The keys to the several categories of taxa (orders, families, tribes, genera and species) have been revised with a view to making them more reliable and useful. There is included also an artificial key to the species prepared by Professor V. B. D. Skerman, which key should prove helpful.
The Section on Nomenclature, including a synopsis of the Botanical Code of Nomenclature, has been eliminated. At the time of preparation of the sixth edition, the International Code of Bacteriological Nomenclature had not been finally approved, and emphasis was properly laid upon the rules used in Botany. This is no longer pertinent. The Bacteriological Code appeared in 1948 too late for use in making appropriate revisions in the 6th Edition of the Manual. The revised International Code of Nomenclature of the Bacteria and Viruses is about to be published. This contains annotations that should prove of value to the student, and should be regarded as a helpful aid in the understanding of the nomenclature used in the 7th Edition of the Manual.
The naming and classification of the viruses, as published in the sixth edition of the Manual, was regarded by some eminent virologists as perhaps inadvisable because it was premature. They felt strongly that the problems of morphology, physiology, pathogenesis and inter-relationships of the viruses were not as yet sufficiently resolved to make satisfactory taxonomy and classification practicable. After consultation with the International Subcommittee on Viruses it was decided that the Virus Section should not be included in the seventh edition. This deletion has been made with the full expectation that sufficient international agreement will be reached to make possible adequate treatment in the eighth edition. The Editorial Committee recognizes that a satisfactory system of nomenclature and taxonomy for the viruses is imperative.
The Editors wish to repeat and emphasize a statement made in the Preface of the first edition of the Manual:
"The assistance of all bacteriologists is earnestly solicited in the correction of possible errors in the text."
Among the tasks of the several editions of the Manual has been the codification of an increasingly satisfactory classification of the bacteria and the correction of the nomenclature of the past. The present volume undoubtedly has many errors that were not caught notwithstanding a most earnest effort. There are also many unresolved questions. Inasmuch as this volume appears at almost the same time as the Revised International Bacteriological Code, there are doubtless still some inconsistencies.
E. G. D. Murray
N. R. Smith
R. S. Breed, Chairman
- Editorial Committee
