NOMENCLATURE. 
upon thofe of his es and his fpecific names, af- 
fociated therewith, made rrent coin. Rivinus de- 
figned his names "for fpecifc diftin@tions, for which their 
neceflary brevity renders them totally inadequate. If they 
convey additional information, refpectiny circumftances not 
fo properly admiffible into the {cientific charafter, we can- 
not but efteem them fo much the better. It feems a 
fence do@rine, which fome writers have advanced, that 
names are the better for fignifying nothin Linne us 
however was fo much afraid of thefe fpecific names fup- 
planting the f{pecific definitions, or effential differences, 
that he caut ie denominated them trivial names, as de 
figned merely fo on ufe or convenience. nce 
r “fo oner than 
dical or economical appellations, or ufes, of plants for 
his fpecific names. By this means arts and {ciences 
o hand in han In other inftances he promotes a 
ledge of the hiftory of botany, and affociates the ancient 
writers with the modern, by deepal — celebrated 
onym, or fome allufive word, for t e of a long- 
known f{pecies. Whether we allow Rivinu us or Linnzus 
the merit of inventing thefe fhort f{pecific names, there 
can be no doubt that their adoption has contributed, more 
than any other circumflance, to the popularity, and prac- 
tical facility, of the Linnzan fyftem. This is univerfally 
felt and acknowledged. Their application to Zoology 
feience i is converfant 
ife nd ad 
terifticis definita. THis plan is, to adapt fome poate 
letter to each charaGter, fo that the generic name of a 
plant thall be an affemblage of the letters that exprefs all 
The firft fyllable is to comprife 
egards the fruit 5 the following one or more the in- 
feveral feeds in two cells. A five-cleft ftellated oP tat is 
exprefied by /4; a conical five-cleft calyx by vi. i 
formed the word Bélvi, for Solanum. A ftands for one 
piftil; a for one ftamen; 7 for five diftin@ ftam mens ; fo 
that WF prefixed to pring expreffes the order and clafs 
. The names of genera nearly 
moft fimilar, but for that very 
t hard to dittinguith or remember. 
as rss bl 
Wivii is 
Wiriwi Ruta with a five- eh eae, Wilwit Saietenia, 
Wiwipi Zygophyllum with a five-cleft flower, Wriwili Te 
du. r W6dwo, according as the flowers are five 
Vou XXV. 
8 Sempervioum, Wamiw 
wiwi Dille nas By 
We cannot 
Moen ace ae ed to denote the lan- 
guage peculiar to on particular ince or art. 
It is to the modern 
are prefer ommu- 
f words, ot pecan follows, that we 
cannot improve the language of any {cience, without at 
the fame ad isa hale the {cience eee 
we, on the 
it. 
e properly expre efled.”” . 
celebrated Lavoifier, and in all the circumftances attendant 
e fbflances fppoted be uncom- 
cued. fimple 
a principle’ ater. 
which the serieation is effected, were = meee words é£us, 
acidum, and idwe, agua, the ‘verb y » gignor, being 
added to each. In all the adden chk jae been fub- 
{equently made to the elementary catalogue, the principle 
thus laid down has, either in sid or fpirit, been uniformly 
acknowled zed. It w e that the 
aid, either the place 
where the compound affording ce new body was found, 
has fuggefted the term, or fome other circumftance equally 
connected with its hiftory. 1 names hereafter to be 
offered, which are perfectly arbitrary, fhould be rejected ; 
for as the leading ciaiaaat s between the nomenclature of 
the 
