Though these Latin names are generally considered as unwelcome excrescences on the pages of _popular_ natural history works, I would yet advise the young entomologist to master them for once, and accustom himself well to their use. He will not find the task a very difficult one, if I may judge from the repeated instances in which I have heard the almost infantile progeny of my naturalist friends glibly mouthing these redoubtable words, and applying them with the most precise accuracy.
Among collectors it is customary in familiar { 61} conversation to use only the second, or _specific_ name of the insect's Latin title; thus, in speaking of the common Swallow-tailed Butterfly, they call it "_Machaon_" only, which at once distinguishes the one they mean from the other, or scarce Swallow-tailed Butterfly, which they would speak of as "_Podalirius_." The Pearl-bordered Likeness Fritillary may be called "_Athalia_," and so on. I think it will be allowed that these Latin names are not harder to learn, remember, or pronounce, than the long-winded English titles; and, when acquired, bring their possessor the advantage of being able to converse with precision on their subject with all naturalists, whether British or Continental; for these names of science are current in all European languages.
Another piece of advice is: don't _waste time_ in trying to puzzle out the _meaning_, the why or the wherefore of butterflies' scientific names. Now and then, certainly, they have some allusion to the insect's appearance, or to the plant on which it feeds; thus, for instance, _Gonepteryx Rhamni_, the entomological name of the Brimstone Butterfly, means the "_Angle-winged_ (butterfly) _of the Buckthorn_," and this is very appropriate and descriptive; but in general there is no more connexion between the name and the character of a butterfly, than there is between a ship's name--the "_Furious_," the "_Coquette_," or the "_Pretty Jane_," as it may be--and the moral disposition or personal appearance of the vessel that bears it.
Also, don't _waste money_ and encourage dishonesty, by { 62} giving the absurdly large prices put upon _British_, or _pretended_ British specimens of butterflies, or other insects that are rare in this country though common on the Continent; when, for all purposes of science, or the pleasure derived from their beauty, _avowed_ Continental specimens, at one-twentieth of the price, will do just as well. In putting these into your cabinet, however, always attach to the pin underneath the insect a label, bearing some mark to denote the specimen's foreign origin.