2 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. y}, 



the species D. venustus. This was Texas material. Since both Marx and 

 Banks confused more than one species and neither designated an individual 

 type from the material, Stiles' designation is valid. 



6. In 1910 Stiles differentiated between the two species D. andersoni and 

 D. venustus, using the designated type individuals as basis of his differentiation. 



7. It therefore appears to me that D. andersoni not only is definitely the 

 fever tick, but that it antedates D. venustus Banks, which may have originally 

 had specimens of the fever tick contained within its series, but which when 

 typically defined according to our laws of nomenclature is a very different 

 species, with a range extraterritorial to the fever area. 



8. The entire medical profession would welcome a final legal decision on 

 this name at the earliest possible moment. 



In accordance with Pierce's suggestion, the Secretary has invited 

 Mr. Banks, Mr. Bishopp, and Doctor Nnttall to submit statements. 

 No reply has been received from Nuttall. 



Banks submits the following letter : 



Cambridge, Mass., April 2g, 1920: As far as I am concerned there is no 

 " question " as to the name of the Rocky Mt. Spotted Fever Tick, and no 

 decisions of any committee can alter facts. D. venustus was published in 

 1908, D. andersoni a few months later. All previous references to either name 

 had nothing to do with the matter, as there was no description till that time. 

 D. andersoni of 1905 was not referred to as the fever tick but as the tick that 

 did not carry the disease. 



Type label was placed on a certain vial of D. veuiistns at time of publication 

 and anyone who examined the collection of the Bureau of Entomology would 

 have found it. 



Later attempts at limitation of the name cannot alter the facts. 



Bishopp submits the following : 



Dallas, Texas, May i, 1920: I am enclosing herewith a statement on this 

 subject which I drew up in 1912, which I believe sets forth my viewpoint in a 

 rather concise way. 



THE CORRECT NAME OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN SPOTTED 



FEVER TICK 



By F. C. Bishopp 



There is considerable confusion regarding the correct scientific name of the 

 tick which transmits Rocky Mountain spotted fever. As the several statements 

 which have been made upon this question do not seem to have cleared the 

 matter up, it seems best to briefly review the situation and show the exact 

 status of the question. 



Labels bearing the name D. venustus n. sp. were placed by Marx in vials con- 

 taining specimens of ticks from Soldier, Idaho, Las Cruces, N. M., and Texas 

 (on sheep). All of these specimens were deposited in the U. S. National 

 Museum. No manuscript notes or -drawings were left with this material. 



After the death of Dr. Marx, these specimens together with other material 

 from the Marx collection, were sent to Prof. L. G. Neumann for study. In 



