526 



THE AMERICAN NATURALIST [\^ol. XLI 



"Recommendations for improving the nomenclature in future." 

 Among these is § C. "Specific names should ahcays be written with a 

 small initial letter, even when derived from persons or places, and 

 generic names should always be written with a capital." 



1865. The British Association code was revised, and although the 

 rule for small letters had been very generally adopted, the section relat- 

 ing to it was omitted. The revised code stated that " It is not a matter 

 of great importance and may be safely left to naturalists to deal with 

 as they see fit." 



1881. The Societe Zoologique de France stated,— " Every one 

 agrees that the name of the genus should be written first and begin 

 with a capital letter. For the specific names, there is also unanimity if 

 they are common nouns or adjectives, — a small letter is used. Should 

 proper nouns and adjectives be treated in the same way ? Some per- 

 sons adopt and recommend the practice. Your committee considers 

 that the question is of ver\' minor importance. It believes that it 

 conforms to the most generally established usage in recommending 

 the capital, which is not inconvenient, and may in fact, in certain 

 cases, be a useful distinctive mark." 



1881. The rules of the International Geological Congress at 

 Boulogne, in regard to the nomenclature of species, merely state that 

 "the rules of Latin orthography are to be followed." 



188G. In the code of nomenclature a(lo|)tc(l hy tlic Ain(>ncan 

 Ornithologists' Union, Canon VHI states that "proix-r tunnes of 

 species, and of subspecies or 'varieties,' are s\\\)i\v wonls, simple or 

 compoimd, .... written with a small initial letter. " 



framed a code containing Art. 13.— "While specific jfnd substantive 

 names derived from names of per.M.ns may be writtc^n a capital 



HMi."). At \'ieniia the 1 iiieniational Botanical Congress adopted 

 th<' fnll.Avir.^r nrnnn,„„<lnt,nn. Chap. III., Sect. 4. Recommenda- 

 tions, \. "Sp.^.-ili.- n;,nie> Ix'trin with a small letter except those 



1«»()7. The lu.i.H'nrlature <-onnni.^inn u\ the H..t:.t.ieal Club of the 



