124 On the Nomenclature of Echlnoids. 



that the specialists in the groups in question alone can be 

 regarded as competent authorities. What these agree on 

 should eo ipso be accepted by the Committee ; the protest of 

 some fanatic " priority ruler " should not weigh against other- 

 wise unanimous wishes from the really competent authorities. 

 In cases of doubt the Committee would, of course, have to 

 decide. Concerning the generic names to be protected, it 

 will be necessary to name the species which should be 

 regarded as the genotype, with references to the best descrip- 

 tions ; species-names will generally be less important to 

 protect, though there may be some cases where it will be very 

 desirable to fix them also. On the other hand, it might be 

 less important to have the whole histoiy of each name worked 

 out before the decision is made. As the decision is to be 

 made against history, I do not see the necessity of that, and 

 it might be left to those who have a special taste for that 

 kind of work ; they might then dig up old works, post- 

 Lin naean or pre-Linngean — even pre- Aristotelian, if such 

 could be found: they would do no harm any more; their 

 work would even be praiseworthy, as it is only just that the 

 merits of the oldest authors should be remembered, and all 

 those who are loth to spend their time on these questions 

 would be freed from that unpleasant work. 



I may now proceed to discuss the question about which 

 Echinoid names should be thus protected. This, it seems, can 

 be answered at once : it must upon the whole be those used 

 in the ' Revision of the Echini.' From this work, which I 

 would, in spite of my disagreement with the author in several 

 points, term a classical work, dates the whole of the recent 

 Echinoid literature (on the recent Echini), and it will cer- 

 tainly for a very long time remain the basis of the study of 

 the Echinoid?. The advantages of having the more im- 

 portant of the names codified in the sense in which they are 

 used in this work, and, indeed, in most of the following 

 literature, are self-evident. I would propose to thus fix the 

 following names : — 



Phyllacanthus, Br., with genotype : imperialis, Larnk. ( = dubia, Br.). 



Arbacia, Gray Uvula, L. 



Diadema, Schynv saxatile, L.* 



Strongylocentrotus, Br drobachiensis, 0. F. Muller. 



Echinus, Rond. (L.) esculentus, L. 



Echinocyamus, v. Phels pusillus, O. F. Muller. 



* As there has recently been some dispute concerning the name 

 saxatile, it may be pointed out that I mean the species described under 

 this name in the " Siam " Echinoidea, i. p. 9. 



