INTRODUCTION 
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order that we may understand their proper relationships, and their places in Nature, we must learn 
and remember the general principles of animal classification. Without this foundation knowl- 
edge, a clear view of the splendid domain of animal life is impossible, and the life histories of our 
living creatures will be but a jumble of disconnected facts, of very slight practical use. 
When properly simplified, the classification of the principal groups of our vertebrate animals 
is as easily learned and remembered as the leading facts of geography. Once learned, each animal 
observed thereafter can be located in the group to which it belongs, and its place in Nature under- 
stood. This helps toward exact knowledge of its anatomy and habits. 
No-men'cla-ture is the naming of animals, and the groups to which they belong. The object 
of popular nomenclature, or naming, is to make the place and character of an animal clearly and 
correctly understood by the greatest possible number of people. 
Scientific nomenclature relates to the use of technical names, in Latin or Greek, in which 
the general student is not often interested. Whenever through frequent or frivolous changes of 
scientific names, or by the giving of too great a number of them, our knowledge of animals becomes 
confused and uncertain, scientific classification defeats its own object, and becomes worse than 
useless. The observance by technical writers of the fatal rule of priority, by which the most obscure 
names often are exalted at the expense of more appropriate names in universal use, is rapidly 
debasing the legitimate value of Latin names generally, and creating wide-spread uncertainty and 
confusion. 
Latin words are used for most scientific names, because Latin is the universal language of scien- 
tific men, the world over; and Latin names are used by all educated nations without change in form. 
In the development of animal classification, the various classes of animals are subdivided into 
groups which gradually grow smaller, until at last each species is named and placed, thus: 
Classes are divided into Orders: 
Orders “ 
Families" “ “ 
Genera “ “ “ 
Species “ “ “ 
As an example, take the Puma, 
Families: 
Genera (singular = genus): 
Species (singular = species) : 
Individuals. 
or Mountain “ Lion.” 
Its Order is FE'RAE, the wild beasts. 
“ Family is Fe'li-dae, the Cats. 
“ Genus is Fe'lis, the true Cats. 
“ Species is concolor, gray. 
“ Scientific name, therefore, is Felis concolor. 
All these groups are divided into subdivisions, such as suborders, subfamilies, subgenera, and 
even subspecies; but in the writer’s opinion there is very little excuse for their creation, or for 
their continued existence, and the student will do well to let them alone — until he feels the need 
for them. 
A tau'to-nym is a scientific name in which the name of the genus is repeated as the name of the 
species. Thus, some authors write the Latin name of the American Bison as Bison bison; and the 
Anhinga is Anhinga anhinga. In America, the tautonym habit is merely another step toward the 
complete demoralization of zoological nomenclature. 
A tri-no' mial is a name in three sections, applied to a subspecies; such as Felis concolor 
oregonensis. 
By scientific authors, species are frequently divided into subspecies, or races, because in widely 
separated localities, animals of the same parent stock sometimes are so influenced by differences in 
climate, food, and surroundings that they assume different colors, or grow larger or smaller than 
the type. But, no matter how much individuals may differ in size and color, if it is possible to 
bring together a collection of specimens which will show all stages of variation from the type to 
