Roger is right about those words being treated as first declension words, almost all of which (but not all) are feminine in gender. Whereas a betting man might profit by assuming that all first declension words are feminine, I obviously lost that bet! Latin, of course, by and large observes a system of "natural" gender: boys are boys and girls are girls regardless of declension assignment. Mons Balansa's gender is no longer in question. I set myself up for that one because although I've known the word balansae (from Crocus balansae) for decades, I had always assumed it referred to a woman. It was only when I composed that post that I took the time to look the name up - and I was momentarily disconcerted to discover that it was the name of a man! I was like the tourist who, seeing the names on the restrooms (Damen and Herren) came to an unfortunate conclusion in deciphering them as Damen=Da Men=the men and Herren= Hers and barged right in. Luckily for me, email does not convey the squeals of outrage over my oversight. Jim McKenney