Februaet 2, 1917] 



SCIENCE 



113 



the physiological building. On the first floor 

 are the medical library and the department 

 of art as applied to medicine. Work at the 

 laboratory is directed by a committee of pro- 

 fessors and instructors of the medical school. 

 Dr. Milton C. Winternitz is chairman of the 

 committee, and has a laboratory on the fourth 

 floor. The second floor has been leased to the 

 Carnegie Embryological Institute. The third 

 floor will be devoted to work in clinical, medi- 

 cine and children's diseases and the fourth 

 floor to the pathological department. 



DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE 



NOTICE OF POSSIBLE SUSPENSION OF THE 



RULES OF NOMENCLATURE IN THE CASES 



OF HOLOTHURIA 1758 VS. PHYSALIA 



1801, AND BOHADSCHIA 1833 VS. 



HOLOTHURIA 1791 



In accordance with the requirements pre- 

 scribed by the International Congress of Zool- 

 ogy, notice to the zoological profession is 

 hereby given that on or about October 1, 191Y, 

 the undersigned proposes to recommend to the 

 International Commission on Zoological 

 Ifomenclature that the rules be suspended in 

 the following cases : 



Holothuria Linn., 1758 (type physalis), vs. 

 Physalia Lamarck, 1801 (type pelagica). The 

 effect of suspension will be to retain Physalia 

 as generic name for the Portugese man of war. 



Bohadschia Jaeger, 1833, vs. Holothuria 

 Bruguiere, 1791. The effect of the suspension 

 will be to retain Holothuria for the sea cu- 

 cumbers. 



The motion for suspension includes the fol- 

 lowing points : 



1. Suspend the rules in the case of the generic 



names in question; 



2. Permanently reject Holothuria 1758, type 



physalis; 



3. Validate Physalia 1801, type pelagica (syn. 



physalis 1758) ; 



4. Accept Holothuria as dating from Bru- 



guiere, 1791, despite the existence of 

 Holothuria 1758 (if rejected) ; 



5. Said suspension is not to be construed as 



invalidating any specific name. 

 The grounds advanced for suspension will be : 

 (a) A strict application of the rules in these 



cases will result in greater confusion than uni- 

 formity, because 



(&) The eases involve a transfer of generic 

 names, almost universally accepted in the 

 sense given above since 1791 (for Holothuria) 

 and since 1801 (for Physalia), to genera in 

 other groups in connection with which they 

 have been used by only a very few authors 

 during more than 100 years. 



The undersigned cordially invites zoologists 

 to communicate, not later than September 1, 

 1917, to him or to any other member of the 

 commission, either their approval or disap- 

 proval of the proposed action. 



C. W. Stiles, 

 Secretary to Commission 



DO THE FOWLER'S TOAD AND THE AMERICAN 

 TOAD INTERBREED? 



]SroTiNG a communication under " Discussion 

 and Correspondence " on pages 463 and 464, of 

 the September 29, 1916, issue of Science, as 

 regards the song of Bufo fowleri Putn., I 

 would say that in over fifteen years of experi- 

 ence as observer and student of Amphibians, 

 I have never been able positively to trace the 

 clear, trilled song, lasting from 10 to 30 sec- 

 onds, to any but the American toad, Bufo 

 americanus Le Conte. In any large collection 

 of both species, where both occur together, 

 there are individuals which seem to combine 

 the external characteristics of both species. 

 In the study collection of the American Mu- 

 seum of ISTatural History, ISTew York City, 

 there are, for instance, a number of toads 

 which at first glance would be identified as 

 Bufo americanus. They have the large kidney- 

 shaped parotoids, divergent cranial crests, 

 spotted belly of B. americanus, but also the 

 short, abrupt profile, proportionally narrow 

 head, and much finer texture of skin, especially 

 that of the belly, of B. fowleri. The color 

 pattern alone can not always be relied upon, as 

 B. americanus often has the narrow median 

 pale line, the distinct black spots arranged in 

 longitudinal rows, sometimes confiuent, and 

 the peculiar greenish gray ground color, of 

 B. fowleri, and vice versa, B. fowleri has 

 sometimes the reddish brown ground color, 

 with indistinct vertebral streak and but few 



