r34 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



The use of Cyprina bj Linnaeus in 176G for a fish antedates 

 the application of the word in conchologj, and it is therefore not 

 available. Schumacher in 1817 describes the genus under the name 

 Arctic a, and the latter will therefore replace the more familiar 

 term of C j p r i n a . 



Another example is seen in the substitution of Meretrix in 

 lieu of C y t h e r e a . The former term, given in 1799 by Lamarck, 

 is syuonomous with his Cytherea of 1806, and according to the 

 law of priority Meretrix must be accepted, and Cytherea, 

 though better known and more generally used, allowed to disappear. 

 A second reason why Cytherea can not be used now, lies in the 

 fact that in 1805 Fabricius used the name for a Dipterous insect, a 

 fact probably not known by Lamarck. 



Among the Gasteropoda the generic term Hydrobia, founded 

 in 1821 by Hartmann, was used in 1817 for an insect belooging to 

 the Coleoptera, and consequently this name can not longer be ap- 

 plied. Prof. R. B. Newton has suggested that the term Paludes- 

 trina of D'Orbigny be used in its place, and this seems to have 

 met with approval. • 



The genus P t e r o n o t u s , given in 1840 by Swainson, had al- 

 ready been employed in 1838 by J. E. Gray for a gejius of bats. 

 The use of the word for a bat two years previous makes the word 

 unavailable, and Triplex, given by Humphrey in 1797 for a 

 similar shell, must take the place of P t e r o n o t u s . 



The well-known genus Cylichna of Loven, which that author 

 used in 1846, was in 1844 applied by Eurmeister to a genus of the 

 Coleoptera, and Prof. JSTewton has changed the genus to B u 1 1 i n e 1 1 a, 

 a name of new construction. Other examples might be given, but 

 the above will prove sufficient to show why so many generic term's 

 have been altered. Changes have likewise been made in the species 

 name. The earliest specitic name has acceptance, while all others 

 are considered as synonyms or, where they show varietal dis- 

 tinctions, would follow the specific name as varieties of it. Though 

 many instances of a large synonomy under each species result from 

 this method, it is the only way to avoid confusion in paleontologic 

 and conchologic nomenclature. 



At a meeting of the British association held recently the follow- 

 ing reasons were given why the first term used should be accepted 

 and employed : 



