NOMENCLATURE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XIII, Issue XIII, 25 November 1876, Page 1 (Supplement)

NOMENCLATURE.

We have all heard the story of the shepherd who, the better to remember the words; of the Latin prayer, took a number of the best known of his flock, as many as the prayer contained words, and named one sheep by Jhe first, word, and by the second,; r dntill r the prayer was ended; that so, having constantly before his eyes the living representations of those words, other;; wise meaningless'to him', he'contrived 'to establish and retain them in his mind jas long as his select flock, remained .entire.' But when brie 'member of it' forfeited his life by gravitating to the bottom of: a. precipice from the heights above, its namequickly vanished from among its fellows, and the sentence of which it formed part was consequently rendered incomplete. jln: Eerambulating round about the qod occasionally to see how my neighbours, are prospering, and whether'l cannot learn anything useful from their experience I have generally found, that, while many, think it far beneath their notice to confer names ion their beasts at all/those that do" have, for the most part,, : seleoted such appellations that any verbs or pronouns from the old'; shepherd's list would have been an improve* ment on thein. Verily, if my ideas'of propriety are correct, these things ought not to be so., All the animals about a farm .or homestead which aTe sufficiently recognisable one from another should be presented with.a name apiece—and a respectable one too— from the cat by the fireside, or the rabbit, in the hutch, through all the denominations of fowls, dogs, pigs, sheep, cattle, and horses, and anything else that may be, till every creature on the place shall have a name as completely its -own as the farmer's own patronymio ie Mb. From the practice of nomenclature thus carried out in a general way much good, I think, in several directions will be likely to resnlt. In the first place, among milking cows, yoke bullocks, horses, &c., which are handled daily, the' names become quickly known, not only to the individual possessors of them, but also to all their compeers, as thoroughly, as the sound of one another's bells, where such ornaments are in use. When animals thus know their names thalabour of managing is materially lessened. An' agreeable sense of possession [is also engendered in a beast by the bestowal upon it of a personal appellation, and this alone would be sufficient reason why it should be given. One which, out on the run, has taken up with a wild mob, when at the approach of man they all elevated their tails and made good their' escape, will pause in a headlong night, and turn and calmly await the approach of the object of its previous terror, and stand contentedly to receive a scratching, at the sound of its well-remembered name spoken by. a familiar voice. But apart from this consideration, animals with names are, in my opinion, more likely jto be profitable to their owners than those without. Ido not affirm that the gift of a name will confer size and strength on a bullock, or milking, properties oa a cow, but it will tend always to increase the attention and care bestowed on these animals,.and increased care will be followed by increased profits. By naming animals much confusion is avoided. How awkward it sounds to hear Mrs. Cherry curd telling her lord when he comes hpme to the midday ■ meal, " I think there is something the matter with one of the pigs : sunstroke or something of the sort. " Which one!" inquires Mr. C, "That white spotted hog" with the flap ears and short tail, belonging to the black sow that Uttered last fall,, is the tedioußly long description to which Mr. C, has to listen before he can comprehend that it is one of his best swine that lies gasping for breath behind the garden fence. Who that has seen a team of bullocks at work would affirm that names given to themis breath lost? The distinctive appellation which eaeh one owns draws more work out of him than any length of whip could do, ! because it enables him to understand and act in conjunction with the will of his driver. Another use in nomenclature yet remains unmentioned. If judicious names are chosen it may become useful as a means of imparting knowledge to, or improving the tastes of, the younger sections of ■ the farmer's family. The cultivation and adorning of the home with flowers, &c.,'is generally supposed to improve the taste and elevate the mind, and a like influence will graceful names be found to exert over those much among them. Nor need there be any loss.' as to procuring a sufficiency of such appellations. Take, for instance, the heroes and' heroines on a page of ancient history, say the siege of Troy, or some other page which every well-informed man would be expected to be acquainted with, and having caused these notables to live again—though wonderfully transformed corporeally—upon your own/farm, your children will quickly take means to discover who was the ancient Menelaus, and what feats', the old Hector performed that his memory i should live so long. Yet another method of naming is to honour living "celebrities--by "calling"infant 'stock 'after' them. Mnelcamuee.ment may be gathered from-the antics and quarrels and friendships pi a grgup of ;calveß, each one unconscionsly representii'.t; a "prominent politician l or other: publio.character.; The flower garden is also. an excellent •»place in whioh ~t0... seek for' names,-,' as ..some , of the sweetest and' beet, that'can •Iβ .found grow there. In "short,, good and suitable names can •be .-found anywhere if people' Will take the trouble to" look for them. 'I kri&W two ladies once who',were' so hard up , for I names for-, their calves thai they-eaoh called them, after, the! other's! children,-but aa'no. good, eeemed; to 'result :from this arrangement I could, not advise its general adoption. .-■;■■.-,>■■•.•-,-.■ j : ., 0 q I . COBNUTUS.