18C8.] 



181 



Acanthosoma hcemorrhoidalis or hcemorrlioidale ? with a word or two on the 

 perpetuation of blunders in nomenclature. — At the last meetiug of the Entomological 

 Society, I had the pleasure of reading a paper written by my colleague in the 

 Secretaryship. When I came to the genus Sericostoma, my memory recalled a 

 vigorous passage on the gender of Acanthosoma (Ent. Mo. Mag. iv, 260), and it 

 was only after a timorous glance round the room had convinced me of the absence 

 of the Rev. T. A. Marshall that I dared to give utterance to the name Sericostoma 

 Carinthiacum, 



When my friend's " few words on bad spelling " were published in the Magazine 

 for April and May last, I was prevented by the pressure of other matters from 

 adding a fe w words of my own. If not too late, I should like to do so now. 



I may remark that Mr. Marshall has given to his papers a title too restricted ; 

 the range and scope of his criticisms extend far beyond " bad spelling ;" many of 

 the " flagrant instances of cacography* in names " which he adduces are incurable 

 malformations, which must be either retained or rejected, but cannot be amended. 

 The spelling of a mis-spelt name may be corrected, but it remains the same name ; 

 reform a malformation, and you make in fact a new name. 



(1) I agree that " the ill-used letter H might be easily reinstated in such 

 words as Ahrostola and Yponomeuta,'^ and ought to be. In the " Accentuated 

 List of British Lepidoptera " published in 1858 by the Entomological Societies of 

 Oxford and Cambridge, Mr. Marshall will find Hahrostolaf Hyponomeuta, Hyp- 

 sipetes, &c. 



Suppose that, at a meeting of our Society, Mr. Dash were to announce that 

 on a recent visit to 'Ampstead 'Eath he had caught a new 'Ighflyer, which he 

 intended to describe a.s ' Ypsipetes ' Ampsteadiensis . I not only deny Mr. Dash's 

 right to bind me by his pronunciation, but I think it would be within my duty if, 

 before leaving Burhngton House, I caused search to be made on the floor for the 

 dropped H's, and announced tlie new Highflyer in the " Proceedings " as Hamp- 

 steadiensis. And if, instead of a verbal announcement, Mr. Dash had sent to a 

 Magazine a description of ^Ampsteadiensis, and the Editors (omitting to sweep the 

 carpet) had published it, I deny the right of Mr. Dash (either with or without the 

 Editors thrown in) to bind me by his spelling. But unless Mr. Dash has the right 

 to bind me throughout all time, both in writing and speaking, to drop the H of 

 Hampsteadiensis, why should he have the right to bind me to drop the H of Hypsipetes ? 



(2) Again, I agree that "printer's errors might be rectified," and ought to be. 

 For instance, (BucculatrixJ frangulella, so named by Goetze because the larva 



feeds on the alder buckthorn {Rhamnus frangula), was first published as frangutella. 

 Can absurdity much further go than to ask us to perpetuate a misprint like this ? Yet 

 it was years before the Historian of the Tineina could be induced to abandon it ; 

 and there are still some who cling to the t. What would these gentry have done 

 if the printer had made it frangnlell-a ? 



In the " Accentuated List " Mr. Marshall will find Argyrotoxa. Argyrotoza, 

 however, was not a printer's but an author's error. Stephens made the same sub- 

 stitution of z for X in other cases, e.g., Lozotcenia, in each instance giving correctly 



• Qu. Is not " calligraphy usually taken to mean good writing in the sense of good penmanship? 

 and " cacography," I presume is the opposite of calligraphy. But the opposite of "orthography" is 

 here intended. 



