116 Dr. P. L. Sclater on the new 



Two other editions of the ' Stricklandian Code o£ Nomen- 

 clature ' were subseqneiitly printed and published by the 

 British Association : the first, edited by Sir "William Jardine, 

 in 1865, and the second, edited by myself, in 1878 *. Tlie 

 history of these two editions and a general account of the 

 whole literature of the subject will be found in a paper 

 which was read before the Zoological Society of London in 

 1896 f. From what I have there stated, and from the list 

 of the titles of the various Codes of Nomenclature there 

 given, it will be evident that it is not correct to say that the 

 study of Zoological Nomenclature has been neglected during 

 the past 150 years. On the contrary, much has been written 

 about this subject, and a large number of our leading 

 zoologists have given it their best attention. But in the 

 'Hand-list' it is proposed to throw over all that has been 

 done in this country, and to adopt a Code of Rules that 

 contains, in my opinion, some very objectionable features. 



I fully admit that it would be of great advantage to the 

 science of zoology to have the same rules of nomenclature in 

 all countries, and the same name for each species. This, no 

 doubt, was one of the principal reasons for the preparation 

 of the new ' Hand-list of British Birds.' 



" If the scientific names of Birds were uniform all 

 over the world," the authors truly say, "what an enormous 

 benefit it would be for ornithologists and for science 

 generally." Indeed it would, but the question is, how can 

 such unanimity be obtained ? As already shewn, we have in 

 England a set of scientific names for our birds based on the 

 Stricklandian Code, and familiar to us from their usage in 

 such works as those of Yarrell, Newton, and Saunders- 



* This is the title of the edition of 1878 : — ' Pailes for Zoological 

 Nomenclature drawn up by the late H. E. Strickland, M.A., F.R.S. 

 (assisted by many Zoologists, British and Foreign), at the instance 

 of the British Association.' Loudon : John Murraj', Albemarle Street, 

 1878. 8vo. 28 pp. 



t " Remarks on the Diversities between the Eules for naming 

 Animals of the German Zoological Society and the Stricklandian Code 

 of Nomenclature," by P. L. Sclater, V. Z. S. 1896, pp. 306-322. 



