Proposed Reform of Zoological Nomenclature. 279 
form most unsightly objects to all who are conversant with the - 
spirit of the Latin language. A name made up of the first half 
of one word and the last half of another, is as deformed a monster 
in nomenclature as a Mermaid or a Centaur would be in zoology ; 
yet we find examples in the names Corcorax (from Corvus and 
Pyrrhocoraz), Cypsnagra (from Cypselus and Tanagra), Merulazis 
(Merula and Synallawis), Lowigilla (Loxia and Fringilla), &e. 
In other cases, where the commencement of both the simple words 
is retained in the compound, a fault is still committed by cutting 
off too much of the radical and vital portions, as is the case in 
Bucorvus (from Buceros and Corvus), Ninox (Nisus and 
Noctua), &e. 
p. Nonsense names.—Some authors having found difliculty in 
selecting generic names which have not been used before, have 
adopted the plan of coining words at random without any deri- 
vation of meaning whatever. The following are examples: 
Viralva, Xema, Azeca, Assiminia, Quedius, Spisula. To the 
same class we may refer anagrams of other generic names, as 
Dacele and C'edola of Alcedo, Zapornia of Porzana, &c. Such 
verbal trifling as this is in very bad taste, and is especially cal- 
culated to bring the science into contempt. It finds no precedent 
in the Augustan age of Latin, but can be compared only to the 
puerile quibblings of the middle ages. It is contrary to the 
genius of all languages, which appear never to produce new words 
by spontaneous generation, but always to derive them from some 
other source, however distant or obscure. And it is peculiarly 
annoying to the etymologist, who, after seeking in vain through the 
vast storehouses of human language for the parentage of such 
words, discovers at last that he has been pursuing an ignis fatuus. 
q. Names previously cancelled by the operation of § 6.—Some 
authors consider that when a name has been reduced to a 
synonym by the operations of the laws of priority, they are then 
at liberty to apply it at pleasure to any new group which may be 
in want of a name. We consider, however, that when a word 
has once been proposed in a given sense, and has afterwards 
sunk into a synonym, it is far better to lay it aside for ever than 
to run the risk of making confusion by re-issuing it with a new 
meaning attached, 
yr, Specific names raised into generic.—It has sometimes been 
the practice in subdividing an old genus to give to the lesser 
genera so formed, the names of their respective typical species. 
Our Rule 13 authorizes the forming a new specific name in such 
cases ; but we further wish to state our objections to the practice 
altogether. Considering as we do that the original specific names 
should as far as possible be held sacred, both on the grounds of 
justice to their authors and of practical convenience to naturalists, 
