344 
Letters, Extracts , and Notes. 
[Ibis, 
Irish Naturalist. (Vol. xxx. nos. 1-3.) 
Journal of the Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. (Vol. xxvii*. no. 2.) 
Journal of the Federated Malay States Museum. (Vol. x. no. 2.) 
Journal of the Natural History Society of Siam. (Vol. iii. no. 5.) 
Journal fiir Ornithologie. (Vol. 69, no. 1.) 
Oolog-ists’ Record. (Vol. i. no. 1.) 
Ornithologische Monatsberichte. (Vol. 29, nos. 1/2, 3/4.) 
Revue Frai^aise d’Ornithologie. (Nos. 140-143.) 
Revue d’Histoire naturelle appliquee. L’Oiseau. (Vol.i. no. 12; vol. ii. 
nos. 1, 2.) 
Scottish Naturalist. (1921, nos. 109,110.) 
South African Journal of Natural History. (Vol. ii. no. 2.) 
South Australian Ornithologist. (Vol. v. no. 4.) 
Tori. (Vol. ii. no. 10.) 
Verhandl. Orn. Ges. Bayern. (Vol. xiv. pt. 4.) 
XX.— Letters, Extracts , and Notes. 
The Last Phase of the Subspecies. 
Sir, —The interesting letter from Mr. Loomis in the 
October number of ‘The Ibis 5 will be welcomed by many 
ornithologists on this side of the Atlantic, and not least 
by some of those who might be termed “ subspecies 55 men. 
It seems to us that up to the present the excuse—in fact, 
the necessity—for trinomialism lies in the fact that binomial 
names, and consequent recognition of complete specific 
distinction, had been conferred on many mere geographical 
variations. The trinomialist then arrived on the scene, and 
did much good by reducing such geographical forms to their 
true position as races, or mere climatic variations, of one 
species. He also named and continues to name other races, 
which he considers as distinct as those which have names 
already. 
Now, even those who oppose all trinomialism will agree 
that, as the species is the only definite minor unit in nature, 
any system which enables us at a glance to appreciate 
properly the true specific relationship of a form whose rank 
as a distinct species had previously been misconceived, would 
