28 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 'J'i^ 



List of Works Under Consideration 



Gronow, 1763, Museum Ichthyologicum [better Zoophylacium ^], 1763. 

 CoMMERsoN, 1803, (as footnotes in Lacepede Histoire Naturelle des Poissons. 



1803 mostly.) 

 Gesellschaft Schauplatz, 1775 to 1781. An anonymous dictionary accepting 



the pre-Linnaean genera of Klein. 

 Catesby, 1771, Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahamas (1731 



to 1750), revised reprint by Edwards (1771). 

 Browne, 1789, Civil and Natural History of Jamaica, 1766, revised reprint 1789. 

 Valmont de Bomare, 1768-75, Dictionnaire Raisonnee Universelle d'Histoire 



Naturelle. Ed. H. 1768-1775 : several names accidentally binomial. 



In support of the foregoing I may report that I have made an exhaustive 

 study of the cases in question and I feel certain that the adoption of this rule 

 will avoid much regrettable confusion Except the names of Gronow, none of 

 the others has yet been brought into general use and two at least of the names 

 drawn from Gronow (Amm and Scarus) have proved most unwelcome as dis- 

 placing names in almost universal use. 



Gronow himself was an excellent systematist, who adopted the Linnaean 

 system as soon as he heard of it. Most of the genera in his " Museum 

 Ichthyologicum " of 1763, had previously appeared in earlier papers and most 

 of them also have been stabilized through their adoption in 1777 by 

 Scopoli (Introductio), a binomial author, those not preoccupied being now in 

 general use. 



A few of the others, revived at one time or another, have been sources of 

 great inconvenience to systematists. For which reason, I now recommend that 

 the Commission should reject the names of Gronow (accepted under Opinion 

 20) but not adopted by subsequent authors, before other names had been 

 given to the same groups. 



The unwelcome changes resulting under Opinion 20 are the following : 



Amia Gronow (1763) for Apogon Lacepede, 1803. This necessitates the 

 change of Amia Linnaeus (1766) to Ainiatus Rafinesque, 1814. The name Amia 

 as applied by Linnaeus is in a way classical, the iish in question being of especial 

 interest to anatomists and paleontologists. The name Apogon for a large group 

 of fishes is also well established. In any event, I would recommend that Amia 

 Gronow be set aside in favor of Amia Linnaeus, even if other names of Gronow 

 are allowed. 



Scarus. Scarcely less undesirable is the application of the names Scarus and 

 Callyodon of Gronow. Scarus Gronow is a synonym of Labrtis Linnaeus 



^ The references given by Commissioner Jordan (cf. also Jordan & Evermann, 

 1917a, The Genera of Fishes, pp. 17-22) make it obvious that a slight confusion 

 has occurred in the bibliographic citation. 



Gronow's Museum Ichthyologicum bears the date of 1754 (vol. i), [and 1756 

 (v. 2) not verified by Secretary], and as this is prior to Linnaeus' Syst. nat., 

 loth edition, there would be no object in bringing it to the attention of the 

 Commission ; the Secretary has thus far been unable to find any later edition. 



Gronow's Zoophylacium bears the dates: fasc. I, 1763; fasc. II, 1764. The 

 fishes are given on pp. 27-137, fasc. I, and this is the paper discussed by Jordan & 

 Evermann in 1917 and in Opinion 20. 



