Wellington Philosophical Societij. 603 



distinct species under the ordinary laws of evolution. Whilst 

 on this subject Sir Walter Buller said he would take occasion 

 to refer to some remarks made by a former President when 

 Mr. E. B. Sharpe's paper was read, changing the name of the 

 North Island bird from Aptcrux mantclli to A2)terj/.r hullcri. 

 In the discussion which the President's remarks evoked Mr. 

 Maskell and others appeared to reproach him (Sir Walter) 

 with having, as it were, filched the name from Mr. Mantell, 

 who had so long enjoyed it. As a matter of fact, he (the 

 speaker) had nothing lo do with the change of name beyond 

 submitting his series of specimens to Mr. Sharpe's critical 

 judgment ; and he was ' afterwards merely the " passive 

 bucket " in communicating Mr. Sharpe's paper to the Society. 

 In selecting the speaker's name to distinguish the species, Mr. 

 Sharpe only gave effect to a suggestion made by Dr. Otto 

 Finsch, of Bremen, many years before. Agreeing as he did 

 in the technical accuracy of Mr. Sharpe's conclusions, he (Sir 

 Walter Buller) had no alternative but to adopt the proposed 

 new name. As a rule, however, his own tendencies were con- 

 servative, and throughout his work he had, in regard to 

 nomenclature, observed as far as possible the rule of " Quicta 

 noil viovere." For example, he had declined to follow Dr. 

 Meyer, of Dresden, in substituting the name of Notor7iis Jioch- 

 stettcri for Notornis mantclli, because he did not consider 

 that the differences shown to exist between the fossil and the 

 recent birds were sufficient to warrant the change. On the 

 other hand, he had not hesitated to expunge from the list of 

 species Stringoj)s greyi (so named by Mr. G. E. Gray in com- 

 pliment to Sir George Grey) as soon as he had satisfied him- 

 self that it w^as a mere variety of the common Stringops 

 habroptilus. He was very glad, however, of the opportunity 

 afterwards of reconnecting Sir George Grey's name with the 

 New Zealand avifauna by dedicating to him a new form of 

 Ocydronms. Sir Walter Buller concluded liis remarks by 

 saying that in such matters as this people should not be thin- 

 skinned, for a scientist should have nothing before him but 

 the elucidation of truth, and in the fixing or altering of names 

 there can be no escape from tlie accepted rules of zoological 

 nomenclature. 



Sir. Maskell would like to know whether Sir Walter Buller considered 

 size sufficient for specific difference in birds. He should not have thought 

 that size was sufficient even to erect a variety upon. In his own obser- 

 vations of insect-life he did not consider size by itself as at all im- 

 portant. 



Sir Walter Buller said that if the difference in size was sufficient and 

 constant it was considered enough. In the present instance, however, 

 there were other distinguishing features. 



The President considered that, even if these birds were all of the 

 same species, the fact of finding them so widely distributed and so dif- 

 ferent in size was most interesting. 



