iqoq] Habits of Wall Bee 9 



gall, even though the name would not be recognizable or of cer- 

 tain application were the account of the gall excluded from con- 

 sideration. 



IV. With regard to names applied as in case 2, intended to 

 refer to the then unknown makers of known galls, it is the sense 

 of the Committee that whenever possible, these names should be 

 adopted. 



V. The Committee is not wholly in agreement as to whether 

 it is obligatory to maintain names (if otherwise valid) proposed 

 as in case 2 ; or whether, when they are maintained, the original 

 author and date should be cited, or the author and date of the 

 publication in which the insect itself is first described. The 

 majority of the Committee, however, is against the obligatory 

 recognition of names accompanied by descriptions of galls only, 

 and holds that when these are adopted, they properly enter no- 

 menclature at the time of the description of the insect itself. 



VL The Committee agrees, that whatever may be the ulti- 

 mate ruling on the last point, there are many practical difhculties 

 in the way of recognizing names proposed as in case 2, so that 

 even were such names held to be available, many of them would 

 have to be rejected as of uncertain application. It is perfectly 

 clear that no rules will absolve an author from using his critical 

 judgment in the several cases that come before him; and after 

 the rules have declared a name available from their standpoint, it 

 may be a long way to availability from the standpoint of practical 

 identification. 



The Committee is greatly indebted to Dr. C. W. Stiles, the 

 Secretary of the International Commission on Zoological Nomen- 

 clature, for a full and luminous discussion of the matters in dispute. 



H. T. Fernald, 



T. D. A. COCKERELL, 



E. P. Felt. 



A NOTE ON THE HABITS OF THE WALL-BEE, 

 CHALICODOMA MURARIA. 



J. H. CoMSTOCK. 



On the banks of the Nile, about 400 miles above Cairo, 

 there stood for many centuries the city of Dendera, one of the 

 most ancient and most famous cities of Egypt. According to a 

 legend a temple was built here in the time of the Ancient Empire, 

 i. e., more than two thousand years before Christ. Of this temple 

 we know little; but about 2000 years ago the Egyptians Iniilt 



