NO. 8 OPINIONS 124 TO 133 



OPINION 125 



Boros Herbst, 1797, and Bonis Agassiz, 1846, vs. Bonis Albers, 



1850 



SUMMARY. — Borus Agassiz, 1846, is an emendation of, and therefore an 

 absolute synonym of, Boros Herbst, 1797; Bonis Albers, 1850, is a dead 

 homonym. 



Statement of case. — Dr. H. A. Pilsbry, of the Academy of Natu- 

 ral Sciences of Philadelphia, submits the following case for Opinion : 



In Archiv fiir Naturgeschichte, Jahrg. 92 (for 1926), Abth. A, 8 Heft, July 

 1928, p. 66, E. Strand proposes to reject the name "Bonis Albers, 1850", on 

 account of Boms L. Agassiz, Nomencl. Zool., 1846, in Coleoptera, and to replace 

 it by Corns Jousseaume, 1877. 



Boms was suggested by Agassiz (Nom. Zool. Index Univ., p. 49) as an 

 emendation of Boros Herbst, 1797. Under present conditions the names Boros 

 and Boms would be considered sufficiently different (Opinion 25 of the Inter- 

 national Commission). In my opinion the original spelling of each name is all 

 that need be considered; subsequent variants or emendations having no status in 

 nomenclature. According to this view Borus Albers will stand. 



"Corns (Bulimus) valencienncnsi" (sic) was mentioned with other snails by 

 Jousseaume (Bull. Soc. Zool. France, vol. 2, p. 311, 1877), but without any 

 intimation that the name was new. In the same paragraph and elsewhere in the 

 same communication, new names proposed are so designated, and moreover are 

 printed in heavy face type. It is clear, therefore, that " Corns " was a pen error 

 or printer's error for Bonis. Such an error seems the more likely as there are 

 two mistakes in the name " valcncicnncsi" (a well-known species of Borus) in 

 the same line. I do not think that such an evident error is available as basis for 

 a new name. 



Mcgalobulimus K. Miller, Malak. Blatter, vol. 25, p. 172, 1878, for Boms 

 garcia-morcni Miller (= B. popclairiaiius var. thaminianus v. Martens) is 

 available for the Borus group in case Borus is rejected. 



Discussion. — This case was studied independently by Commis- 

 sioner Bather, by the Secretary, and by Dr. Paul Bartsch of the 

 United States National Museum. The opinions prepared by all three 

 are in agreement. The Opinion as worded by Commissioner Bather 

 reads as follows : 



By Art. 19, the name Boros Herbst should be preserved unless an error of 

 transcription, a lapsus calami, or a typographical error is evident. Since the 

 name is obviously the Greek /3op6s none of these is evident. 



But by Art. 8, Recommendation a and Appendix /, Herbst " should " have 

 written Borus. Since this recommendation is based on the previous usage of both 

 classical scholars and the early systematists (who were for the most part 

 scholars), Agassiz was within his rights in emending to Borus. 



