October 23, 1896.] 



SCIENCE. 



585 



would call a diagnosis (No-men specificum 

 est itaque Diflferentia essentialis); his trivial 

 name is what would now be called the speci- 

 fic.'^ It is merely suggested that trivial names 

 may be used as in his ' Pan Suecicus,' and 

 should consist of a single word taken from 

 any source. f 



This system was fully carried out in the 

 succeeding editions of the ' Systema Naturae.' 

 Both names were then given — the nomen 

 specificum after the number of the species, 

 under each genus, and the nomen triviale be- 

 fore the uumber, in the margin. 



Linnaeus placed little store on the trivial 

 names, and accredited such to old botanists; 

 but he took special credit for specific names 

 (or diagnoses), claiming that none worthj^ 

 of the title had been given before him. J 



DRACONIAN LAWS. 



For generic nomenclature a Draconian 

 €ode was provided by Linnaeus and Artedi, 

 It is now a maxim of good legislation that 

 excessive severity of law is apt to defeat the 

 object sought for, and the tendency of civil- 

 ization is to temper justice with mercy. So 

 has the tendency of scientific advancement 

 been towards a mitigation of the Linnaean 



* "217. Nomen specificum legitimum plantam ab 

 omwiftMS congeneribus (159) distinguat; Triviale SivA&ai 

 nomen legibus etiamnum caret." Phil. Bot., p. 202. 



t " Nomina Trivialia forte admitti possunt modo, 

 qno in Pane suecico usus sum ; constarent hsec 



Vocabula unico ; 



Vocdbula libere undequaque desumto. 



Eatione hac prsecipue evicti, quod differentia ssepe 

 longa evadit, ut non ubique commode usurpetur, et 

 dein mutatione obnoxia, novis detectis spetiiebus, est, 

 e. gr. 



Pyrola [5 sp.] 



Sed nomina Trivialia in hoc opere seponimus, de 

 differentiis unice solliciti." Ph. Bot., pp. 202, 203. 



I ' ' Trivialia erant antecessorum et maxime Tri- 

 vialia erant antiquissimorum Botanicorum nomina. 



Character Naturalis speciei est Descriptio; Character 

 vero Essentialis speciei est Differentia. 



Primus incepi Nomina specifica Essentialis con- 

 dere, ante me nulla differentia digna exstitit." Ph. 

 Bot., p. 203. 



code. Nevertheless, its severity is more or 

 less reflected in later codes — even the 

 latest — and therefore a review of some of 

 those old canons will not be entirely a resur- 

 rection of the dead, and may contain a 

 warning for the future. 



In exclusiveness for generic names Lin- 

 naeus and Artedi went far ahead of any of 

 the moderns. They provided that no names 

 were available for genera in zoology or bot- 

 any which were used in any other class of 

 animals or plants, or even which were used 

 for minerals, tools, weapons, or other instru- 

 ments, or even places.* 



Under this rule such names as Acus, Be- 

 lone, Citharus, Hippoglossics, Lingula, Novacula, 

 Orbis, Orca, Bemora, Solea, and Umbra — all 

 now, or some time, in common use — were 

 specified. 



This rule was soon relaxed, and any 

 name not previously used in zoology, or, at 

 most, biology, was considered admissible. 



Another rule sends to Coventry all names 

 composed of two names of different animals, 

 because it might be uncertain to which ge- 

 nus an animal really belongs. f The ancient 

 name ' Ehino-Batus ' is even mentioned as 

 one of the delicts. 



This rule is also without any justification, 

 and the reason given for it baseless. Com- 

 pound words of the kind exiled are in en- 

 tire harmony with the genius of the classic 

 languages. As an illustration of their use 

 among the Greeks, we need refer to one 

 group only — that is, compounds with hippos, 

 as Hippalectryon^ Sippanthropos, Sippardion, 

 Hippelaphos, Hippocampos, Hippotigris and 

 Hi'p'potragelaplios. (Hijjpokantharos, Hippo- 

 murmex, Hiiopopareos and Hipposelinon are 



* ' ' Nomina piscium generica, quae quadrupedibus 

 pilosis, avibus, amphibiis, insectis, plantis, minerali- 

 bus, instrumentis opificum etc. communia sunt, om- 

 nino deleantur. Linn. Fund. 230." Art. Ph. Ich., 

 ?193. 



t " Nomina generica, ex uno nomine generic© 

 fraeto, et altero integro composita, exulent. Linn. 

 Fund. 224." Art. Ph. Ich., \ 196. 



