Note 163 — Chapter XXXIV · THE CROSSOPTERYGII

This genus was first called Erpetoichthys, but the name was afterwards changed by its author, J. A. Smith, to Calamoichthys, because there is an earlier genus Erpichthys among blennies, and a Herpetoichthys among eels. But these two names, both wrongly spelled for Herpetichthys, are sufficiently different, and the earlier name should be retained. "A name in science is a name without necessary meaning" and without necessarily correct spelling. Furthermore, if names are spelled differently, they are different, whatever their meaning. The efforts of ornithologists, notably those of Dr. Coues, to spell correctly improperly formed generic names have shown that to do so consistently would throw nomenclature into utter confusion. It is well that generic names of classic origin should be correctly formed. It is vastly more important that they should be stable. Stability is the sole function of the law of priority.