May 8, 1903.] 



SCIENCE. 



745 



eentialis condere, ante rae nulla differentia 

 digna exstitit.' What is now known as a 

 binomial name was called by Linnaeus a 

 ' nomen triviale,' and he regarded it as of 

 trivial importance. Indeed, he contemptu- 

 ously accredited his predecessors with the use 

 of such; he expressly affirmed, ' Trivialia erant 

 antecessorixm et maxime trivialia erant anti- 

 quissimorum botanicorum nomina.' 



In the ' Systema Nature,' the ' nomen 

 specificum,' or diagnosis, was given the prime 

 place in the text in connection with each 

 species under the generic diagnosis, and the 

 ' nomen triviale ' was thrown in on the margin 

 of the page so that it should readily catch the 

 eye. 3?he treatment of one and the same 

 genus by Linnagus in the ' Systema Natures," 

 by Artedi in his ' Genera Piscium,' and by 

 Walbaum in his edition of Artedi's work, will 

 illustrate. Gohitis, the second of the Arte- 

 dian genera, will do. 



By Linnseus, the species were thus named: 

 149. CoBiTis. [Diagnosis follows.] 

 Ana- 1. C. eapite inermi depresso, oculis 



bleps. prominulis. 



Barbatu- 2. 0. cirris oris 6, eapite inermi 



la. compresso. 



Taenia. 3. 0. cirris oris 6, spina suboculari. 

 fossilis. 4. C. cirris oris 8, spina supra-ocu- 

 lari. 



These corresponded to the three species of 

 Artedi named by him as follows : 



1. Cobitis aculeo liifurco infra utrumque 

 oculum [etc.] (a). 



2. Cobitis iota glabra maculosa [etc.] (b). 



3. Cobitis coerulescens; [etc.] (c). 



In footnotes, Walbaum coordinates these 

 with the Linnaean names as follows: 



(a) 1. Cobitis, Taenia, cirris 6; spina sub- 

 oculari. L. S. N. 499. 



[Diagnosis follows.] 



(h) 2. Cobitis Barhaiula, cirris 6; eapite 

 inermi, compresso. L. 8. N. 499. 



[Diagnosis follows.] 



(c) 3. Cobitis, fossilis, cirris octo; spina 

 superoculari. L. 8. N. 500. 



[Diagnosis follows.] 



Walbaum then added several later discov- 

 ered species and continued the numeration 



from the Artedian system. The additions 

 were: 



4. Cobitis, Anableps; Vide in sequentibus 

 genus Anableps Artedi. 



The reference is to page 160, where Wal- 

 baum calls the species ' Cobitis, ArMbleps ' 

 [etc.], refusing to adopt the genus Anaileps, 



5. Cobitis, heteroclita, eapite imberbi; [etc.]. 



6. Cobitis, japonica. lapanse Meirshlang. 

 Hoattuyn [Houttuyn, etc.]. 



After these he added several species he 

 considered for the present doubtful ('Species 

 adhuc duhiae'), but continued the numeration : 



7. Cobitis, macrolepidota, albo fasciata. W. 



8. Cobitis, majalis, nigro in longitudinem 

 et ad caudam transversim lineatus. W. 



These species are at present mostly known 

 by the following names : 



1. Cobitis taenia. 



2. Nemoehilus barbatula. 



3. Misgurnus fossilis. 



4. Anableps anableps. 



5. Fundulus heteroclitus. 



6. Saurida argyrophanes ? 



7. Fundulus heteroclitus macrolepidotus. 

 'Now it will appear, from a comparison of 



the names used by Walbaum and Linnseus, 

 that Walbaum acted more in conformity with 

 the present usage of naturalists than did Lin- 

 nseus. He placed the ' nomen triviale ' im- 

 mediately after the generic name and before 

 the diagnosis, indicating its character by 

 italics generally and its interposition between 

 the generic name and ' nomen specificum ' or 

 diagnosis, by commas. In other words, Wal- 

 baiun interpolated the ' nomen triviale,' while 

 Linnseus was wont to put it by the side. 



The ' Genera Piscium ' was well edited by 

 Walbaum (or Wallbaum, as he often called 

 himself). He gave the text as it was left by 

 Linnffius and indicated the original pages by 

 marginal numbers. He brought the work up 

 to date by additions given in foot-names, 

 which consequently greatly added to the vol- 

 ume. He has been recognized by all authors 

 as a binomialist till Mr. Fowler challenged 

 his right to be considered such, and a bi- 

 nomialist he certainly was. 



In the typographical expression of the 



