Zoological Nomenclature. 97 
The same reasons apply also to generic names. Linneus was the first to 
attach a definite value to genera, and to give them a ~~ — by 
s of exact paeore sal and shetefore, although the sed by 
previous authors may often be applied with pars to ica please yet in 
ee cases they parse a new meaning and should be — on the a 
e first person who used them n this onion nse. It is true that 
Sercta} of the old aut ane ors made connie approaches > the Prreeiiie satel 
ness of generic pepe but still these were but partial attempts; and it 
M oan th . if in rectification of the binomial nomenclature we once 
cko r authorities into the obscurity which preceded the epoch of its 
foundation, we shall find no resting-place or fixed boundary for our beg 
Ane encla -~ of Ray is oo derived from that of Gesner and Aldro- 
andus, ne from these a vedi we might proceed backward -to Zlian, Pliny, 
and Aristotle, till our zologic - Studies would be frittered away amid the 
refinements of classical learni 
We therefore recommend the icin of the following proposition :— 
eke io i alae 
§ 2. The binomial nomenclature — originated with 
Linneus, the law of priority in respect of that nomenclature, 
is not to extend to the writings of Ae ae authors, an 
_ therefore specific names published before 1766 cannot be used 
_ to the prejudice of names published since that date. 
3 Abe should be here explained, that as the works of Artedi and ea — 
eady been extensively used by ichthyologists and entomologists, 
as tained in or used from these authors should not be affected by haa pron 
sion. ‘This is particularly requisite as regards the generic names of Artedi, 
d-used by Li hi f. Bi 
afterward. use inneus himself, Brisson also, who was a contem 
of Linneus and acquainted with the ‘Systema Nature,’ define 
era of b - are additi se in the twelfth edi- 
of Lin and ar 
Bat Briston sl adhered re the ia i ode of designating species by a sen- 
word, and therefore while we retain his defined genera, we 
a. oe extend ae same indulgence to the titles of hisspecies, even when the 
latter are accidentally binvniad in form. For a e, the Perdir rubra of 
Brisson is the TJ'etrao rufus of Linneus; there we in this case retain 
_ the esiarts name of Brisson and the s neat ny ee > of Linneus, the correct 
title of the species would be Perdix rufa Py (Lin nn.). 
3 eneric names not to be cancelled in subsequent subdivisions.|—As the num- 
a of known species So ® orm the groundwork of zodlogical lense is 
always increasing, and o wledge pl their structure becomes more com- 
a e, fresh pit a pia ts 2 cur to the naturalist, and the num- 
of genera and other groups se 88 appellations is ever becoming more 
ce oo longo evo recepta vocabula commutaret hodie ?”—Lin 
e Xth edition be taken as the limit, which seems to 0% yr erp id 
iters, havin well 
k of Linnzus and later authors Thus Dactylus Klein, 1753, has 
been cee for Oliva Brug., 1789, by the Messrs. Ps while for the same 
nus Gray has substituted Strephona Brown. (See also Gunther’s Record of 
logical Literature, 1864, p. 2 
Am Jour. Scr.—SEconD att y OL. XLVIII, No. 142.—Jurr, 1369. 
7 
