PRINCIPLES, CANONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS. 



57 



in giving exact indication of the sense in which a name is used ; for instance, 

 in check-hsts, or monoyrapliic and revisionary works. 



In writing the names of sulispecies the authority for the specific or second 

 element of the name may nearly always be omitted. 



The relation of authorities may be otherwise indicated ; as, e.g., Mcrula 

 viii^ratoria L. sp. ; or Menilu mi^^ratoria S\v. & Rich, ex L. ; or Mcrula 

 mii^ratoria Sw. & Rich. (L. sub / unius), etc. ; but the method first above 

 mentioned has the merit of the greater simplicity and brevity. 



Two very different practices have prevailed among naturalists in respect 

 to authorities for names. The B. A. Code gave preference to the authority 

 for the specific name, fur the following reasons : '"Of the three persons con- 

 cerned with the construction of a binomial title .... we conceive that the 

 author who Jirst describes and names a species which forms the groundwork 

 of later generalizations, possesses a higher claim to have his name recorded 

 than he who afterwards defines a genus which is found to embrace that 

 species, or who may be the mere accidental means of bringing the generic 

 and specific names into contact. By giving the authority for the specijic 

 name in preference to all others, the inquirer is referred directly to the origi- 

 nal description, habitat, etc., of the species, and is at the same time reminded 

 of the date of its discovery." Agassiz and others opposed this practice, and 

 gave preference to the referrer of the species to its proper genus, on the 

 gDund that it required greater knowledge of the structure and relationship 

 of species to properly classify them than to simply name and describe them. 

 By this school, the authority is considered as constituting part of the name. 

 This method is also in accordance with the usage of the older zoologists and 

 botanists, from Linnaeus down. But it often happens that the authority for 

 the combination of names used is not that of the classifier, but of the author 

 who has merely 'shuffled names,' or worked out the synonymy in accord- 

 ance with nomenclatural rules, and has had nothing to do with the correct 

 allocation of the species. 



Canon LI. The authority for a name is not to be separated 

 from it by any mark of punctuation (except as provided for 

 under Canon L.). 



Remarks. — In respect to punctuation and typography, in relation to 

 names and their authorities, usage varies ; but it is quite generally conceded 

 that no comma need be used between the name and its authority ; " the au- 

 thority," as Verrill has suggested, " being understood to be a noun in the 

 genitive case, though written in the nominative form, or more frequently 

 abbreviated." In printing the authority is usually and advisably distin- 

 guished by use of type differing from that of the name ; if the latter be in 

 Italic type the authority may be in Roman, or if in small capitals or in 

 antique, the authority may be in Italic type, etc. 



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