funny names - now seriously

[Robin Leech]

It is titled,
"Aus Bau und Leben der Rhinogradentia."
I have the original somewhere, but I do not recall the author's name.
It is a spoof, written in German, on phylogeny, etc.  Several
students started reading and translating it, and it was not until near
the end did they realize that it is a spoof.
Robin Leech

----- Original Message -----
From: "Adolf Ceska" <aceska at TELUS.NET>
To: <TAXACOM at LISTSERV.NHM.KU.EDU>
Sent: Saturday, February 21, 2004 11:22 AM
Subject: Re: funny names - now seriously


Great German poet Christian Morgenstern (1871-1914) wrote a poem "Das
Nasobehm" about an animal that was walking on its nose. This poem inspired a
zoologist who wrote a book on the taxonomy of "Nosalia" the order where the
Nasobehm obviously belonged to. The book was published in Verlag Gustav
Fischer. I wonder, would somebody know the citation of this book and the
identity of the author (who wrote it under a pen name)?

Here is Christian Morgenstern:

Das Nasobehm


Auf seinen Nasen schreitet
Einher das Nasobehm
Von seinem Kind begleitet.
Es steht noch nicht im Brehm.

Es steht noch nicht im Meyer
Und auch im Brockhaus nicht.
Es trat aus meiner Leyer
zum erstem Mal ans Licht.

Auf seinen Nasen schreitet
(wie schon gesagt) seitdem,
von seinem Kind begleitet,
einher das Nasobehm.

Many thanks,

Adolf Ceska, Victoria, BC, Canada