176 Bulletin Wisconsin National History Society. [Vol. 9, No. 4. 



nized bv the scientific institutions into whose possession they must 

 eventually come, and this fact is now also recognized by the indi- 

 vidual collector. 



Prof. Marsh says : "A type should consist of the remains of a 

 single individual, and it should stand as the original representa- 

 tive of the name given, a second specimen or even more may be 

 used to supplement the first but not to supplant it." 



This, however, has unfortunately been done by some specialists, 

 with the natural result of causing endless confusion in the nomen- 

 clature. 



Thomas Oldfield states that the word "type" itself when first 

 introduced was meant to refer to the particular specimen in the 

 singular originally described, but it soon was naturally applied to 

 any individual of the original series if more than one specimen was 

 examined by the describer ; in this there was little cause for con- 

 fusion, but more recently it has been applied to any individual 

 from the collection of the original author obtained no matter how 

 much later and often not even determined by him as belonging to 

 his species. Of late a still further cause of confusion has been 

 introduced by certain authors who, obtaining specimens from the 

 typical locality have spoken of them as typical specimens, a method 

 of reference which, although due to praiseworthy regard for geo- 

 graphical exactness, is yet certainly liable to give rise to incon- 

 venience and confusion. 



The late Dr. G. Brown Goode, in a circular letter to the 

 curators in the United States National Museum, dated July i, 

 1893. Says : By a type is meant a specimen which has been used 

 by the author of a systematic paper as the basis of detailed study, 

 and as the foundation of a specific name. In cases where a con- 

 siderable number of specimens has been used it is desirable to 

 separate one or more as being primary types, while the other 



