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Show 1896.] RULES OF ZOOLOGICAL NOMENCLATURE. 307 species can be got into a page (which appears to be barely possible) and allow 800 pages to each volume, 96 volumes would be required to complete ' Das Tierreich.' As, however, the great firm of Friedlander and Sonl have undertaken the publication of the work, and appear to have agreed to find the necessary funds to pay for the contributions to it, w e may, I think, feel tolerably certain that the task will be undertaken, although it is probable that many of us may not live to see its completion. The German Eules for Nomenclature (App. II. no. 10), to which I am about to direct your special attention to-night, are to be those employed by the various contributors to the 'Tierreich,' as their guide in determining the scientific names to be used in the work. It will be obvious, therefore, that for this cause they are of special importance and are well worthy of our consideration. Prof. E. E. Schulze, who has undertaken the editorship of ' Das Tierreich,' and with whom I have been in correspondence on the subject, having courteously expressed a wish that it might be possible to reconcile the differences between the German Rules and the Code of Nomenclature adopted by the British Association and usually employed in this country, I have undertaken to bring the subject before this Society. In order to consider whether we can agree it is necessary first to ascertain the points of difference, and these are what I propose to bring forward to-night. But before doing so I will commence with a few general remarks on some of the principal codes of nomenclature that have been put forward by modern zoologists. As we all know, I believe, the first code that adopted the " law of priority" as its principal rule and originated various other usages, to which we are n o w well accustomed, was that drawn up by Strickland in 1842 (Appendix II. no. 1). The Stricklaudian Code, however, although generally approved and adopted, was not at that time formally sanctioned by the British Association. In 1863 the late Sir William Jardine took up the subject, and, 1 The contract between the Deutsche Zoologische Gesellschaft and Messrs. E. Friedlander and Son will be found printed at full length in the ' Verhand-lungen ' of tbat Society for 1895, pp. 4 et seqq. Number. Brought forward 84,250 9. Crustacea 20,000 10. Arachnida 10,000 11. Myriopoda and Prototracheata 3,000 12. Insecta 250,000 13. Echinoderma 3,000 14. Vermes 6,150 15. Ccelenterata 2,000 16. Spongice 1,500 17. Protozoa 6,100 Total 386,000 This may be compared with Dr. Giinther's estimates of the described species in 1830 (73,588) and 1881 (311,653), lately published in the 'Annals & Mag. of Nat. History' (ser. 6, vol. xvii. p. 180). 20* |
