4 
clopterists, there is considerable confusion and uncertainty with regard 
to the names of many species, and I venture to think that, by pro¬ 
nouncing or accentuating the name of an insect in such a manner as to 
make it sound like some other name, that confusion and uncertainty 
are increased. 
As regards the term “ pronunciation,” it may be used as referring 
either to the two methods which exist in this country, to accentuation, 
or to quantity. Of the two methods of pronouncing Latin, one is 
called the “ English,” the other the “ Italian,” or more generally the 
“ Continental.” The difference between the two consists in the vowels 
being sounded differently, and in the letters c and g being invariably 
hard in the Continental method, whereas in the English method 
they are hard or soft, according to the vowel which follows them; 
hard before a, o and u, soft before e, i, y, and the dipthongs ae and oe. 
Into the question as to which of these methods is the better, I am not 
going to enter, but will simply say that each is right, viewed from its 
own standpoint, and that each is looked upon with favour by its 
patrons in the United Kingdom. At Oxford the English method is 
adhered to, whilst at Cambridge the Continental is adopted to some 
extent; nor is there uniformity of practice among the large Public 
Schools of the Metropolis, Christ’s Hospital adopting the Continental 
method, Merchant Taylors’ the English. Amongst Lepidopterists in 
Great Britain, the English method of sounding the vowels in pro¬ 
nouncing Latin words is almost universal, and although certain Cam¬ 
bridge scientists hold to the Continental pronunciation, the latter does 
not gain ground; we may accordingly set it down as un fait accompli 
that naturalists throughout the United Kingdom give the vowels the 
same sound when speaking Latin words that they do when speaking 
English. It is sometimes maintained that the adoption by us of the 
Continental method would secure uniformity of pronunciation amongst 
Europeans, and that thus an ideal “ International pronunciation ” would 
become a reality. Strictly speaking, however, there is no “ Conti¬ 
nental ” method, for, as a matter of fact, each nation pronounces Latin 
after the analogy of its own tongue. In the sound of the vowels, it is 
true, there is a general sort of agreement, but as regards the consonants 
there is the greatest diversity of usage. If the Continental nations had 
attained to an approximate uniformity among themselves there would 
be reason in the suggestion, but as the matter stands it cannot be 
logically supported. As an example of the diversity in Continental 
pronunciation we will take the word Cicero ; the French pronounce 
this Seesayro, the Germans Tseesayro, the Italians Tcheechayro, and 
the Spaniards Tlieetliayro. 
The result of the correspondence in the Intelligencer, to which I 
have already referred, was that the task of compiling, editing and 
publishing an Accentuated List of the names of the British Lepidoptera 
was undertaken jointly by the Councils of the Entomological Societies 
of the two Universities; the President of the Cambridge Society at 
that time was Charles Cardale Babington, and of the Oxford Society 
Kev. H. Adair Picard. In this work, which was published in 1859, 
every name then in use for Species or Genus is dealt with both as 
regards pronunciation and accentuation, and its derivation given. 
The first fact that is patent on looking through the work is that 
the generic names are mostly derived from Greek words, the trivial 
