* 



We therefore recommend the adoption of the following pro- 

 position : — 



§ 2. The binomial nomenclature having originated with 



Linnaeus, the law of priority, in respect of that nomenclature, 



is not to extend to the writings of antecedent authors. 



[It should be here explained that Brisson, who was a con- 

 temporary of Linnaeus and acquainted with the i Sj T stema 



* " Quia longo oevo recepta vocabula commutaret hodie cum patruiu?" — Linnccus. 



