CORRESPONDENCE. 



To the Editor of the American Naturalist : 



Sir : — Apropos of Dr. Theodore Gill's letter in the March num- 

 ber relative to early collections of the vernacular names of animals, 

 it is interesting to recall that Thomas Gray, "the English poet who 

 has written less and pleased more than any other," was an accom- 

 pHshed naturalist for his time, and busied himself during the last ten 

 years of his life in compiling, amongst other notes, a voluminous 

 catalogue of the familiar names of plants and animals. Not only 

 the common English synonyms are given of Linne's species, but 

 also their equivalents in more than a score of languages, some of 

 the citations being from remote and little-known tongues. 



These lists were written down by Gray in his interleaved copy of 

 the tenth edition of the Systema Nature, and portions of them, some 

 25 pages in all, were published in the second volume of Mr. T. J. 

 Mathias's edition of Gray's Works, which appeared in 18 14. Other 

 selections from the same source, with facsimiles of some of his 

 drawings, have recently been published by Mr. Charles Eliot Norton, 

 who now possesses Gray's original copy. No one can take up this 

 little booklet ^ without feeling grateful to Professor Norton for having 

 placed this ''monument of Gray's learning and industry" within 

 general reach. It is stated by the editor that these annotations, if 

 printed, would form a volume at least equal in size to one of Linne's, 

 and that the light they throw on the poet's occupations and interests 

 during his latter years helps us to a " more just appreciation of his 

 character and his acquisitions." 



Those interested in the derivation of the common names of 

 animals may find it worth while to consult a paper by J. W. Gibbs 

 on the "Origin of the Names of Beasts, Birds, and Insects," pub- 

 lished in vol. xli, of the American Journal of Science (pp. 32-39. 

 1841). 



C. R. Eastman. 



