•alts* : 



No. 65. 



A Penny Weekly Magazine of Natural History. 



JANUAEY 22nd, 1881. 



Vol. 2. 



NOMENCLATURE 



Fourth Taper. 



W 



DERIVATION S. 



E have been told that in our 

 papers on this subject, we 

 have begun at the wrong end, have 

 "put the cart before the horse," and 

 that we should have begun at "the 

 beginning," and given some account of 

 the Names of Families, and Genera, 

 before we came down to Species. 

 With all due deference to our critic, 

 we think that he looks at the matter 

 from the wrong stand point. We are 

 endeavouring, however feebly and im- 

 perfectly, to give information to begin- 

 ners, to those who are either just com- 

 mencing the pursuit, or whose oppor- 

 tunities have not been great. We 

 have begun with Species because those 

 we write for know most about Species, 

 understand their markings, &c, as 

 species, and not as Genera, or 

 Families. We may be wrong, but we 

 think it is both easier and better to 

 teach from what is known, and lead by 

 degrees to what is not understood; 

 rather than to plunge at once into the 



whole subject. Nevertheless we arc 

 thankful to our critic, and are always 

 glad of our readers' comments and 

 opinions. 



We propose to-day to say a few 

 words on the names themselves. 

 "Linnaeus, "says the Accentuated List, 

 "first attempted to combine in some 

 degree Natural and Civil History, by 

 attaching the names of personages, 

 illustrious in their day, to Insects of 

 particular kinds. His first division of 

 the Butterflies consists of Equites 

 (Knights), and these are sub-divided 

 into Trues and Achivi (Trojans and 

 Greeks)." We do not know that there 

 has either been advantage or disadvan- 

 tage derived from the classical names 

 given to so many Butterflies, though 

 it seems rather absurd to capture 

 Agamemnon with an insect net, or 

 imagine Solon or Tacitus disporting 

 themselves among Butterflies. Other 

 writers have had other ideas in giving 

 names to Species, some wishing to do 

 honour to an individual, others to refer 

 to some peculiarity or habit of the 

 imago or larva, while for some names 

 no derivation has been assigned. 

 There seems to us a peculiar fitness in 

 complimenting those who have done 



