■7 74 Classification of Fishes 



aculeits longns erigitiis." This Artedi alters in 1738 to Ostra- 

 c-ioii triangulatiis acitleis diiobus in capite et unico longiore superne 

 ad candam. This is more accurately descriptive and it recog- 

 nizes the existence of a generic type, Ostracion, or tninkfish, to 

 cover all similar fishes. French writers transformed this into 

 various phrases beginning " Coffre triangulaire a trois cornes," 

 or some similar descriptive epithet, and in English or German it 

 was likely to wander still farther from the original. But Lin- 

 naeus condenses it all in the word tricornis, which, although not 

 fully descriptive, is still a name which all future observers can 

 use and recognize. 



It is true that common consent fixes the date of the begin- 

 ning of nomenclature at 1758. But to this there are many 

 exceptions. Some writers date genera from the first recog- 

 nition of a collective idea under a single name. Others follow 

 even species back through the occasional accidental binomials. 

 Most British writers have chosen the final and completed 

 edition of the Systema Naturre, the last work of Linnaeus, in 

 1766, in preference to the earlier volume. But all things con- 

 sidered, justice and convenience alike seem best served by 

 the use of the edition of 1758. 



Synonymy and Priority. — Synonymy is the record of the 

 names applied at different times to the same group or species. 

 AVith characteristic pungency Dr. Coues defines synonymy as 

 " a burden and a disgrace to science." It has been found that 

 the only way to prevent utter confusion is to use for each 

 genus or species the first name applied to it and no other. 

 The first name, once properly given, is sacred because it is 

 the right name. All other later names whatever their appro- 

 priateness are wrong names. In science, of necessity, a name 

 is a name without any necessary signification. For this reason 

 and for the further avoidance of confusion, it remains as it was 

 originally spelled by the author, obvious misprints aside, re- 

 gardless of all possible errors in classical form or meaning. 

 The names in use are properly written in Latin or in 

 Latinized Greek, the Greek forms being usually preferred as 

 generic names, the Latin adjectives for names of species. Many 

 species are named in honor of individuals, these names beino- 

 usually given the termination of the Latin genitive, as Sebas- 



