Bacteria and Viruses 25 



Rule 4. Sect. 1. Naming of Taxa 



customary in English; one docs not often find a usage such as spiril- 

 laceas. Such words with the modified spellings are no longer Latin, 

 they are vernacidar, and are not the names authorized by the inter- 

 national agreements of the several codes of nomenclature. They may 

 be justified in non-scientific writing but cause difficulty when, as 

 has happened, new names of higher taxa such as families are pro- 

 posed in the vernacular spelling. Does such a word have standing 

 in nomenclature when not spelled as a Latin word? Should such 

 words be discarded as not validly published and replaced, or should 

 the incorrect spellings be regarded as unintentional error and cor- 

 rected? No formal Opinion has been rendered. It may be that the 

 legitimacy of such vernacular names of higher taxa should be con- 

 sidered individually. 



