Preface 



The histor) ot the development of the 1958 Revised Edition of the 

 International Code of Xomenclatiue of Bacteria and Viruses has 

 been given in the Foreword. Here it is fitting that there be 

 acknowledgement of the generous assistance given by many individuals 

 and organizations in the preparation and editing of this Code. 



The task of developing a wholly satisfactory Bacteriological Code 

 is not complete. New problems involving nomenclature of the bacteria 

 will arise and will require solutions. There have as yet been no final 

 recommendations and no conclusions as to what special Rules and 

 Recommendations will be needed to make functional any proposals 

 to be made by the International Subcommittee on Taxonomy of the 

 Viruses relative to virus nomenclature. The increasing use of term- 

 inologies applicable to strains and grotips of bacteria of infrasubspecific 

 rank makes necessary careful study of the best methods for preventing 

 confusion, even some degree of nomenclatural chaos, in the naming 

 of taxa of lower rank than subspecies. The growing recognition of 

 the value of the type concept in standardization of names may mean 

 the incorporation into the Code of a definition of Type Cidture Col- 

 lections and their functions in stabilization of bacteriological nomen- 

 clature. 



A reading of the Annotations of the several Rules and Recom- 

 mendations of the Bacteriological Code reveals a variance in term- 

 inology (sometimes in basic concepts) in the three Biological Codes 

 of Nomenclature (Botanical, Zoological and Bacteriological) . These 

 differences have come about through the peculiarly independent de- 

 velopment and history of Botany and of Zoology. The organization 

 which can facilitate any attempt to reconcile these interdisciplinary 

 differences must represent biology as a whole and on an international 

 basis. The International Union of Biological Sciences would seem 

 to be the agency able in some effective manner to develop fruitful 

 consultations among the nomenclatural commissions of the three 

 disciplines. 



The Editorial Board and the Judicial Commission are most grate- 

 ful for the generous subventions that have made possible publication 

 of this revised Bacteriological Code. Organizations particularly help- 

 ful have been the International Union of Biological Sciences, the 



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