380 
CHAPTER OF CRITICISM. 
a crystalline structure, and appear as if the inspissated bile had suddenly con¬ 
creted. 
I am, dear Sir, yours truly, 
To Neville Wood, Esq. J. L. Levison. 
The Scientific Name of the Pied Wagtail. 
To the Editor of the Naturalist. 
My dear Sir, —I perceive that Mr. Thompson, in the Annals of Natural 
History (p. 181), appears to believe that the Linnsean appellation, Motacilla 
alba , should be retained for our Pied Wagtail, because u the two characters which 
form the description of M. alba in the Systema Naturae are found in our bird. 
These are, 4 j oectore nigro , rectricibus duabus lateralibus dimidiato oblique albis! ” 
I cannot see the force of this argument. It is pretty evident that ours was not 
the Wagtail Linnaeus described under the name of M. alba ; and therefore, how¬ 
ever near it may approach to the true M. alba , if it be really a distinct species, 
it ought certainly to loose that appellation. Mr. Gould appears certainly correct 
here ; but why he has deemed it necessary to coin a new name (M. Yarrellii ), I 
know not. The British species has been described more than once (previous to 
Mr. Gould’s truly laudable discovery) under the name of M. maculosa , which, 
being perfectly appropriate, I see no reason for altering. Our nomenclature is 
already sufficiently stocked with synonyms. 
Believe me, yours sincerely, 
Bewsey House , Warrington , Peter Rylands. 
May 4, 1838. 
Relative Advantages of the Linnsean and Natural Systems of Botany. 
To the Editor of the Naturalist. 
My dear Sir, —When I sent you a notice of the most remarkable works of the 
present day on British Botany (p. 68), I had no intention of provoking Mr. Lan- 
kester into a discussion of the merits of the natural system, though I could 
almost swear, from the list of books he had given you, that he must have been a 
pupil of Dr. Lindley’s. I should not shrink from taking up the gauntlet he now 
seems to have thrown down for me, if it were possible to reply at length without 
allusion to living authors. But Dr. Lindley is brought forward so prominently, 
and being, as is well known, the great champion of the natural system in Britain, 
while I was apparently combating with Mr. Lankester, I should in reality be 
attacking Dr. Lindley ; and thus my literary spear, if good for any thing, must 
