Bbwaek April 1979 No. 251 NEW YORK SHELL CLUB NOTES 
so been suggested that large genera are Sakae Pg 2 ene peg 
who have neither the patience nor the interest . age? ae bet 
gress in understanding of complex relationsh*ps- t it is abuatt 
tedly, some merit in both of these viewpoints, ? See aaah. 
tru that Pantiiés burderied with great numbers oF’ pool y 
ized genera are a serious problem. | égu braves 
: ; es ‘ j cally in 
It is unlikely that existing practices will change arastl : 
the Er amneanke future. Yet it is important to chad Spear e oe 
the basic objectives of systematics. While the practice o poreeey 
is often complex, the objectives are simple. amid a Ele egory 
is intended to provide names for different “kinds of living things. 
The genus (and higher categories) is intended to bring Ce 
groups of similar "kinds". One emphasizes differences, the others, 
Similarities. | 
This article is not intended as a criticism of any specific author, 
nor as a defense of the status quo. Progress in the elucidation of 
the protean diversity of the natural world is both inevitable and 
desirable. It is rather a plea for restraint, at least to the ex- 
tent that changes and nomenclatural novelties be based on sound 
principles and adequate research. EthfOadk_ 
Barl H. Reed, Assistant Director 
Springfield (Mass.) Science Museum 
January 18, 1979 

February 21, 1979 
Mrs. Dorothy Raeihle, Editor 
New York Shell Club Notes 
Dear Mrs. Raeihle: 
The following comments are in response to your invitation to express 
opinions on Mr. Janowsky's article in the January issue of N.Y.S.C. 
Notes, Discord in Paradise. 
I must begin by saying that I agree with Janowsky in his worthwhile 
reaction to the making of some new species in our present time. 
Taxonomy is suffering an epidemic of inflationary description of 
taxa, caused by the lack of a prophylaxis in the methods of evalua- 
tion of characters, and shallow concepts about what constitutes a 
species. The problem is not new: more than a hundred years ago, 
Dr. Edward Gray of the British Museum called proper attention to it 
in the American Journal of Conchology. In Gray's time, as now, 
there were persons, as Janowsky put it, who do not deter of being 
anxious to sell the specimens they have found. The comments by Dr. 
Gray came on account of the acquisition of the famous Cuming's col- 
lection by the British Museum. We can be tolerant with those old- 
timers who described species not even knowing of where they came, 
and with little characterization, because then the ideas about spe- 
cies were still unclear to make the author's mind function properly 
on that kind of work. But today, when we have ready accessibility 
to information, the obvious neglect of it has no excuse. All the 
Possibilities should be considered before naming anything which can 
not be properly distinguished from other species or subspecies. 
Taxonomy should be an art of economy, not of waste, and not control- 
