Proposed Reform of Zoological Nomenclature. 275 
insist on infringing the rules of good taste by introducing into the 
science words of the same inelegant or unclassical character in 
future. But that which cannot be enforced by law may, in some 
measure, be effected by persuasion; and with this view we sub- 
mit the following propositions to naturalists, under the title of 
Recommendations for the Improvement of Zoological Nomenclature 
in future. 
[The best names are Latin or Greek characteristic words.| 
The classical languages being selected for zoology, and words 
being more easily remembered in proportion as they are expres- 
sive, it is self-evident that 
§ A. The best zoological names are those which are de- 
rived from the Latin or Greek, and express some distin- 
guishing characteristic of the object to which they are 
applied. 
[Classes of objectionable names. ] 
It follows from hence that the following classes of words are 
more or less objectionable in point of taste, though, in the case of 
genera, it is often necessary to use them, from the impossibility of 
finding characteristic words which have not before been employed 
for other genera. We will commence with those which appear 
the least open to objection, such as 
a. Geographical names,—These words being for the most part 
adjectives can rarely be used for genera. As designations of 
species they have been so strongly objected to, that some authors 
(Wagler, for instance) have gone the length of substituting fresh 
names wherever they occur; others (e.g. Swainson) will only to- 
lerate them where they apply exclusively, as Lepus hibernicus, T'ro- 
glodytes europeus, &c. We are by no means disposed to go to 
this length. It is not the less true that the Hirundo javanica is 
a Javanese bird, even though it may occur in other countries also, 
and though other species of Hirundo may occur in Java. The 
utmost that can be urged against such words is, that they do not 
tell the whole truth. However, as so many authors object to this 
class of names, it is better to avoid giving them, except where 
there is reason to believe that the species is chiefly confined to the 
country whose name it bears. 
b. Barbarous names.—Some authors protest strongly against 
the introduction of exotic words into our Latin nomenclature, 
others defend the practice with equal warmth. We may remark, 
first, that the practice is not contrary to classical usage, for the 
Greeks and Romans did occasionally, though with reluctance, 
introduce barbarous words in a modified form into their respective 
languages. Secondly, the preservation of the trivial names which 
