SOME QUESTIONS OF NOMENCLATURE. 469 



our own, to double the name for a given subject; and this analogy may 

 be regarded by some of you as a perfect one. But in the last cases 

 some regard is had for euphony, and it is a short word that is repeated, 

 as in the case of the Kiwi-Kiwi and Eoa-Eoa of the Maoris of ISTew 

 Zealand, the Pega-Pega of the indigenes of Cuba, the Willie- Willie 

 (waterspout) of the Australians, and our own familiar Pa-pa and Ma-ma. 

 Many scientific names repeated are long — some very long — but even for 

 such I would now yield the point. Stability of nomenclature is a 

 greater desideratum than euphony or elegance. But here let me add 

 that there is a history behind the Scomber Scomber, which has been fre- 

 quently cited as an example of the duplication of a name by Linnaeus. 

 It was Scomber Scombrus that was used at first by the early nomeuclator, 

 and that occurs in the tenth edition of the "Systema Naturae" (p. 297), 

 as well as in the "Fauna Suecica" (2d ed., p. 119). Linnreus thus 

 combined the old Latin and Greek names of the mackerel, which 

 were formally different, although of course traceable to one and 

 the same root. The name is therefore not repulsive, but interesting 

 as an historical reminiscence of past usage by two great peoples. It 

 was only in the twelfth edition of the "Systema" (p. 492) that Lin- 

 naeus exactly duplicated the name as Scomber Scomber, and thus viti- 

 ated the last edition in this as he did in other cases. But it is at least 

 possible that the exact duplication of names in the twelfth edition is 

 the offspring of typographical inaccuracy or clerical inadvertence. 1 At 

 any rate, those who recognize the tenth edition of the " Systema" as 

 the initium of nomenclature will adopt the more elegant form. 



VARIANTS AND SIMILARITY OF NAMES. 



The case of Scomber and Scombrus naturally suggest consideration of 

 another rule adopted by various societies. By the German Zoological 

 Society it is provided that "names of the same origin, and only differ- 

 ing from each other in the way they are written, are to be considered 

 identical." 2 Words considered identical are Fischer ia and Fisher ia, as 



1 In the last part of the Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London (1896, II), 

 received September 5, the suggestion that Scomber Scomber was a lapsus is confirmed. 

 According to Dr. Sclater, "on referring to the two copies of the twelfth edition, 

 formerly belonging to Linnaeus himself, and now in the library of the Linmean 

 Society, it will be found that the second Scomber is altered, apparently in Linnaeus' 

 own handwriting, into Scombrus. (See note on this subject, 'Ibis/ 1895, p. 168.)" 

 P. Z. S., 1896, 310, 311. 



-"Etyniologisch gleich abgeleitete und nur in der Schreibweise von einander 

 abweichende Namen gelten als gleich. 



Beispiele: silvestris=^sylvestris; cwruleus = cceruleu8 ; Unncei—liiMiei ; Fischeria= 

 Fisheria ; Astracanthns—Asteracanthus. 



a. Dagegen konnen neben einander verwendet werden Pious und Pica; Polyodon, 

 Polyodonta, und Polyodontes ; fluvialis, fluviatilis, fiiiviaticus, fluviorum; moluccensis 

 und moluccanus. 



b. Bei Neubildung von Namen moge man solche vermeiden, welche leicht mit 

 schon vorhandenen verwechselt werden konnen." Regeln * * * von der Deutsch. 

 zool. Ges., § 4. 



