A SPECIES AND A NEW KIND OF TYPE SPECIMEN 479 
Summary.—tin the last analysis it rests with each author what 
his specific differentiations will be, and their validity will often 
depend upon and be rated by the general standard of his work. 
_ It is proposed here that, in accordance with a recognized need, 
we employ protypes to serve as “proxy types” to substitute for 
inadequate existing type material. 
The practice is criticized of attempting to classify the characters © 
of a type specimen as specific or generic without knowing all the 
related forms or without specifying the relation to each neighboring 
species or genus. It is suggested that contrasts be drawn with 
each other species separately, or that the noncommittal term 
“distinctive features”’ be used. 
