594 K. E. BUCHANAN 



The botanical code is less rigid, and probably has something 

 more of ambiguity in some of its statements than does the 

 zoological. Logically it would seem that we should follow the 

 botanical code with the bacteria and the zoological code with 

 the protozoa. 



The questions at once arise: 



Are these codes really applicable to the nomenclature of 

 microorganisms? Have they not been planned with higher 

 groups of plants and animals in mind? 



A careful study of the provisions of either code will show that 

 there is no inherent difficulty in application to the lower forms 

 of life. In the botanical code there are perhaps, one or two 

 rules which the bacteriologists might be reluctant to accept, 

 particularly the rule that all new species of plants (in our case, 

 bacteria) to be recognized as valid, must be pubhshed with a 

 Latin diagnosis. Furthermore in both botanical and zoological 

 codes there is a rule that no two genera (or other groups) can 

 exist with the same name, and that duplicate genera in plant 

 and animal kingdoms should be avoided as far as possible, but 

 that such duplicates are not invalid. In other words, two 

 plants can not have the same name, nor can two animals, but a 

 plant and an animal may be named alike. It would appear 

 that for the sake of the microbiologist there might be appended 

 to each code the rule that in those groups whose position in 

 plant or animal kingdom is in doubt there should exist no dupli- 

 cate names. 



At the last botanical congress held in 1910, certain points 

 relative to bacterial nomenclature were definitely referred to a 

 congress which was to have been held in the summer of 1915, 

 but which was deferred because of the war. At this congress 

 two points of interest to bacteriologists were to have been taken 

 up: 1, the determination of the time or point of departure in 

 nomenclature of the Schizomycetes, and 2, the adoption of a 

 list of genera conservanda. 



In preparation for this congress Vuillemin (1913), published 

 a paper in which he discussed bacterial classification and nomen- 

 clature. He concludes that the best thing to do is to determine 



