34 



In conclusion he gives a list of names which he consid- 

 ers satisfactory and permissible. 



Some of these stringent rules have been modified 

 by later usage; others, again, have been ratified by the 

 authoritative verdict of international conferences even 

 down to as recently as the close of last century. That 

 fact is testimony sufficient to the excellence of the sug- 

 gestions which the youthful Swedish scientist, on his 

 own initiative and without any forerunner to guide him, 

 thus evolved and placed on record for the benefit of 

 those who were to come after him. Some of Artedi's 

 above-mentioned rules of nomenclature bear consider- 

 able resemblance to similar suggestions made by Lin- 

 naeus in his "Fundamenta Botanica", — to which circum- 

 stance reference will be made below. 



After having dealt at length with Genera and ge- 

 neric names, Artedi next turns his attention to lesser 

 units, Species and Varieties. a In Ichthyology", he says, 

 "every fish constitutes a Species which differs from 

 other forms in the same genus in regard to some out- 

 ward features, owing to something material being absent 

 or present either as regards number, proportion or shape, 

 or owing to some constant difference in colour". The 

 points of distinction, however, between the various spe- 

 cies may vary very considerably in kind and degree. 

 The definition given is then illustrated by a series of 

 examples which are critically discussed, occasion being 

 thereby found to call attention to the need for caution 

 as regards attaching weight to colour as a distinguish- 

 ing mark, since the colour is apt to vary even in the 

 same form. * One species-character that he recommends 

 as reliable, is the number of spinal vertebrae in osseous 

 fishes, but as care must be exercised in employing this 

 test too, he proceeds to enjoin certain rules concerning 

 it. As it not infrequently occurs that errors are made 



1 In connection with this point, Abtedi complains about the 

 difficulty of settling the compass and scope of the various species 

 belonging to the salmon-genus, a complaint which numerous ichthy- 

 ologists since his day have undoubtedly felt ready to share. 



