Apeil 17, 1696.] 



SCIENCE. 



585 



probably prefer, as did many of those who 

 spoke at the Zoological Society's meeting, 

 to discuss points that appear of more vital 

 importance ; but after listening to the vari- 

 ous ingenious arguments, and to the ani- 

 mated rhetoric, punctuated by shouts of 

 applause, that were poured forth the other 

 evening, we felt more inclined than ever to 

 doubt the value of these discussions. There 

 are, it appears to us, fundamental defects 

 that so far have pervaded all of them. A 

 casual glance at the list of modern codes of 

 nomenclature exhibited by Mr. Sclater was 

 enough to show how very limited has been 

 the authority of those bodies that have, from 

 time to time, ventured to suggest "laws for 

 the zoological world. Either it is a com- 

 mittee of a section of the British Associa- 

 tion, or it is the Zoological Society of France, 

 or of Germany ; or, again, at one moment 

 we find the ornithologists meeting in con- 

 clave, at another the paleontologists, at 

 yet another the neontologists ; even when 

 we see a code drawn up and passed by two 

 International Congresses of zoology, we 

 must not, as the President pointed out, flat- 

 ter ourselves that more than a very few of 

 the actual workers have assented, or have 

 even been consulted. Consequently, the 

 best of the codes that has yet been proposed 

 (and which that be, each reader must decide 

 for himself) has lacked the authority and 

 the sanction that alone can make it of value. 

 For we must insist upon this point, if upon 

 no other, that it is not the wording of any 

 particular law that is of consequence, but 

 the power of enforcing it. We venture to 

 say that to the very best code that could 

 possibly be drawn up each individual zool- 

 ogist would remain a recalcitrant, were it 

 only in so trivial a point as the insertion of 

 a comma or the use of a capital letter. 



If it be true that we come to some such 

 ■impasse in whatever direction we proceed, 

 it is worth considering whether we cannot 

 follow some course more productive of 



finality than is this perpetual codifying of 

 our whims and fancies. And here we 

 would take up and push to their logical 

 conclusion the suggestions that were thrown 

 out at the meeting by Mr. H. J. Elwes and 

 the President. It is not enough to imitate 

 Mr. Elwes, and to follow the last mono- 

 graph or the last catalogue of some great 

 museum; for other monographers will 

 arise, and rival museums will publish rival 

 catalogues, each with its own system of 

 nomenclature, l^or is it of mucli use to 

 follow those British ornithologists of whom 

 the President told us, who some years ago 

 made a vow to adopt such and such fixed 

 names for all the British birds ; for the 

 science of zoology is not confined to these 

 islands, and those who withdraw from the 

 main stream of progress will either find 

 themselves left high and dry, or be forced 

 to rejoin it as laggards and out-of-date. 

 But the course that might be pursued is 

 suggested to us by this very enterprise of 

 the German Zoological Society. Let us 

 suppose that, instead of shrinking from the 

 magnitude of the undertaking, instead of 

 insinuating its impossibility, and instead of 

 drawing their purse-strings tighter, the 

 zoologists of the world were to give a man- 

 date to the German Zoological Society to 

 proceed with the work, and were to assist 

 them generously by every means in their 

 power, then we should have a complete set 

 of names for all living species of animals. 

 This, it is true, would not be enough. To 

 draw up such a correct list of names with- 

 out consulting the paleontologists is impos- 

 sible, and, even were such a list drawn up, 

 it would, for the purpose we now intend, 

 be valueless. But let us further suppose 

 that some body, such as the German or the 

 English Zoological Society, could be found 

 to draw up a list of all animal species, fos- 

 sil as well as recent, then it would at all 

 events be perfectly possible for the zoolo- 

 gists of the world to accept that list, and to 



