A List Of The Genera Of Birds

Author : George Robert Gray
Publisher : Forgotten Books
ISBN 13 : 9780243596348
Total Pages : 150 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (963 download)

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Download or read book A List of the Genera of Birds written by George Robert Gray and published by Forgotten Books. This book was released on 2017-03-06 with total page 150 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from A List of the Genera of Birds: With Their Synonyma, and an Indication of the Typical Species of Each Genus The basis of the impartial nomenclature which I wish to adopt and establish among Naturalists, is the same that was employed by the late Mr. Vigors in drawing up his list of genera, and one which Mr. Swainson terms the inflexible law of priority. It has the merit, says Mr. Strickland, of being the only one which is just, as it preserves and honours the terms employed by original discoverers in preference to those introduced by later critics; and it also has the advantage of reminding us of the date at which any species was discovered or group defined. This law may, however, cause the use - as Mr. Strickland also remarks - of words which are certainly barbarous in their formation and devoid of euphony; but the adop tion of the first word given must occasion the employment of a much more correct nomenclature than one with the words selected for their superior euphony of sound or applicability of meaning. If systems were established on this latter rule, they must inevitably vary with the tastes and caprices of men. But my object is not to criticise the words which by this law of priority ought to be employed, but strictly to exemplify the mode in which the species of birds have been from time to time divided into genera by different writers since the first edition of the Systema Naturae in 1735 and at the same time to indicate as far as possible those genera which are synonymous with others that had been pre viously proposed, and thus to give to Ornithologists a correct systematic list of the numerous names employed. This has been a work of patient and laborious research, undertaken in the hope that it might be the means of the establishment of a uniform and permanent language, to quote again the words of Mr. Strickland, among Naturalists of all nations. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.