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Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society 34(1), 1980, 74-75
A POSTSCRIPT TO THE AUTHORSHIP OF HESPERIA MYSTIC
Sometime ago I published an article alleging that W. H. Edwards was the author of Hesperia mystic in 1863, and that Scudder's use of the name should be dated from 1864 (F. M. Brown, 1966. J. Lepid. Soc. 20: 239-242). Since then I have received from my good friend, Mr. A. S. Pinckus, a copy of the rare Scudder preprint of the article in which he published the name mystic. Some years earlier the librarian of the Essex Institute, Salem, Massachusetts, and I searched the archives of the Institute for any evidence that such a preprint had been published through official channels. We could find none, although the records of both the secretary and treasurer of the Institute (for the years involved) were open to us. The only explanation for the Scudder preprint is that he ordered it directly from the printer, bypassing the Institute. Its existence requires that the authorship of mystic be re-examined.
In 1863, few, if any but the largest printers, could afford to hold in forms more than a signature or two at a time due to the shortage of type. Generally, a signature was set, locked, and proofed in page. When the proofs had been approved, the signature was run in requisite numbers and the ordered preprints were printed. Preprints usually were done in a rearranged form, but the original pagination was retained. When all of the signatures of a book had been run, they were collected, sewed, and then bound.
Two dates are important for articles in journals printed in this fashion: The first is the date upon which the preprint was released by the author. This date can rarely be ascertained. If a preprint is dated, it can be assumed that the author distributed it to correspondents within a month of the preprint date. However, there are exceptions. For example, the March-April, 1871, parts of the Transactions of the American Entomological Society were not finished until August, or very early September of that year. The ICZN has given unofficial approval for using preprint dates for reasons of priority (1977, ICZN, Edition 3, Internat. Trust for Zoological Nomenclature, London).
The second important date is the date of issue of the regular part of a journal or a book. This is often not easily discovered for 19th-century publications. Considerable research is needed to verify masthead or title page dates. Often one can trace dates of receipt at institutional libraries noted in accession lists. When only the year-date is known, the publication is assumed to have been made on 31 December of that year. Similarly, when a month-date is known, publication is assigned to the last day of that month. This holds for preprints as well as for journal parts or books.
Supporting evidence is necessary before using dates other than these for publication. Sometimes such evidence is internal and direct: for example, masthead dates, or statements by the editor about the precise date of issue are satisfactory. Indirect evidence of various kinds may come from outside the publication itself, for example, reviews or letters about the publication, or official records of the institution involved.
Let me turn to the evidence in the case of mystic Edwards (W. H. Edwards, 1863, Proc. Entomol. Soc. Phila. 2: 14-22), vs. mystic Scudder (S. H. Scudder, 1863, Proc. Essex Inst., Salem, Mass., 3: 161-179). The former was published in March and April, 1863, whereas, the latter was published as a whole volume; the preprint was dated April, 1863. The important information for establishing priority is given below:
Evidence mystic Edwards mystic Scudder
1. Credit by authors to Scudder to Edwards
2. Preprint date March 1863 April 1863
3. Date of issue of 29 July 1863 Between 28 Dec. 1863 part or volume and 26 April 1864
The evidence throughout is that Edwards published the name mystic before Scudder did. However, the preprint data must be examined more closely. The paper in which Edwards published mystic straddled the 1st and 2nd signatures. Although mystic was published in signature 1, dated March 1863, the rest of the article appeared in signature 2, dated April 1863. Thus both Edwards' and Scudder's preprints must be dated 30
Volume 34, Number 1
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April, 1863. This leaves us with only the journal part and book release dates as the basis for settling the dispute. Edwards wins that by more than five months. It does not matter that Scudder had used mystic orally (giving credit to Edwards) at a meeting on 10 March 1862. The valid name is mystic Edwards, 1863, as previously concluded.
F. Martin Brown, 6715 So. Marksheffel Rd., Colorado Springs, Colorado 80911.
Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society 34(1), 1980, 75
THE OCCURRENCE OF CHLOROCLYSTIS RECTANGULATA (GEOMETRIDAE) IN NEW BRUNSWICK
On 14 July 1978, while operating a UV light at Sussex, Kings Co., New Brunswick, I took a worn male moth resembling one of the many Eupithecia species, which, upon closer inspection, appeared to be the introduced European species Chloroclystis rec-tangulata (L.). This was later confirmed by genitalic dissection.
This record constitutes the first known occurrence of this species in North America outside the province of Nova Scotia, and a new record for the province of New Brunswick. C. rectangulata was first collected in 1970 by D. C. Ferguson and B. Wright from localities in Hants and Victoria counties, Nova Scotia (Ferguson, 1972, J. Lepid. Soc. 26: 220-221) and has since become quite common in some areas of the province, especially around Halifax. The specimen is in the author's collection.
Kenneth Neil, Department of Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 4J1, Canada.
Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society 34(1), 1980, 75-76
BOOK REVIEWS
Les Attacidae Americains . . . The Attacidae of America (=Saturniidae) At-tacinae by Claude Lemaire. 1978. Edition C. Lemaire, 42 boulevard Victor Hugo, F-92200 Neuilly-sur-Seine, France. 238 pp., 49 pis. Price: US $60.00.
This is a revision of the New World moths of the subfamily Attacinae ( —Saturniinae). The plates of imagines are black & white photographs but are high quality, clear, and on a 1:1 scale. The text is in French. Under each taxon there is a substantial English summary; thus the bilingual title. Figures include distribution maps of several taxa and line drawings of male and female genitalia (which the author calls genital armature) of each species, except for a few species where the females remain unknown. These line drawings are accurate and useful; the aedeagus is figured from the lateral and dorsal views. This is the first time that female genitalia are figured for some of our commonest species such as Hyalophora cecropia and Actias luna. Drawings of legs, antennae, and wing venation are provided for some species. In this book we find numerous species figured for the first time since their original descriptions. Figures of some females are the first ever published.
Regarding systematics the work is thorough. As usual, Lemaire follows the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature rigidly, correcting errors of earlier authors. Each taxon has lists of synonymies, type information and localities. In his lists of synonymies Lemaire even includes quadrinomials of Bouvier although the Code does