Names of Animals. 



5869 



French lapin^ and, so, with lepus^ leveret^ &c., but the pages of the 

 * Zoologist' are hardly suited to such an attempt. 



Co^?3/ is the Latin cimiculus ; German, canichen ; Danish, /cam^; 

 Welsh, cwningen, Pliny supposes cuniciilus to be so named from its 

 burrows, but this can hardly be the case. In Greek we find the forms 

 xovifcT^og and fcrnxXog, but there is some doubt as to whether this be a 

 genuine Greek word, or only the Greek way of writing the word which 

 they borrowed from the Romans. Should it be a truly Greek word, I 

 have little doubt that Mr. Bell's etymology from fcoveco^ to hasten, would 

 be correct, supported as it is by the analogy of the names for leveret 

 and rabbit. 



The Guinea pig is hardly an indigenous animal, but as Mr. Bell gives 

 it a place in his ' History of British Quadrupeds,' we may take the 

 opportunity of pointing out the solution of a difficulty which he seems 

 to have experienced. He says, " The name by which this little ani- 

 mal is commonly known is founded upon an error of which I have in 

 vain endeavoured to trace the origin ; for 1 do not find, in any author 

 by whom it is mentioned, any allusion to its being a native of Guinea. 

 The country from which it truly derives its origin is the southern part 

 of the South American Continent, — Brazil, Guiana, &c." Obviously 

 its name originally alluded to the latter province ; but as this was an 

 unfamiliar name to most people, while Guinea was a 'Hiousehold 

 word," the substitution of the wrong name for the right one would fol- 

 low almost as a matter of course. 



I have now completed the task which I at first proposed to myself; 

 and I would fain hope that at all events some readers of the ' Zoolo- 

 gist' have been interested in the remarks I have made. I must again 

 repeat one of my preliminary observations, that I have no doubt I 

 may have made many mistakes. I therefore most earnestly solicit a 

 personal correspondence with any one who is willing to correct me 

 or to afford me hints. I have no\v collected the origins of about 2600 

 names of animal, vegetable or mineral objects, and I have exhausted 

 all the means of information within my own reach, and have still a 

 stock of at least 1200 names of which I can find no explanation, but 

 with regard to w^hich I trust that others will be found both willing 

 and able to assist me. 



P. H. Newnham. 



Guildford, November 19, 1857. 



