828 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXVII. No. ( 



names except when they had been validated 

 by a binomial author. 



I have rejected the names in the catalo^e 

 called the Museum Calonnianum, because it 

 is anonymous, and because it was not issued 

 by any named publisher, though we know it 

 to have been based on a manuscript of Hwass 

 and distributed by George Humphrey. 



I have not found that accepting the inter- 

 national code in its full meaning and inten- 

 tion has isolated me from the majority of 

 active workers in the line of my specialty. 

 On the contrary, nearly all those who have 

 had much experience with nomenclatorial mat- 

 ters have, like myself, with some reluctance, 

 arrived at the conclusion that half measures 

 will not do, that a thorough revision is the 

 only way to arrive at permanency, and that 

 each of us must do his share toward this 

 desired result. Wm. H. Dall 



U. S. National Museum 



P. S. — In order to make sure that my under- 

 standing of the rules is correct, I have applied 

 to the secretary of the International Com- 

 mittee on Nomenclature, whose reply is ap- 

 pended. 

 Dr. Wm. H. Dall, 



Smithsonian Institution, 

 Washington, D. C. 

 My dear Dr. Dall: 



Referring to your letter relative to the points 

 raised by Dr. von Ihering in regard to Article 25 

 of the International Code, I would invite your 

 attention to a recent opinion rendered by the 

 Commission, namely: 



" The meaning of the word ' indication ' in 

 Art. 25a. — The word ' indication ' in Art. 25a is 

 to be construed as follows : 



" (A) with regard to specific names, an ' indi- 

 cation 'is ( 1 ) a bibliographic reference, or ( 2 ) 

 a published figure (illustration), or (3) a defi- 

 nite citation of an earlier name for which a new 

 name is proposed. 



"(B) with regard to generic names, ( 1 ) a 

 bibliographic reference, or (2) a definite citation 

 of an earlier name for which a new name is pro- 

 posed, or (3) the citation or designation of a 

 type species. 



" In no case is the word ' indication ' to be 

 construed as including museum labels, museum 

 specimens or vernacular names." 



This opinion seems to cover the point of prin- 

 ciple under discussion. It does not of course 

 cover the point whether the particular authors 

 mentioned by Doctor von Ihering are to be inter- 

 preted as coming under the principle in question. 

 This latter point is dependent upon evidence, but 

 I do not understand that you have asked me to 

 express an opinion on the evidence. 

 Very truly yours, 



C. W. Stlles, 

 Secretary, International Commission 

 on Zoological Nomenclature 

 Washington, April 27, 1908 



A NOTE ON THE ECOLOGICAL FORMATIONS OF 

 PITTSBURG AND VICESTITY 



It has occurred to the writer, after reading 

 a recent article in Science,' that a generalized 

 classification of the vegetation of Pittsburg 

 and vicinity, as presented recently before the 

 Biological Section of the Pittsburg Academy 

 of Science and Art, might be of interest to 

 many botanists, especially teachers, who may 

 be situated in regions whose land forms are 

 similar to that of Pittsburg or whose vegeta- 

 tion may be classified in a similar manner. 



Pittsburg is situated in a region whose soils 

 are quite uniform so far as their chemical 

 composition is concerned, being mainly de- 

 rived from sandstones and shales, with a few 

 thin strata of limestone, and it takes but little 

 field work to convince one that the all-impor- 

 tant factor in the formational structure of the 

 vegetation is to be found in the different con- 

 ditions of ecological habitats as brought about 

 by physiographic processes. For this region, 

 physiography, in the narrow sense of the 

 term,^ furnishes an efficient basis for an eco- 

 logical classification of the vegetation; the 

 details, but not the principles, of classification 

 differing from those of " physiographic ecolo- 

 gists " elsewhere. 



The main features of land form which need 



' Ramaley, Francis, " Plant Zones in the Rocky 

 Mountains of Colorado," Science, N. S., 26:642- 

 643, November 8, 1907. 



' Geomorphology — that part of physical geog- 

 raphy, devoted to the form of the land — coordinate 

 with oceanography and meteorology. See Davis, 

 W. M., " Current Notes on Land Forms," Science, 

 N. S., 25:70-71, January 11, 1907. 



