98 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
The paper referred to is one by Mr. Gerrit S. Miller, a young | 
American, who in the preparation of his monograph of North 
American Vespertilionide* has investigated the nomenclature of 
all our European genera of that family, and has hag 2 the 
results in an English periodical.+} 
So great is the general dislike to change in nomenclature that 
after the publication of such a paper one finds that some people 
reject the changes altogether, while others adopt them, using the 
fresh names as occasion offers, the natural result being a long 
period of confusion and inconvenience. It is therefore thought 
that a concise list of the British Mammals, under the names 
believed to be correct on the most rigid principles of nomenclature, 
will be of use both to those who wish to form an opinion of their 
own on the subject, and to those who are willing to accept, if 
they know them, whatever names may be adopted by the world 
in general. 
The object of nomenclature is to obtain a stable list of names, 
aud while experience shows that such stability is unattainable 
while each author clings to what he or she thinks is the “ well- 
known ”’ name, it equally shows that at first a technical, and then 
a general, uniformity may be obtained by the rigid application of 
the principle of priority, whatever the temporary inconveniences 
of such a course may be. 
One of the chief causes of the large number of changes neces- 
sary is that Linneus gave certain names to certain animals in 
Scandinavia, and that these names were transferred to quite 
different animals in Central Europe and England under the 
erroneous idea that they were the animals Linneus referred to. 
The most disastrous of these mistakes is that of “‘ Vespertilio 
murimus,” as worked out by Mr. Miller and explained below; but 
the Hares and Shrews have also been affected by the same kind 
of mistake. 
The wrong use of Vesperugo for Pipistrellus, Crossopus for 
Neomys, Synotus for Barbastella, and Arvicola for Microtus are 
simple cases of defiance of priority, and can be corrected without 
confusion. 
Lastly, although more debateable than priority, I would express" 
* See ‘ Zoologist,’ ante, pp. 45-6. 
+ Ann. Mag. N. H. (6), xx. p. 879, 1897. 
