ZOOLOGICAL NOMENCLATURE. 427 
and the ante-penultimate when the penultimate is short. The 
International Commission would do a thankworthy act by giving 
the sanction of their authority to this ancient but much neglected 
proposal. 
In the transcription of Greek diphthongs it would, as many 
think, be far better to retain ei, al, and 01; ei because there at 
least the quantity could no longer be doubtful, but ai and o1 
because the italic printing of @ and @ causes constant confusion. 
Thus, for example, waipa, the bright sparkle, is confounded with 
woipa, gloomy fate. Pareiasaurus, the lizard with a cheek, is 
a complete linguistic puzzle when written Pariasaurus. The 
ending id@, in names of zoological families, is often pronounced 
with a long penultimate, asif from the Greek «n;, as in Atreides. 
But here a misconception has evidently crept in. The penulti- 
mate is only long in such words as Atreides because it is a 
contraction of two short syllables into one long one. In AXacides 
from AXacus and in similar forms the penultimate is short. But 
knowledge of what is right, and uniformity in usage can never 
become general until in these matters we are assisted by the art 
of the printer. 
Among consonants the transcription of k into c appears very 
undesirable, as it inevitably results in mispronunciation, xaguivos, 
for instance, being changed vocally into Carsinus. 
Some minor points of criticism may be left over to a future 
opportunity. But, before concluding, I shall venture to submit 
one or two questions to the learned authors of these recom- 
mendations. Is it quite fair to expect those whom they will 
concern in all parts of the world to be acquainted either with 
‘“‘the rules adopted by the Geographical Society of Paris,” or 
with the geography of the Romans and of Latin writers of the 
Middle Ages? Why, too, should any notice be taken, in so 
important a document, of the trivial economy aimed at in 
abbreviations of authors’ names? ‘These absurd curtailments 
remind one of the time when the sayings and doings of Pitt and 
Fox were recorded as: the words and deeds of Mr. P-tt and Mr. 
F-x, and when “‘ the” was “‘y°,” with other teasing stinginesses 
in printing. In the interests of this useless system the zoologist 
is invited to carry about a list of abbreviations proposed in one 
country, enlarged in another, imperfect at its birth, and with 
