18 HOW BACTERIA ARE NAMED AND IDENTIFIED 



has taken in the past fifty years, and the elaboration of special descriptive cri- 

 teria which bacteriologists have of necessity developed, it is the opinion of the 

 International Society for Microbiology that the bacteria constitute a group for 

 which special arrangements are necessary. Therefore the International Society 

 for Microbiology has decided to consider the subject of bacterial nomenclature 

 as a part of its permanent program." 



The International Society established a permanent Nomenclature Committee 

 to pass upon suggestions and to make recommendations. This committee is 

 composed of members (about 100 in all) from the participating nations. Two 

 permanent secretaries were named, one to represent primarily medical and 

 veterinary bacteriology, and one to represent other phases of bacteriology.* 



It soon became apparent that the botanical and zoological codes of nomen- 

 clature included many items having no significance in bacteriology and virology 

 and that bacterial and viral nomenclature required special consideration. 



In 1936, at the London International Microbiological Congress, it was decided 

 that an independent, but closely integrated. Code of Bacteriological Nomen- 

 clature be developed. In 1939, at the next International Congress, a Judicial 

 Commission of fourteen was appointed and directed to prepare a code for con- 

 sideration at the next Congress. The International Code of Bacteriological 

 Nomenclature prepared by the Commission was approved in 1947 by the Inter- 

 national Committee and by the plenary session of the Copenhagen Congress. 

 These rules were published in English in March, 1948, f and later in French, 

 Spanish, German and Japanese. 



The Code was amended at Rio de Janeiro in 1950 and at Rome in 1953. The 

 present code should be accessible to all bacteriologists and virologists. It has 

 been edited and annotated by the Editorial Board of the Judicial Commission.} 

 It should be consulted by all who wish to determine the correctness of names used 

 in the literature and by those who describe new species or other taxa. 



Some general principles of nomenclature. Every student of bacteriology 

 should be familiar with certain rules of nomenclature if he is to use names in- 

 telligently. If he wishes to correct names improperly used or if he desires to 

 name new species, some additional rules should be observed: 



1. Each distinct kind of bacterium is called a species. 



2. To each distinct species a name is given consisting usually of two Latin 

 words, as Bacillus suhtilis. 



3. The first word is the name of the genus or group to which the organism 

 belongs. It is always written with a capital letter. It is a Latin or latinized Greek 



* The permanent secretary for medical and veterinary bacteriology at the present time 

 is Dr. S. T. Cowan, National Collection of Type Cultures, Central Public Health Labora- 

 tory, Colindale Avenue, London, N.W. 9, England. The permanent secretary for general 

 bacteriology at the present time is Dr. T. Wiken, Laboratory for Microbiology, Technical 

 University, Delft, Holland. 



t International Bacteriological Code of Nomenclature. Edited by R. E. Buchanan, 

 R. St. John-Brooks and R. S. Breed. Jour. Bact., 55, 1948, 287-306. 



t In press, 1956. 



