X International Code of Nomenclature 



Foreword 



was agreed that, bcloie the convening of the third International 

 Congress of Microbiology to be held three years later in New York, 

 a tentative Code of Bacteriological Nomenclature should be drafted 

 and presented for the consideration of the Committee. To facilitate 

 easy conference an American (Canadian and U.S.A.) Subcommittee 

 was constituted to prepare such a tentative code. The members of 

 this Subcommittee were R. E. Buchanan, Chairman; Robert S. 

 Breed; J. Howard Brown; 1. C:. Hall; W. L. Holman; E. G. D. 

 Murray; and Otto Rahn. 



The chairman was asked to assemble material for consideration 

 by the members. A mimeographed brochure of 119 pages was pre- 

 pared imder the title "Rules of Nomenclature, Annotated". It con- 

 sisted of two parallel columns. In the first column the International 

 Rules of Botanical Nomenclature, including Principles. Rules. 

 Reco7nmendations, Notes and Examples were printed. In the second 

 column were listed suggestions for a code of Bacteriological Nomen- 

 clature formulated by making such minor modification of the Botani- 

 cal Code as seemed desirable, as by dropping of inapplicable sections. 

 In numerous footnotes were given the pertinent sections of the In- 

 ternational Rules of Zoological Nomenclature and the American 

 Code of Entomological Nomenclature. This material was sent to all 

 members of the Subcommittee and to a large number of other bac- 

 teriologists, including members of the International Committee in- 

 sofar as they could be reached. Criticisms and suggestions were in- 

 vited. More than 30 sets of comments and suggestions were received. 

 These comments were broken up into sections corresponding to those 

 of the suggested code, and the proposed code and comments again 

 submitted to the members of the Subcommittee in the form of a 

 mimeographed booklet under the title "Suggestions and Comments 

 on 'Rules of Nomenclature, Annotated' ". A new series of connnents 

 and suggestions was secured from the numerous collaborators, 

 tabulated and submitted once more to the Subcommittee. A final 

 revision was prepared to present to the International Committee at 

 its New York meeting in 1939. The text of this tentative code dif- 

 fered from the basic Botanical Code principally in the following: 



a. A reorganization of the text of the code under the following 



headings. 



1. General Considerations; 2. General Principles; 3. Rules of 

 Bacteriological Nomenclature with Recommendations; 4. Pro- 

 visions for interpretation and modification of rules. 



b. Elimination of items and sections of the Botanical Code which 

 seemed inapplicable to bacteriology. 



c. Simplification where possible through rephrasing. 



d. Selection of examples where possible from bacteriology. 



