Juty 5, 1918] 
Here we have three authors, writing about 
one specimen and using three generic names 
for the chimpanzee. The subject is further 
complicated by the action of a group of Eu- 
ropean mammalogists who have petitioned the 
International Commission on Zoological No- 
menclature to fix the name of the chimpanzee 
by fiat, not as Pan, Simia, or Troglodytes, but 
as Anthropopithecus.> One of these zoologists, 
after making his recommendation to the Com- 
mission, does not wait for action by that body, 
but immediately proceeds to use Anthropopith- 
ecus when he has occasion to mention the 
chimpanzee in print.* Four generic names 
are thus current for this one ape. One of 
these names, Simia, is applied by Boule to the 
orang-utan, and the fiat petitioners ask that it 
be fixed on the same animal; but by some 
authors, it is correctly applied to still another 
primate, the Barbary ape? Another name, 
Troglodytes, would mean to most people famil- 
iar with generic terms in zoology, past and 
present, either the gorilla, or a wren. 
All this confusion might be avoided if au- 
thors would observe the rules of the Interna- 
tional Commission on Zoological Nomencla- 
ture and use the correct names for these an- 
thropoids, Pan for the chimpanzee, Pongo for 
the orang-utan, and Gorilla for the gorilla. 
These names are now well known, and are en- 
tirely free from ambiguity. 
N. Hottister 
ent pas familiarisés avec la nomenclature améri- 
caine, je dois dire que nos confréres des Etats- 
Unis ont réceemment débaptisé, sans raisons bien 
sérieuses, les Chimpanzés et les Orangs. A leurs 
vieux noms latins, universellement connus et em- 
ployés, de Troglodytes et de Simia, ils ont sub- 
stituté les termes de Pan pour les Chimpanzés et 
de Pongo pour les Orangs, sous le prétexte que ce 
sont 1A les noms les plus anciennement donnés.’’ 
5 Zoolog. Anzeiger, Vol. 44, pp. 284-286, May, 
1914. 
6 Kungl. Svenska Vet. Akad. Handl., Vol. 58, No. 
2, pp. 18-27, 1917. 
7 Thomas, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1911, p. 125; 
Miller, ‘‘Mamm. Western Europe Brit. Mus.,’’ p. 
vii, 1912; Elliot, ‘‘Review Primates,’’ Vol. 2, p. 
172, 1913. 
SCIENCE 13 
HELPING TO STABILIZE NOMENCLATURE 
To THE Epiror or Science: In these days 
when there are so many workers in the science 
of entomology, and when many of the workers 
have had but little experience in the taxo- 
nomic side of the science and, therefore, do 
not realize its requirements and value, it is 
especially important that the periodicals should 
have certain definite, recognized policies, which 
will make it necessary for all authors to so 
make up their communications that they will 
contain at least the most of the important, 
although seemingly minor, details which are 
of great assistance to contemporaneous and 
future workers and tends to stabilize our 
nomenclature. With this in mind the En- 
tomological Society of Washington has re- 
cently adopted the following rules and sug- 
gestions governing publication in their Pro- 
ceedings: 
Rule 1—wNo description of a new genus, or sub- 
genus, will be published unless there is cited as a 
genotype a species which is established in accord- 
ance with current practise of zoological nomen- 
elature. 
Rule 2.—In all cases a new genus, or subgenus, 
must be characterized and if it is based on an un- 
described species the two must be characterized 
separately. 
Rule 3.—No description of a species, subspecies, 
variety or form will be published unless it is ac- 
companied by a statement which includes the fol- 
lowing information, where known: (1) the type- 
locality; (2) of what the type material consists— 
with statement of sex, full data on localities, dates, 
collectors, ete.; and (3) present location of type 
material. 
Rule 4.—No unsigned articles, or articles signed 
by pseudonyms or initials will be published. 
Rule 5—The ordinal position of the group 
treated in any paper must be clearly given in the 
title or in parentheses following the title. 
Suggestion 1.—All illustrations, accompanying 
articles, should be mentioned in the text and pre- 
ferably in places where the object illustrated is 
discussed. 
Suggestion 2.—It is desirable in deseribing new 
genera and species that their taxonomic relation- 
ship be discussed, and that distinguishing charac- 
ters be pointed out. 
