INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE, PHILADELPHIA 565 



X. Ill compounding invalid genera the oldest name (and not a new one) must 



be taken for the consolidated group. If a new genus be proposed old 

 genera cannot be referred to it as subgenera, the later name must take the 

 subordinate place. No one has the right to gather a score of old names, 

 reduce their nominal rank, and then propose a new name to include the 

 whole assembly. 



XI. That a genus has the same name as one of its species is not a sufficient 

 reason for changing either name. 



XII. Names of higher rank than genera are not subject to the rule of strict 

 priority on account of the mutability of their limits. Family and sub- 

 family names should, as far as possible, be based on the name of the 

 largest, most characteristic, best known or oldest genus included in them. 



The writer would advise persons desiring fuller information to refer to the 

 above-mentioned report to the American Association for the Advancement of 

 Science* (which may be obtained of the Permanent Secretary, Salem, Mass.), 

 or to the more recent Code prepared for and adopted by the American Orni- 

 thologists' Union,f which introduces several very welcome ameliorations into 

 the earlier code. There are a few points upon which the writer differs from 

 the A. O. U. Code, which may be specified. First, there seems no necessity 

 for regarding generic names of different genders as synonymous when they do 

 not otherwise differ. To treat them as identical is opposed to the usage of the 

 majority of naturalists as well as to the fundamental principle of fixity, so justly 

 insisted on by the authors of the Code. Second, the writer cannot admit the 

 propriety of accepting vernacular names for genera and species when they are 

 not in Latin form. He does not see any intrinsic difference between two ver- 

 nacular words introduced separately and two introduced in connection. If 

 Patelle viride be (as it should be) rejected as vernacular, why is not Patella 

 viride or Patelle virdis half vernacular and equally rejectable to the extent of 

 the offending half? To say that in either of the latter instances the vernacular 

 word is introduced " as if it were a Latin word " (cf. Code p. 19) is to make an 

 assumption and introduce uncertainty. The vernacular word to have any 

 standing, unless adventitiously of Latin form, should be altered to such form 

 or rejected. From this point of view, which is believed to be that of the great 

 majority of naturalists, Canon XXXI of the Code can only be accepted with 

 certain modifications. In other respects the writer heartily agrees with the 

 views expressed by the distinguished authors of the Code, and would suggest 

 the desirability of conformity with the rules which they have prepared. 



Nomenclature in Zoology and Botany, Salem, Dec., 1877, 8vo, 56 pp. 



fThe Code of Nomenclature adopted by the American Ornithologists' Union, New York, the A. O. U., 



1892, 8vo, 72 pp. 



