J^i^^ 



i 



Abli. u. Eer. d. K. Zool. u. Anthr.-Etlan. Mus. zu Dresden 1898/99 (Eand YII) Nr. 2 



33 



In cases where tliey cau be employed a great advance on this plan is afforded by the nse of the 

 three following mathematical signs. The average Celebesian bird stands much nearer to the New Giiinean 

 orm, K Indus glrrenera, than to the typiral R. indus; its systematic position can be expressed thus: 



H. indus <^ glrrenera. 

 oimiatran birds have more to do with th{^ typical Indus than with glrrenera, as shown by the formula: 



IL indus ^ girrenera. 



Average Javan birds are systematically about equidistant from the typical indus and ghrenera^ as 

 may be shoAvn thus: 



H, Indus = girrenera, 

 A still more exact, but for chat very reason at present impracticablOj method is furnished by 

 iimerals, as foUoAvs. Assumiug 4 grades of difference between the Indian and New Guinean birds, the 

 average Celebesian bird may be roughly estimated to have 3 parts of ^/vrm^ra-blood and 1 part of the 

 typical mcfw,s-blood; this can be expressed as: 



H, indiis^ gi:rrenera.~ 



5} 



Birds of 



ihe average Sumatran bird, with 3 parts of the typical ^uJu6'-blood and 1 part of girrenera-hloo<[^ 

 becomes : 



J 



H. indus.^ girrenera^. 



The Javan bird, with 2 parts of each: 



H. indus^ girrenera-^ 

 Obviously the numeral method allows of infinite elaboration. In one case in the 

 es' the possibility of recognizing 24 grades of difference is suggested. But practical museum- 

 •jvorkers may find it hard to go beyond the nse of the signs 

 test of three or four years at Dresden. 



In cases more complex than the ihustration given it is advisable to write the name of the typiccd 

 coefficient in full, e.g.: _ 



H. indus typii')i>< 



7 



and 



? 



which have now stood a 



and 



It seems desirable for such cases 



girre7iera. 



^^^^ ^^ay occur in which more than one race are intermediate (not exactly of course) between two 

 ^ lemes; for instance, there may be in tlie North of a country an extreme A, in the South an extreme B, 



m the West and East respectively two intermediate races, a and h. 

 'la a formula suggesting a plurality of intermediate races should be invented. 



nil. 



xaere is reason to hope that at some future date it may be found possible to abolish trinomials, 



', -^^ arrive at equally good results. This might be dune when it is possible to compare every individual with 



■^ ype ot its species (or, where this is lost, with a substitute-type) to which alone the binomial name in 



c ness belongs; a number of statistics would thus- be obtained for each locality, and the average of these 



. .. . ^^ "^^'ould represejit the average individual of that locality. A race is represented by its average 



, ^*^^^al. Pile binomial name, Avith the addition of the figure or symbol showing the difference from the 



}'PB of the species, will indicate the race in question. 



At present, however, zoological methods and appliances are much too crude for the practical 

 relation of such work as this; to mention one point, there is no means as yet of measuring the shades 

 c^^'^J^U's upon whicli subspecies so often depend. 



■^ ^^® Si'eat advantage of formulae over names is tliat tliey are not intended to be permanent, 



^^^ be modified and worked out as knowledge of tlie variation of the species Avithin itself increases, 

 the^-*^' ^^^-^ iTiterfere Avith, but are additional to, any existing code of nomenclature. Touching the latter, 

 exist ^^^^^^^^^^^' appears to be no prospect of agreement so long as the present geaieration of naturalists 

 rul^ ^" f ^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^ ^^ possible that science Avill settle the matter once for all by applying the 

 iuv'^l^l! ^^^'^*^^'^^'^ ^^ ^^^^^^^ ^^ nomenclature, just as Ave do now to names, and receive Strickland as the 

 ^lolable basis for rules, as Ave receive Linnaeus for names. 



r h 



I 



I 



r 



i- u. Ber. d. K. Zool. u. Aiitlir.^Etlm. Mils, zu Dreadeii 1S'J8,9 (.Band A^II). Nr 2 (4. Febr. 1898) 



5 



^.. 



r y VI I > 



-^ X\ ipii lir.-j- I ^ 



-JT- ^ ^-^ - TTT : - 



I- i^■-- '_ 



