Latin phrase

[Richard Petit]

Thanks for your comments.  The second word is "generica" but it could, of course, be a typo in the review.  I appreciate your assistance, and also that of Paul van Rijckevorsel.

The genus-group name referred to by the reviewer was Cyprovula, an error (not of the reviewer) for Cypraeovula a combination of the genus-group names Cypraea and Ovula. The intent seems to be that genus-group names should not be composed of (1) part of an existing genus name combined with another existing genus name, or (2) genus-group names should not be combined to form other genus-group names. 

Again, thanks for your help.

dick p.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Stephen C. Carlson" <scarlson at mindspring.com>
To: "Richard Petit" <r.e.petit at WORLDNET.ATT.NET>; <>
Sent: Thursday, May 05, 2005 9:28 PM
Subject: Re: Latin phrase


> At 07:39 PM 5/5/2005 -0400, Richard Petit wrote:
>>In a review published in 1842 there is a Latin phrase stated by the writer
>>to be a "Linnaean canon."  I would like to know where in Linnaeus' work it
>>might be found and also what it means.  The phrase is: "Nomina generica ab
>>uno vocabulo generica fracto altero integro composita, indigna sunt."
> 
> Should the second "generica" be "generico"?  If so, I think it means
> something like "Genus names compounded from one (part) a broken
> genus term, the other a whole (genus term), are improper."
> 
>>In context it appears to be a criticism of a genus-group name being formed
>>by the combination of two other genus-group names but a word for word
>>translation doesn't make much sense.
> 
> The "uno ... altero ..." construction does not map very
> cleanly to English.
> 
> Stephen Carlson 
> -- 
> Stephen C. Carlson                        mailto:scarlson at mindspring.com
> Weblog:                              http://www.hypotyposeis.org/weblog/
> "Poetry speaks of aspirations, and songs chant the words."  Shujing 2.35
>