Vol. XXVlii] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS 23! 



on the descent at Cisneros and Cristalina, the latter being an especially 

 favorable locality. Leaving Santa Marta February 28, they returned 

 to Bluffton via Cristobal (C. Z.), Bocas del Toro, Havana and New 

 Orleans. They brought back 8560 specimens of dragonflies and about 

 500 miscellaneous insects. 



The Destruction of the House Fly. 



The Merchants' Association of New York, through its Committee 

 on Pollution and Sewerage, has issued a circular in regard to the 

 common house fly, in the belief that the health and welfare of the 

 community is of vital interest to all, and that any suggestion for the 

 eradication of this dangerous and annoying household pest will be ap- 

 preciated by every one. It also suggests that the attention of the pas- 

 tors of churches be called to the desirability of teaching their people 

 the iniquities of the house fly. "Furthermore, school trustees and 

 teachers would find it instructive and interesting to emphasize the im- 

 portance of this matter in talks to the pupils on the subject. There 

 are a number of authorities who believe that the germ or virus of 

 infantile paralysis is disseminated by the fly and all efforts should be 

 directed to prevent a recurrence of last year's dread experience by 

 this agency." The association has its offices at 233 Broadway, New 

 York. 



Notice to the Zoological Profession of a Possible Suspension of 



the International Rules of Zoological Nomenclature in the 



Cases of Musca Linnaeus, 1758, and Calliphora Desvoidy, 



1830. (Dipt.). 



In accordance with the Rules of the International Zoological Con- 

 gress, the attention of the zoological profession is invited to the 

 fact that Dr. L. O. Howard, W. Dwight Pierce, and 21 other profes- 

 sional zoologists have requested the International Commission on 

 Zoological Nomenclature to exercise its Plenary Power in the case 

 of the Linnaean genus Musca 1758, and, under suspension of the 

 Rules, to declare M. domestica as type of this genus, also, under sus- 

 pension of the Rules, to validate Calliphora Desvoidy, 1830, with C. 

 vomitoria as type. 



The request is based on the grounds of practical utility, and an 

 almost unbroken history of consistent usage since 1758 in the case of 

 Musca, and since 1830 in the case of Calliphora. It is claimed that a 

 strict application of the Rules will produce greater confusion than uni- 

 formity. 



According to the premises at present before the Commission, if 

 the Rules are strictly applied, the generic name of Musca would take 

 either M. caesar or M. vomitoria as type, and the species M. domestica 

 would be cited either in Conostoma 1801 [?] (type Ascuris conostotna 



- larva of M. domestica) or in Promusca 1915 (type 717. domestica}, 

 thus resulting in a very regrettable change in the nomenclature of the 

 species in question as almost universally used in entomological, zoo- 

 logical, medical, epidemiological and veterinary literature. 



The Secretary of the Commission invites any person interested in 

 these cases of nomenclature to communicate his opinion on the sub- 

 ject as soon as possible, anq* not later than May I, 1918, when the sub- 

 ject will be submitted to the Commission for vote. C. W. STILES. Sec- 

 retary to Commission, 25th & E. Streets, N. W., Washington, D. C. 



