586 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. III. No. 68. 



say : " Whether these names be right or 

 wrong according to this or that code of 

 nomenclature, we do not know and we do 

 not care ; but we bind ourselves to accept 

 them in their entirety, and we hereby de- 

 clare that the date when this list was 

 closed for the press shall henceforward be 

 the date adopted as the starting point for 

 our nomenclature." 



We have put this proposition in a broad 

 manner; there are, of course, numerous 

 minor points to be taken into consideration. 

 The preparation of a mere list would be an 

 enormous undertaking ; we learn from Dr. 

 David Sharp and the workers on the 

 Zoological Record that there are 386,000 re- 

 cent species ; no one has reckoned the num- 

 ber of extinct species. Some such work as 

 the ' Index generum et specierum anima- 

 lium,' now being compiled with a minimum 

 of support and under constant difficulties 

 by Mr. Charles Davies Sherborn, must form 

 the basis of any such synopsis as that here 

 proposed. The first duty of naturalists is 

 to help Mr. Sherborn, who works at the 

 British Museum under a Committee of the 

 British Association. We also have to con- 

 sider what is to be done when our list is 

 completed. First of all, it must constantly 

 be kept up to date. It seems to us that 

 some restriction will have to be laid upon 

 the place and manner of publication of new 

 specific names, and we would suggest that, 

 when the time comes, no specific name 

 should be recognized unless it be entered by 

 the author at some central office, together 

 with a properly published copy of the work 

 in which the desci-iption appears. The 

 name would then be checked, dated, and 

 placed at once in the index. 



It is not contended that the acceptance 

 of our proposal wQuld obviate the need for 

 a code of nomenclature. But it would be a 

 far simpler code, free from the doubt as to 

 whether its rules were to be retrospective ; 

 and its action would be uniform and strin- 



gent. Nor is it contended that the validity 

 of a name carries with it the validitj^ of a 

 species. For the stability of nomenclature, 

 it would be advisable to include in the list 

 as many names as possible, and to leave to 

 specialists the duty of deciding on the 

 distinctness and systematic position of 

 species. But whether our aim be the com- 

 pletion of an Index, the compilation of a 

 Synopsis, or the construction of a Code, it 

 is necessary that there should be absolute 

 and loyal cooperation between zoologists of 

 every kind and every country, since by this 

 means alone can the required sanction be 

 obtained. 



CURRENT NOTES ON ANTHROPOLOGY. 

 THE CHILD MIND AND THE SAVAGE MIND. 



Peof. James Sully, who fills the chair of 

 ' philosophy of mind,' in University Col- 

 lege, Loudon, makes it a point in his recent 

 work, ' Studies of Childhood,' to institute 

 frequent comparison between the mental 

 action of children and of savage adults. A 

 few of his conclusions may be mentioned : 



On the important question of the origin 

 of languages he is not quite positive. He 

 believes children ' show the germs of true 

 grammatical feeling,' and believes "they 

 might develop the rudiments of a vocal lan- 

 guage ;" but elsewhere quotes with seeming 

 approval Max Miiller's assertion that they 

 could not do this, ' if left to themselves ;' 

 which begs the whole question. Unfortu- 

 nately, Prof. Sully has not read Mr. Horatio 

 Hale's admirable studies. He quotes them 

 only at second hand. 



Death presents itself to the child just as 

 the savage. It is not annihilation, but a 

 continued existence, partly with the body, 

 partly separate from it. The lower animals 

 live after death just as do human beings. 

 The individuality to the child, as to the 

 savage, is multiple, not single, whether in 

 life or death. 



The colors first recognized and most en- 



