^°\^if^^] Stone, Vroeg's Catalogue. 205 



VROEG'S CATALOGUE. 



BY WITMER STONE. 



In the Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections Vol. 47, pp. 332- 

 347, were published a reprint of the " Adumbratiunculoe " of 

 Vroeg's Catalogue 1764, by Mr. C. Davies Sherborn and comments 

 on the new birds described therein, by Dr. Charles W. Richmond. 



It is shown that P. S. Pallas was undoubtedly the author of the 

 Adumbratiunculse and that many of the new names proposed, 

 antedate those now in use. 



Two protests have since appeared, against the adoption of these 

 names as advocated by Dr. Richmond. 



Dr. P. L. Sclater (Ibis, 1905, p. 490-491) rejects the names 

 because Vroeg's Catalogue appeared before (by a lapsus calami 

 he says after) the twelfth edition of Linnseus, with which edition 

 Dr. Sclater begins his nomenclature. He adds however "There 

 is no proof whatever that the 'Adumbratiunculse' were pubHshed 

 at all; they are paged separately from the 'Sale-list.' All we 

 know is that a printed copy of them is attached to Linnseus's 

 copy of the Sale-list, and it was probably sent to Linnseus by Pallas. 

 But it is impossible to say whether the ' Adumbratiunculse ' were 

 issued along with other copies of the Sale-list or were intended by 

 the author for Linnseus's private use only." 



Dr. Sclater's position is of course unassailable if we begin our 

 nomenclature with the twelfth edition of Linnseus, but those 

 zoologists who follow this practice are a rapidly decreasing minority 

 and most of us cannot dismiss Vroeg's catalogue so easily. His 

 claim that it is impossible to say whether the Adumbratiunculse 

 were really published or were attached to other copies of the 

 Catalogue would probably not have been made had he read the 

 statement in the preface relative to them, which is quoted below. 

 Furthermore since Mr. Sherborn and Dr. Richmond published 

 their reprint and commentary, two more copies of the Catalogue 

 have turned up, each with the Adumbratiunculse attached. One 

 as explained below is in the Zoological Society of Amsterdam, while 

 the other was procured a few years since by Dr. Charles W. Rich- 



