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II. Mitteilungen aus Museen, Instituten usw. 



1. ^'Official" List of Zoological Names. 



An Open Letter to Professional Zoologists. 



eingeg. 18. Dezember 1909. 



A number of zoologists have expressed the opinion that a list of 

 the most common zoological names should be prepared and that the 

 International Congress of Zoology should accept this list in the future 

 as free from any operation of the Law of Priority. Other zoologists 

 view this proposition as theoretically and practically open to very serious 

 objections. In the hope of meeting the wishes of the representatives of 

 both sides of this question I take the liberty of proposing an alternative 

 plan, namely, that a list be made of the most commonly used zoological 

 names, that these names be subjected to rigid study under the present 

 International Code, and that the International Congress adopt this list 

 as "Official'', with the provision that no change in any of the names in 

 the list be accepted unless the reason for such change is first submitted 

 to the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature for care- 

 ful study and unless said Commission decides that the change is justi- 

 fied and necessary. 



If the zoologists of the world will cooperate with me in this matter, 

 I will endeavor to report to the International Commission at the Gratz 

 meeting in 1910 a list of the kind proposed. It does not seem advisable 

 to make this official list too large at first, but if the plan is found to be 

 feasible, additional names could be placed on the list year after year, 

 and eventually we would have a catalogue of all of the most common 

 and most important names in Zoology. 



I invite the zoologists of the world to cooperate with me in this 

 experiment on the following plan: Let any person interested in Zoology 

 send to me within the next three months a list of 100 zoological names 

 which he considers the most important, and the most generally used. 

 Let every man who is familiar with nomenclatural usages work out the 

 status, under the International Code, of 10 of the 100 names which he 

 submits, giving the exact spelling, the author, and the date and place 

 of publication, with the statement that he considers the 10 names in 

 question as the correct names of the animals involved. 



I will agree to compile all the names sent in, to tabulate the votes 

 on the different names (in respect to their importance and frequency), 

 and if possible to verify the references and the nomenclatural status of 



