36 International Code of Nomenclature 



Rule 6. Sect. 1. Naming of Taxa 



albus-Iactls, there are still two unrelated concepts. An at- 

 tempt to change the illegitimate trinomial to a legitimate 

 binomial yielded Bacillus nlbolactis. The name is a binomial 

 but now means the Bacillus of white milk, not the white 

 Bacillus of milk. 

 (3) Legitimate subspecies ?iames in which the generic name is 

 followed by a single specific epithet and this, in turn, by a 

 subspecific epithet, the whole ternary combination repre- 

 senting the name of a subspecies. This type of name will be 

 considered under Rule 7. 

 Hyphenation of compound specific epithets. Rule 6 states that 

 specific epithets made up of two or more words should either 

 be hyphenated or the words should be united. The Rule does not 

 indicate which choice should be made. Precedent indicates that 

 Avhen each component is separately declined, use of the hyphen is 

 advised. For example, if each component is in the genitive, as in 

 Clostridium oedematis-maligni , the hyphen indicates that the specific 

 epithet is made up of two separate words, the genitive of oedema 

 malignum, the name of the disease. Similarly one may write Strepto- 

 coccus lactis-acidi. Frequently one component modifies the other, as 

 an adjective preceding or following a noun, or is used in an adverbial 

 sense preceding a participle or an adjective, in such cases the two com- 

 ponents should be united into a single word, as nigromaculatus black- 

 spotted, thermophilus heat-loving, lentiputrescens slowly putrefying, 

 albogilvus whitish yellow. See Rule 27 and its Recommendations re- 

 lating to orthography. 



Kinds of specific epithets. Rule 6 states that specific epithets may 

 be (1) adjectives, (2) nouns in apposition or (3) nouns in the geni- 

 tive. 



(1) Adjectives as specific epithets. Specific epithets may be adjec- 

 tives, either simple or compound. They are of many origins, as 

 shown infra: 



A simple Latin adjective: Staphylococcus aureus the golden 

 Staphylococcus; Synangium sessile the stalkless or sessile 

 Synangium; Neisseria sicca the dry Neisseria; Clostridium 

 botulinu7n the Clostridium related to sausage. 

 A compound Latin adjective: Sireptomyces alboflavus the whitish 

 yellow Sireptomyces; Bacillus flavoviridis the yellowish green 

 Bacillus; Rhabdomonas fusiformis the spindle-shaped Rhab- 

 domonas. 

 A simple Greek adjective (transliterated into Latin and with 

 Latin endings) Bacillus acinous the uncolored Bacillus; Bac- 



