6o 



cates of priority in a ridiculous position. Their only effect 

 seems to me to be to put in a ridiculous position those extremists, 

 of whom there are many in America and elsewhere, who hold that 

 no first name can be altered or rejected, however wrongly it 

 may have been formed or spelt. 



In the Merton Rules (Longmans, 1896), of which I also enclose 

 a copy. Rule 29 provides a remedy. These Rules have been very 

 widely and more generally accepted year by year since their 

 publication — I have not yet met with any case with which they 

 do not deal in a satisfactory manner when rightly understood 

 and interpreted. 



The principle they guard is the principle of priority not only 

 in nomenclature, but in all scientific work and revision — i.e. any 

 author's work must be accepted, to the exclusion of subsequent 

 alterations, until proved to be incorrect. 



Forgive me for thus putting the case before you. I wish that 

 I could myself have undertaken the duty of attending the Con- 

 gress. Please endeavour to enlist the sympathies of your col- 

 leagues from the University, and of as many others as possible, 

 to defend Zoological and especially Entomological Nomenclature 

 from the fate with which it is threatened of being drowned in a 

 butt of ridicule. Pray make any use you please of this letter, for 

 the furtherance if possible of the argument it contains — 



And believe me, 



Yours sincerely, 



Walsingham. 



The President then called on M. Charles Oberthür, who 

 proceeded to defend with great eloquence his thesis : 



Pas de bonne Figure à l'appui d'une Description, pas de 



Nom valable. 



(No manuscript received, but the following abstract has been 

 compiled from notes handed to_][^the Secretary by M. Charles 

 Oberthür. — Editors.) 



Nous faisons l'inventaire des espèces qui peuplent aujourd'- 

 hui le globe. Il paraît utile de faire connaître d'une façon cer- 



