Abstract
PRELIMINARY consideration was given to the orthography of the scientific names of animals in 1948 in Paris both by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature and by the International Congress of Zoology. It was recognized that the provisions relating to this (Article 19) in the “Règles Internationales de la Nomenclature Zoologique” are quite inadequate, for the three conditions in which, under that Article, the original spelling of a scientific name must be emended all involve subjective judgments on the part of the reader; thus it provides that a name is to be emended where it is “evident” that the original spelling of a name is defective by reason of (1) a “faute d'orthographe”, (2) a “faute de transcription”, or (3) a “faute d'impression”. Clearly what is “evident” to one zoologist may be the reverse to others, and in consequence provisions of this kind can never secure the principal object sought by zoologists, namely, stability in zoological nomenclature.
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HEMMING, F. Orthography of the Scientific Names in Zoology. Nature 167, 160 (1951). https://doi.org/10.1038/167160b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/167160b0
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