9 
To retire in 1910: Prof. R. Blanchard (Paris), Prof. L. Joubin 
(Paris), Dr. Ch. Wardell Stiles (Washington), Prof. Th. Studer 
(Berne), Prof. R. R. Wright (Toronto). 
To retire in 1913: Mr. Ph. Dautzenberg (Paris), Dr. W. E. Hoyle 
(Manchester), Prof. L. von Graft* (Graz), Prof. F. C. von Maehrenthal 
(Berlin), Prof. H. O. Osborn (New York). 
Executive committee: Professor Blanchard (president), Professor 
von Maehrenthal (secretary), Doctor Stiles (secretary). 
Powers of the International Commission.— Under the ruling 
of the International Congress, no proposition for change in the code 
is permitted to come before the congress, unless it is presented to 
the Permanent Commission at least one year before the meeting of 
the congress. Any person in the world has the right to make any 
nomenclatural proposition, and this is first considered by the execu- 
tive committee; this committee studies the proposition and then sub- 
mits it to the commission; the commission considers it and makes 
recommendation to the congress, which has the final decision in the 
matter. By this method of procedure it is intended to provide for 
any additions to the code which may become necessary, but to protect 
the code from the introduction of any revolutionary and ill-advised 
changes. 
Thus the commission is a deliberative and advisory body, but has 
no legislative powers; legislation rests with the congress, and mem- 
bership in this is open to all persons interested in zoology, regardless 
of country or special field of work. 
It would, accordingly, seem that the general scheme of legislative 
action is well arranged and that provision is made both to insure con- 
servatism and to provide for progress. 
Neither the commission nor the congress has any power to force 
zoologists and others to adopt the International Rules. Every person 
is still in a position to follow any code he desires or to prepare one 
of his own, but, considering the responsibilities involved, there is 
undoubtedly a growing tendency to adopt the International Code. 
Further, it is considered ethical to ignore names used contrary to this 
and to other standard codes. 
While not attempting to dictate to men of science what they shall 
or shall not do, the commission submits the rules to the serious con- 
sideration of all workers in the spirit advanced by Strickland (1812), 
namely, “we offer them to the candid consideration of zoologists in 
the hope that they may lead to sufficient uniformity of method in 
future to rescue science from becoming a mere chaos of words.” 
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