426 



by Gronow [for which 1 had to vote under the acceptance of the re- 

 cently constructed meanings of the words binary and binomial] and 

 other non-binomial authors, which have been so much objected to by 

 zoologists, would never have been recommended. I believe we should 

 seriously discuss this question in our Commission." 



"The question of this proposal not being in the hands of the Com- 

 mission a year before the Congress, need not be considered, because we 

 have not been notified until a few weeks ago that the Congress will take 

 place at the unusual date of March 25th. and therefore too late for any 

 propositions to be brought forward a year before the Congress." 



13. Propositions by J. A. Allen and T. D. A. Cockerell pub- 



lishedin Science, October 29, 1909, pp. 596 — 597 and submitted 



formally to the Secretary. 



1) A generic name proposed without mention of any described spe- 

 cies is invalid unless it is accompanied by a diagnosis of such a cha- 

 racter as to indicate that it is based on a previously known species, or 

 group of species, that can be unequivocally identified as the basis of the 

 diagnosis. Examples: Oavia J. R. Forster (1788), based exclusively on 

 the loons, a small group of strictly congeneric species ; Fregata and Pi- 

 coides Lacepede (1799), based on single species obviously indicated by 

 the diagnosis. 



2) A generic name, proposed with or without a diagnosis is to be 

 accepted if a genotype is designated merely by a vernacular name of 

 unequivocal significance. Examples: Plautus Briinnich (1771), based 

 on an unmistakable diagnosis of the great auk with the addition of the 

 Danish vernacular name of the species; Regulus Cuvier (1800), proposed, 

 without diagnosis, for the kinglets ("les roitelets" = Motacilla regulus 

 Linn., as shown by Cuvier' s previous (1798) use of these names). 



In cases like the one last mentioned, a vernacular name is to be 

 accepted as a genotype only when the author thus employing it has used 

 the vernacular name accompanied bv the equivalent systematic name in 

 a previously published work, thus defining it beyond question. A ver- 

 nacular name is also (and not otherwise) available as a genotype when 

 accompanied by a reference to a work or author where it has been 

 defined. 



The names of genera and subgenera given without diagnosis or any 

 other indication of a type than a vernacular name without a citation of 

 its previous use, as in Cu vier 's "Tableau General des Classes des Ani- 

 maux", in the first volume of his "Leçons d'Anatomie Comparée" (and 

 in other similar cases), are tenable if the vernacular name is one that 

 has been used and defined by a then current systematic name by the 



