216 THE AUSTRALIAN NATURALIST. 
-would no doubt be gladly welcomed by the Editor of our 
journal, Mr. Thos. Steel, F..8., to whose kindly censorship 
and capable assemblage of the salient features in an abstract 
from an author’s notes, the contributors to the journal 
are much indebted. The primary difficulty which assails 
the student is the much-vexed question of nomenclature. 
A-knowledge of the scientific name of a bird is not essen- 
tial to the enjoyment of its handsome plumage, or its musi- 
cal note; but when the universal desire to exchange views 
on the subject with our fellows is in question, the diffi- 
culties arising from the lack of a name by which a plant 
or animal may be mutually recognised becomes apparent. 
A common name which will pass current ina limited circle 
may be readily agreed upon by its members, but another 
such circle operating elsewhere is not bound by its de- 
cisions, and is free to elaborate an entirely different set 
of names. As the plants and anunals are not confined to 
the area of investigation considered by either circle, the 
confusion which must arise from this multiplicity of names 
is apparent. That no system of classification will give 
absolute satisfaction, is merely an admission of human 
fallibility, but a system founded upon the observations of 
trained scientists, who have devoted a lifetime to this 
study, and arranged upon a basis agreed to by those best 
qualified by actual experience to form a judgment, is 
more likely to bear the test of practical usage than the 
amateur efforts of those whose knowledge of this exceed- 
ingly intricate subject is of a superficial character. The 
popular appeal for simplicity is the articulate expression 
of the law of motion seeking the line of least resistance. 
and arises from inability or disinclination to devote suffi- 
cient time and attention to the acquisition of the infor- 
‘mation necessary for the pursuit of this study. There is 
no ‘‘royal’’ road to knowledge, and attempts in this direc- 
tion are reminiscent of the search by the Alchemists of 
old for the ‘‘Philosopher’s Stone.’? Nature guards her 
secrets jealously, and it is only to those among her votaries 
who exercise to the full their powers of observation during 
lenethy and patient vigils, that her mysteries are revealed. 
It is not, however, with nomenclature alone that the 
Naturalist is concerned; names are but a means to an 
end, and a few well-known local plants or animals will 
