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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVI. No. 930 



the program had been reserved for this pur- 

 pose. As secretary of the commission I in- 

 quired into the reason, and was informed that 

 the committee of the congress had decided that 

 unless the report of the commission were 

 unanimous, its submission to the general 

 meeting would jeopardize the success of the 

 congress, and would turn the general meeting 

 into long-drawn-out discussions on very dry 

 and technical points in nomenclature upon 

 which very few of the members were well in- 

 formed. 



Accordingly, the first three years' work of 

 the commission was not acted upon. 



The commission was, however, granted a 

 few minutes at one of the meetings to make a 

 general report of progress and to request that 

 the size of the commission be increased. 



Three years later the commission had by 

 mutual concessions obtained unanimous vote 

 on most of its propositions, but there still re- 

 mained several with divided vote. Eepeated 

 conferences were held with many different 

 prominent zoologists, and the consensus of 

 opinion was that the congress would not listen 

 to any report that was not unanimous. 



In order not to take up the time of the 

 general meeting with technical discussions on 

 nomenclature, the plan was instituted of hav- 

 ing an open session when any person inter- 

 ested in nomenclature could present any point 

 to the commission, and could discuss the com- 

 mission's report. This open meeting is held 

 prior to the date when the commission reads 

 its report to the congress. The report is read, 

 however, at this open meeting, and if any one 

 present objects to any portion of it, he has to 

 convince only one member of the commission 

 that the portion in question should be stricken 

 out. That one commissioner has the power 

 to prevent the portion in question from going 

 before the congress. 



By this method of procedure the general 

 meetings are safeguarded from being turned 

 into discussions on nomenclature. Further, 

 sudden and unwise changes in the rules are 

 avoided. The theory is that if fifteen special- 

 ists on nomenclature can agree upon any one 

 Xwint, the mathematical probabilities are that 



that point is correct. Obtaining a unanimous 

 vote thus assures the presentation of an 

 amendment to the congress, and a failure to 

 obtain a unanimous vote protects the rules 

 from any sudden innovation and from vacil- 

 lating changes that might be carried through 

 with a vote of eight to seven, this vote chang- 

 ing from one side to another in successive 

 congresses. At the Berlin Congress the mo- 

 tion was carried that the congress adopt and 

 approve all of the propositions in the report 

 that had been accepted unanimously by the 

 commission, and that all propositions upon 

 which there was a divided vote be referred 

 back to the commission. The commission 

 was also given thoroughly to understand that 

 the congress did not care for any but unani- 

 mous reports in the future. 



From the foregoing it will be seen that the 

 present mode of procedure developed not upon 

 the initiative of the commission, but of the 

 congress itself, and in view of the experience 

 the commission has had before two congresses, 

 it seems that the commission can not be ex- 

 pected to report divided votes unless specific- 

 ally instructed to do so by the congress. 



An interesting point arises. A great many 

 questions in nomenclature have been settled, 

 and in not a few instances reports have been 

 obtained only by mutual concessions after long 

 conferences. When a commissioner has been 

 outvoted in any given proposition, namely, 

 when he has failed to obtain a unanimous vote 

 for his proposition, it has been customary for 

 him not to bring the matter forward a second 

 time. 



Assuming now that the recommendation of 

 the central branch of the American Society of 

 Zoologists is adopted by the congress, and that 

 the commission is instructed to report divided 

 votes in the future, the interesting point arises 

 as to whether the large number of questions 

 that have been definitely disposed of since 1896 

 under the present method of procedure will 

 be reopened, and will be allowed before the 

 general session of the congress. 



C. W. Stiles, 

 Secretary, International Commission 

 on Zoological Nomenclature 



