338 APPENDIX A. 



II. Grote would not keep his own opinion a second longer than it 

 satisfied him; no authority exists to bind present and future action; the 

 reason of the matter will of itself be binding on all reasonably inclined. 



[I have not yet quite recovered from the mental exhaustion consequent 

 upon an attempt to ascertain the opinions on and to tabulate the replies to 

 this question. I retain only one impression, each member is willing to 

 accept the decision of the majority provided that he is in it. I must 

 congratulate all the members of the Committee upon ilie very careful and 

 guarded way in which they have answered this question.] Durrant. 



REPLIES. 



154. Hampson (Sir G. R). 12 Sept. 1896. 



" I should be willing to accept and abide by any definite con- 

 sensus of opinion on the above subjects of those to whom they are 

 to be submitted, except in the matter of fixing types of genera, as I 

 regard the fixity of the types of genera as an essential principle of 

 Zoology." 



[Vide Hampson 164. Durrant.^ 



155. Walsingham (Lord). 



" In the event of there being any clear consensus of opinion on 

 the above subjects by a majority of those to whom they are to be 

 submitted, I should be willing to adopt their decision so far as they 

 recognise the absolute and unalterable Law of Priority as governing 

 ALL published work." 



156. Meyrick (E.). 



" I should be willing to adopt the decision of a majority of the 

 Committee, whenever it did not conflict with principles adopted by 

 the great majority of Zoologists. But there would be nothing 

 gained by coming over to the opinion of a majority, if that majority 

 of the Committee proved to be only an inconsiderable minority of 

 the body of Zoologists. The convention known as the law of 

 priority is presumably agreed to by us all. Three other conventions 

 are here called in question, viz. (i) the date from which nomencla- 

 ture is to begin, (2) the necessity of an attempt to define genera, 

 and (3) the mode of arriving at generic types. If the consensus of 

 the Committee is clear in desiring to modify any of these three con- 

 ventions, I would agree to have the subject brought up again for 

 discussion and settled by any authoritative general Committee 

 of Zoologists, but I think it would serve no useful purpose to 

 attempt such modification solely on our own account. In matters 

 concerning Lepidopterists only, and wherever there is no obvious 

 conflict of principle with the above conventions I should be ready to 

 adopt the views of the majority." 



