Page:The practice of typography; correct composition; a treatise on spelling, abbreviations, the compounding and division of words, the proper use of figures and nummerals by De Vinne, Theodore Low, 1828-1914.djvu/120



Names of diseases, as angina pectoris, cerebrospinal meningitis, and of remedies, as mix vomica, cannabis indica, are not set in italic, nor does the first word begin with a capital letter.

Ordinary names in geology, as quartz, hornblende, gneiss, do not take capitals or italic; but when they are derived from proper names, as Devonian, Jurassic, a capital is required for the first letter, but the word is set in roman.

In botany and zoölogy the first letter of a name composed of two words usually takes a capital, and each word is set in italic. The first word denotes the genus; the second, the species, the generic and specific names together constituting the scientific name of the animal or plant: as, Arvicola amphibius. When the second name is derived from that of a person or place, its first letter may be capitalized, as in Delphinus Sinensis or Darlingtonia Californica. When the name of a family or an order is mentioned, the first letter of the word is usually capitalized.

In this illustration the words Castoridae and Rodentia denote respectively the family and order, and the three species of Arvicola the particular kind of