6 BULLETIN 200, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



In summary, then, for all strictly nomenclatural purposes, classes 

 3. 4, 5, 6, and 7 are treated alike. Where zoological considerations 

 have been admitted, class 3 differs from classes 4, 5, 6, and 7, which 

 are similar in being all part of the synonymy (the rejected names, 

 whether complete or partial synonyms). 



The same conclusion can be reached through a different line of 

 reasoning, thus : In considering all the names that have been applied 

 to a particular genus (and its parts) , they are all in a single category, 

 according to Article 6, and are treated alike as a series of names. When 

 the fact is stated that they apply to parts of one zoological genus, we 

 can still say that they are all in one group — they are all synonyms. 

 One of these synonyms will be the oldest available name for the genus 

 (and one will be the oldest available name for each subgenus, if they 

 are recognized as such) . Among the other names, however, we can see 

 several kinds. There may be some objective synonyms of the generic 

 name that can never be anything but objective synonyms. There 

 may be some subjective synonyms, whose status depends on the judg- 

 ment of each worker. Any subjective synonym is potentially a partial 

 synonym, that is, corresponds only to part of the genus (a subgenus). 

 By his treatment of the entities represented by these names, each writer 

 distinguishes between the complete synonyms (synonyms of the genus) 

 and the partial synonyms (subgenera and their synonyms). 



Although nomenclaturally all these names belong in a single class, 

 zoologically the synonyms of any generic name form a definite class 

 distinct from the generic name, and require different treatment in 

 certain non-nomenclatural details. 



In ordinary taxonomy strictly nomenclatural use of names is un- 

 common. Most workers do not concern themselves with rechecking 

 the validity of the publication of each name and the fixation of its 

 genotype. They assume that these matters have been adequately dealt 

 with by nomenclaturists. Thus, in normal use, generic and subgeneric 

 names are always used with assumption of zoological status. We see 

 this in revisionary work, in cataloging, and in synonymy. In all these, 

 subgeneric names and synonyms are together classed apart from gen- 

 eric names. 



Thus, according to this interpretation, the statement in Article 6 that 

 generic and subgeneric names are coordinate from a nomenclatural 

 standpoint is quite true but cannot be extended to cover situations 

 in which the zoological status of the entities represented by the names 

 is involved. As long as the names are dealt with purely as names, they 

 are coordinate. When they are used as names for entities in different 

 zoological categories, they are not coordinate. In the latter case they 

 must be treated in four groups — the names of genera, their synonyms, 

 the names of subgenera, and their synonyms. 



