442 



non-naturalist the value of types. He offers a selection of the most important and 

 generally useful terms that he has employed with the palseontological collections in 

 his care, viz. : — 



Holotyjje (Schuchert, 1897). 



Co-type (Waterhouse, redefined by Oldfield Thomas). 



Paratype (Thomas), together with others mostly already enumerated by Swingle, 

 and which need not be repeated here. 



The following paper continues the work of American botanists. In " Type, 

 Co-type and Topotype Labels," E. D. Merrill (Torreya, xvii, 13, January, 1917), the 

 author is speaking of the segregation of valuable specimens belonging to the Bureau 

 of Science of the Philippines. Labels were printed in red ink for Types and Co-types. 

 He then worked up specimens " from localities which are ' classical ' regions in Malayan 

 botany, and naturally the collections are very rich in Topotypes. The topotype label 

 is printed in green ink, to distinguish it at once from type and co-type specimens. For 

 all practical purposes these topotypes are nearly as valuable as types or co-types." 



In my Presidential Address (Proc. Linn. Soc, N.S.W., xxvi, 802, 1901) I make 

 a small contribution to the subject under the caption of " The duty of clearly indicating 

 species," and show that, so far as the National Herbarium of New South Wales is con- 

 cerned, the staff and visitors can readily ascertain the type specimen, so designated 

 by a member of the staff. 



See also " Some causes of confusion in Plant Names," by Agnes Chase, " Journal 

 of Forestry," xvii, pp. 159-162, February, 1919. 



A useful, short article showing, " paradoxical as it may sound, that it is the effort 

 made during the last twenty years or so to bring about stability and uniformity in the 

 use of names that has caused such a bewildering diversity." The difficulties in arriving 

 at a stable botanical nomenclature, partly arising out of the erroneous definitions of 

 genera and species by Linnaeus and some subsequent authors, and the attempts to 

 remedy them, are discussed by a competent taxonomist who has had consideration of 

 such problems forced upon her. 



3. Model Descriptions. 

 The pains I have been at to quote litteratim, original descriptions of species, 

 have shown me very distinctly that they have been constructed on various models. 

 Had I time and space, I would, in addition to the original description, which is indis- 

 pensable, have submitted a uniform description, following an approved model, one ad- 

 vantage of which would be that missing data could be inserted in their proper sequence 

 as they became available. I submit, for consideration, the following model for such 

 descriptions. The indication of blanks would be a ready guide to students as to the 

 material still required to complete a full account of the characters of the species. 



