Conchlers,

There's a Cliton in a 17th century play by John Tatham. Cliton is a
mythological character, although an obscure one and not truly ancient Greek
but a renaissance one (as revealed by googling the internet).

According to Agassiz [Nomina systematica generum molluscorum, 1842(?)],
Clithon is a proper name (in Greek).

Nowadays, Cliton usually is a (deliberate) misspelling of (Bill) Clinton.

Cheers,

Marien
www.mollus.nl

----- Original Message -----
From: "Andy Rindsberg" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, October 07, 2004 5:19 PM
Subject: Re: Clithon and The growth of biological thought / Bibliography


> Sophie et al.,
>
> A Web search for "Montfort, 1810" yields many other examples of his
generic
> names for comparison with Clithon. Among them are: Acteon, Atys,
Calpurnus,
> Cantharidus, Capulus, Chicoreus, Clanculus, Cylinder, Hermes, Iberus,
> Latirus, Magilus, Melampus, Phos, Polinices, Rhizorus, Scaphander, Scutus,
> Tectus, Theodoxus, Trophon, Viviparus.
>
> Some of these are deities (Atys, Hermes, Phos), some are morphologic
> (Cylinder; Capulus = holder, tomb, coffin; Scutus < scutum, shield; Tectus
=
> tectus, covered; or from tectum, roof; Scaphander = dugout canoe), some
> refer to people (Calpurnus < ? Calpurnia, Julius Caesar's wife; Polinices
=
> son of Oedipus; Melampus, "blackfoot", but also a seer in Greek myth;
> Magilus < the Magi, Persian priests; Actaeon = aktaios, 'on the shore',
but
> also a character in Greek myth), another to habits (Viviparus =
> live-bearing). Chicoreus seems to be from Latin cichorium, chicory; I
don't
> understand the connection. Clanculus comes from Latin clancularius,
secret.
> What's the secret? Iberus: the Latin name for the Ebro River? Why?
>
> So Montfort was evidently a skilled namer of new genera; he often chose
> personal names, some of which were unmodified, but others changed in
gender
> or to latinize Greek endings. He also seems to have enjoyed puns (Actaeon,
> Melampus). It helps to be in the game early (1810), before the best names
> are taken. The derivation of Clithon is thus very likely from Alexander's
> general Clithos, though one can never be sure of such things if the
original
> author did not include the etymology.
>
> Cincinnus = Latin, a curl (of hair); cincinnatus = with curly hair. The
> historical Cincinnatus, for whom the city Cincinnati was named, must have
> been given this as a nickname equivalent to the English nickname Curly. Of
> course, this does not guarantee that he had curly hair; like Curly of the
> Three Stooges, his hair may have been conspicuously uncurly!
>
> Andrew K. Rindsberg
> Geological Survey of Alabama
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> [log in to unmask] - a forum for informal discussions on molluscs
> To leave this list, click on the following web link:
> http://listserv.uga.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=conch-l&A=1
> Type your email address and name in the appropriate box and
> click leave the list.
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------------
[log in to unmask] - a forum for informal discussions on molluscs
To leave this list, click on the following web link:
http://listserv.uga.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=conch-l&A=1
Type your email address and name in the appropriate box and
click leave the list.
----------------------------------------------------------------------