866 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVII. No. 962 



A representative merotype properly authen- 

 ticated may be illustrated by nature prints, 

 discovered by Auer and Worring and so 

 beautifully applied by Ettinghausen and Po- 

 korny/ whereby all the minute details of 

 venation are shown in exact mechanical re- 

 production, and an indefinite number of copies 

 can be made for distribution. This method, 

 marvellous as it is, can not be used for the 

 type itself, as the specimen may be destroyed 

 or at least injured in the process of making 

 the plate." 



Such a nature print, for which the term 

 piesmotype" is suggested, is eminently adapted 

 for the reproduction of an authentic mero- 

 type. This piesmotype, together with a pho- 

 totype, gives an authentic, unbiased and very 

 vivid picture of the type of the species. 



Finally, in case of cones, nuts, or other 

 organs showing relief sculpture, casts may be 

 taken ; these are the plastotypes of Schuchert." 

 They are probably of greatest value in repro- 

 ducing types of fossil plants, although they 

 can.be made from almost any glabrous plant 

 organ. 



Syntypes and Paratypes 



11, as is usually the case, several specimens 

 from distinct plants and often from different 

 localities are used by the author in describing 

 his species the type material belongs to one 

 of two categories. Either the author did not 



* Ettimgshausen, C, and Pokomy, A., 1856, 

 ' ' Physiotypia plantarum austriacarum. Der Na- 

 turselbstdruek in seiner Anwendung auf die Ge- 

 fasspflanzen des oesterreiehisehen Kaiserstaates. ' ' 

 P°, 5 vols., Wien. 



° The thoroughly dry herbarium specimen is 

 forced into a plate of soft lead by great pressure 

 exerted by a slow-moving roUer, then an electro- 

 type is made in hard metal from the lead original 

 and impressions are made from the electro as is 

 done from an engraved copper plate. 



"Piesmotype (Trietr/uSs, pressure; twos, type); 

 a picture printed from a plate bearing an imprint 

 made by mechanical means from an authentic 

 merotype. 



"Schuchert, Charles, 1897, "What is a Type in 

 Natural History," in Science (N. S.), 5: 636- 

 640, No. 121, April 23. 



directly or indirectly designate a type and 

 therefore all the specimens are syntypes," or 

 a type was designated, in which case the other 

 specimens studied by the author are para- 

 types." 



What are here called syntypes are also 

 known as cotypes," but unfortunately the 

 latter word is also very co mm only, though 

 erroneously, used to designate paratypes. In 

 earlier times when the author of a new species 

 rarely designated a type all of the specimens 

 were very properly known as cotypes. It was 

 easy to continue to apply the name to the 

 specimens, even when the author had desig- 

 nated one of them as a type. Such a practise 

 leads to confusion and should be abandoned, 

 and a more precise and definite terminology 

 used. 



Although syntypes are usually segregated 

 sooner or later into a type (lectotype") and 

 paratypes, it is nevertheless important to 

 avoid any confusion in type material such as 

 is likely to result from using the term cotype. 

 It would, indeed, be better to abandon alto- 

 gether the word cotype. 



The rules that have been formulated for 

 the typification of species, particularly those 

 given in the A m erican code of botanical no- 



■^[ Bather, F. A.], 1894, "Scientific Volapuk," 

 in Natural Science, 4: 57, No. 23, January. 



" " A para-type is a specimen belonging to the 

 original series, but not the type, in cases where 

 the author has himself selected a type. It should, 

 however, be one of the specimens mentioned or 

 enumerated in the original description. ' ' Thomas, 

 Oldfield, 1893, "Suggestions for the More Defi- 

 nite Use of the Word ' Type ' and its Compounds 

 as Denoting Specimens of a Greater or Less De- 

 gree of Authenticity," in Froc. Zool. Soc., 1893, 

 p. 242, Pt. 2, No. 17, August 1. 



" " A co-type is one of two or more specimens 

 together forming the basis of a species, no type 

 having been selected. No species would have both 

 type and co-types, but either the former, or two 

 or more of the latter. ' ' Thomas, Oldfield, I. c. 



^'Schuchert, Charles, in MerriU, Geo. P., 1905, 

 Catalogue of the Type and Figured Specimens of 

 Fossils, Minerals, Rocks and Ores in the Depart- 

 ment of Geology, United States National Museum, 

 Bull. 53, Part I., Fossil Invertebrates, p. 12. 



