Ife Wonng itotenifei: 



A Penny Weekly Magazine of Natural History. 



No. 60. 



DECEMBER 18th, 1880. 



Vol. 2. 



NOMENCLATURE. 



Second Paper. 



B$ our paper last Meek, on this sub- 

 ± ject we discussed the law of pri- 

 ority, but before our readers can fully 

 understand Nomenclature, we must ex- 

 plain the troublesome and vexatious 

 ubject of Synonymy. Our young 

 ■lends will have observed certain 

 iters, following scientific names — L., 

 pr Linn. ; S.V. ; Stand. : and so on. 

 These are well understood contractions, 

 for the name, of the author, by whom 

 the species were described under the 

 name in question. Mttcjtaon, Linn., 

 means that the species Macluion was 

 first described and named by Linne. 

 It is an insect that has been fortunate 

 3nough never to have had any other 

 name. Edusa, Fabr., means that the 

 species was described and named by 

 Fabricius, a very eminent Danish 

 Entomologist, who died at the begin- 

 ning of the present century. Edusa 

 was described under this name in a 

 work published in 1787, and several 

 subsequent writers refer to the species 

 under the same name. It happened, 



however, that Fourcroy, a French 

 writer, in a work on the Entomology of 

 Paris, published in 1785, described the 

 same insect under the name of cro- 

 ceus. The works of Fabricius were 

 of great importance, and were well 

 known, hence the name he used 

 Was adopted by almost everyone. 

 Fourcroy' a work having a more local 

 character, would have a much les.-, 

 general circulation, and his name re- 

 mained unrecognised. The law of 

 priority however holds good, and in the 

 latest Synonymic C atalogue of Butter- 

 flies, the species stands, 



C. Croceus, Fourcr., 1785. 



Fdusa, Fabr., 1787. 

 Much complaint is made at times 

 about "Closet Naturalists " continually 

 changing names of species, and those 

 who have used Edusa for a quarter of 

 a century will find it a trouble to adopt 

 the older one of Croceus. But when 

 once we get the right name it will be 

 changed no more, and the process of 

 transition from one to the other makes 

 it easier. New Synonymic Catalogues 

 arc only published at long intervals. 

 Limited as is our list of British Butter- 

 flies, some names have been changed 



