NOVITATES ZOOLOGICAE. 



Vol. I. JANUARY, 1894. No. 1. 



NOTE OF THE EDITOES. 



IT may interest our readers to know some of the leading principles of the 

 chief contributors to " Novitates Zoologicae," which are laid down in the 

 following short notes. Most of these points of view and theories have so 

 often been disenssed, or are of such eminent practical nsefulness, or else are merely 

 postulates of logical reflection, that we think it unnecessary to dilate upon them. 



1. The basis of truly scientific, systematic work is the knowledge of the species 

 and their geographical distribution. 



2. Therefore we ought to distinguish between the different forms, even if their 

 differences are very " slight " — provided they are constant. 



3. If very closely allied forms are connected by intermediate specimens (as is 

 often the case in the countries where their areas meet or overlap) it is practically 

 not advisable to 'admit them as distinct species, but they ought to be degraded to 

 the rank of subspecies. 



4. Islaud-forms, however slight may be their differences, will in most cases be 

 more readily recognised as worthy of specific rank than similarly closely allied forms 

 with a mainland distribiUion. 



5. The initials of generic terms are written in Capitals, the specific names with 

 small initials. 



6. The author's name is put in lirackets if it was originally connected with any 

 other generic term than at present. 



7. The term " variety," especially among entomologists, has been indiscriminately 

 used to denote an individual variation within a species as well as climatic or 

 geographical races. We therefore, to avoid all possible errors, have determined 

 to discard the term " variety " altogether. To denote individual variations we shall, 

 in this periodical, employ the word aberration, and for geographical forms, which 

 cannot rank as full species, the term subspecies. 



EDITORS. 

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