Almost forty years ago, in 1928, Robert MERTENS and Lorenz 

 MULLER published their first check list of European amphibians 

 and reptiles. Thanks to this work the concept of geographical 

 races (subspecies), and the corresponding trinomial nomenclature, 

 became commonplace in herpetological literature published in 

 Europe, This process paralleled the development of herpetology 

 in the United States, where STEJNEGER and BARBOUR, and then 

 Karl P. SCHMIDT, introduced the concept of geographical races into 

 the study of amphibians and reptiles. The trend of herpetological 

 research toward the study of geographical races was greatly stimu- 

 lated by Bernhard RENSCH' s synthesis of views on the subject (1929). 

 Finally, the second edition of MERTENS and MULLER' s check list 

 (1940), and the comprehensive works of TERENTJEV and CHERNOV (1940, 

 1949) on the amphibians and reptiles from the U.S.S.R,, were events 

 in European herpetology which definitely established the concept 

 of geographical race instead of the old Linnean expression "variety," 

 which lacked precision. 



The utilization of the theory of geographical races in the 

 systematics of amphibians and reptiles (and of vertebrates generally) 

 was valuable- Being methodologically efficient, this theory con- 

 tributed to a better understanding and to a more realistic view of 

 the species of amphibians and reptiles, got rid of a chaotic situation 

 which then existed in taxonomy, and freed systematics from a lot of 

 names without content. But soon this theory itself became a source 

 of extreme formalization in taxonomy. The old systematics, with its 

 typological theories, pressed living things into the procrustian bed 

 of the species concept metaphysically interpreted. The theory of 

 geographical races, although free from that viewpoint, led often 

 to unjustified description of new geographical races, which were 

 very doubtfully real. In addition, the variability of species was 

 implicitly restricted to the process of genesis of new geographical 

 races . 



1 do not contest a priori the background of the subspecies 

 concept in reality. But I intend to discuss some facts which can- 

 not be explained by the theory of geographical variability in the 

 sense given by RENSCH. 



