778 REVIEWS. 
genera, but no less than one hundred and seventy-eight subgen- 
era! By this means we learn exactly what, if any, names have 
been based upon a particular species; and so knowing the types, 
we can combine or keep separate at discretion. If Mr. Gray had 
brought these various names under the one he adopted for the 
genus, we should be completely at a loss. One other reason for 
the prodigious number of generic names indexed, may be found in 
a peculiarity of Mr. Gray’s; he invariably preserves the original 
spelling of names, whether correct or not, against the custom of 
the purists who try to amend cacography, false etymologies, and 
other ‘barbarities’ of which ornithology is guilty ; he will not even 
correct typographical errors ordinarily ; and by citing all the dif- 
ferent spellings of the same word as distinct synonyms, his list is 
considerably swelled, since the same word is sometimes written 
five or six different ways. For the special purposes of this work, 
this method is undoubtedly preferable, though obviously it cannot 
be fully carried out. For instance, in the 12th edition of the 
Systema Nature, the genus Scolopax stands printed Scopolaz. 
The classification adopted in the hand-list is fairly open to crit- 
icism on every score. If there is any point upon which ornithol- 
ogists are almost unanimous in the midst of the taxonomic 
enterprises and conflicts of the present day, it is the entire ineligi- 
bility of this antiquated classification. Whatever may be said for 
or against any other system, this one at least will not do. 
We hesitate about mentioning the only other feature of the 
work that does not satisfy us; for it is much like asking the master 
of a feast why he does not have one more course. But, while a 
large proportion of the species (the leading ones in particular) 
are indicated by references to the works where they are described, 
the greater number-of names, including all the synonyms, are 
merely accompanied by the authors’ names, and the locality. 
This will often leave the student in the lurch, as he may have no 
idea where to look for the description upon which the name is 
based. This is complimentary to ornithologists, certainly: but 
it presupposes a knowledge of the literature of the science that 
all do not possess. It was not so much matter about the syn- 
onyms; but if the line allotted to each species had been filled 
out with the reference, as it might have been, we should judge 
that with little additional labor, and without perceptibly enlarging 
the volumes, the usefulness of the work would have been ma- 
