Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History Volume 116: Article 2 New York: 1958
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PART 6. THE GENUS TROCHUS OF T'HE -CLASS GASTROPODA HENRY DODGE BULLETIN OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY VOLUME 116: ARTICLE 2 NEW YORK: 1958 A HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE MOLLUSKS OF LINNAEUS A HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE MOLLUSKS OF LINNAEUS S PART 6. THE GENUS TROCHUS OF THE CLASS GASTROPODA HENRY DODGE BULLETIN OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY VOLUME 116 : ARTICLE 2 NEW YORK: 1958 BULLETIN OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY Volume 116, article 2, pages 153-224 Issued December 1, 1958 Price: $1.00 a copy COLLATERAL NOTES 1. I HAVE FREQUENTLY REFERRED, in previ- have even owned a copy of either the tenth ous papers of the present series, to Gmelin's or twelfth edition of the "Systema."2 treatment of the Linnaean species as well as Gmelin's task was an ambitious one, but of certain of Gmelin's own names. While the we should study it with care before deciding monumental nature of his catalogue of spe- upon its true value. Many conchologists have cies and its universal acceptance not only been too prone to overestimate it. The cases as a work of reference but as a source book of in which he improved the Linnaean descrip- new species are admitted, it is necessary to tions, except in the matter of grammar and add a word of caution to those who may ex- the arrangement of clauses, are few indeed. aggerate its value. In most cases of his attempted revision of a Other than the fact that Gmelin relisted species he only confused the identification by and often redescribed the species of the a grossly inharmonious synonymy which pic- "Systema naturae" and the fact that he tured, as "varieties," a greater number of dis- treated the genera in the Linnaean order and tinct species than were represented even in erected no new genera, there is scarcely any Linnaeus' own synonymy of the species in justification for treating his work as the question. If these varieties had been merely "thirteenth" edition of the "Systema," a color or ecological forms or geographical title that he himself first adopted by printing races, he could merely be criticized for sepa- it on his title pages. The great number of rating forms having no taxonomic value. species added by him, as well as the volumi- However, a study of his varieties usually dis- nous changes he made in the Linnaean diag- closes several species, some of them generi- noses, make it a new work rather than a cally remote from one another. For Murex mere new edition. Indeed, I have found but saxatilis, for instance, he listed three vari- five names under which he referred to the eties, each with its own synonymy, and the "Systema naturae," and these five refer- total of 30 figures cited show three related ences are all to the tenth edition,' as they but distinct species. In another case, Murex represent cases in which Linnaeus changed babylonius, his five varieties cite figures which the generic position of the species in the seem to show, respectively: a questionable twelfth edition. For all other listings of a figure from one of Chemnitz' vignettes, Linnaean species he referred to the "Museum Pleurotoma virgo Lamarck, Clavatula javana Ulricae" or the "Fauna Suecica," if it was (Linne), Fusus colus (Linne), and another there described. For species not described in unidentifiable Pleurotoma. An extreme case either of those works he made no reference at is his treatment of Strombus gallus Linne, for all to Linnaeus or any of his works. So great which he listed nine varieties in addition to was the apparent disassociation of his cata- the typical species, of which only variety logue from anything Linnaean that Lamarck "a" can be referred to gallus. Not only are his followed his lead and never referred to any of lettered varieties not always conspecific with the Linnaean works, but used instead only his main species, but we often find more than references to "Lin. Gmel." In other words, one species in the synonymy of a single vari- Lamarck appears to have considered Gmelin ety. as the major and definitive source. In so far A further fault is that, in several instances, as we may infer from his text, he might not he used two or even three names for what is demonstrably the same species, and in one 1 The five species are: Voluta scabricula, Voluta can- cellata, Strombus spinosus, Murex neritoideus (Gmelin's 2 It is of course probable that Lamarck did possess no. 43), and Turbo nautileus. Many other changes of the tenth or twelfth edition or both, and that his genera between the tenth and twelfth editions took habitual reference to "Lin. Gmel." was merely a use of place, and are listed by the writer in a previous paper what has become a common practice of citing only the of this series (Dodge, 1952, p. 260), but the other in- latest edition of a textbook. As said above, however, I stances were not specifically recognized by Gmelin, who deplore the acceptance of Gmelin's work as an edition merely referred the species to the "Museum Ulricae." of the "Systema." 157 158 BULLETIN AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY VOL. 116 case he placed the names in different genera. their synonymies were often defective. More- Thus his Buccinum cingulatum Linne (p. over he was a somewhat better Latinist than 3506) and B. scala (p. 3485) represent slight Linnaeus, as is shown by his frequent correc- sculptural differences in a single species tions of Linnaeus' grammatical and language which is now called Thais cingulata. His errors and the improvement of his sentence Strombus ater Linne and S. lineatus (p. 3521) structure. I submit, however, that these vir- and S. dealbatus (p. 3523) are undoubtedly tues should not blind us to the manifest weak- all identical, and some writers have joined nesses in his work and to the stumbling Buccinum acicula (p. 3503) to this group of blocks which he placed in the path of identifi- names as another synonym.1 In contrast to cation. this type of error, he used identical names for There has been little comment in the litera- two distinct species. Witness Murex neritoi- ture on the usefulness of the "thirteenth deus Linne (p. 3537), which is Drupa morum edition." The only critical evaluation that I Roding, and M. neritoideus (p. 3559), which have found is mildly apologetic. Swainson is Coralliophila neritoidea (Lamarck). (1840, pp. 200-201) remarked: "In examining Thus, in assessing Gmelin's treatment of this work we cannot help being struck by the many of the Linnaean names, we find, in- immense labour and unwearied research that stead of a clarification or restriction of a spe- must have produced it, and regretting the cies, a further confusion which makes it clear judgment of the worthy editor... yet, as that Gmelin was even less certain than was being the latest work professing to describe Linnaeus, or had attributed to the latter a all the known species, it is, in some measure, more comprehensive conception of the species of use." Swainson (loc. cit.) also quoted from than was intended. For a very large propor- Cuvier a much harsher opinion: "Cuvier tion of his Linnaean species Gmelin was a very justly says it is 'tout indigeste et d6nue mere copysit, both of description and synon- de critique et de connaissance des choses."'2 ymy, which puts us no further on the road to I have not been able to locate this quotation identification. in Cuvier's works. I am persuaded that the interposition of 2. I have several times indicated in previ- Gmelin's work between the works of the two ous papers of the present series that the rec- greater naturalists Linnaeus and Lamarck ord of the species actually owned by Lin- retarded the identification of many of the naeus, frequently referred to by Hanley as Linnaean species for almost half a century, "the lists," was evidenced by check marks and I think it is fair to say that a considerable placed opposite the specific names in Lin- portion of Lamarck's own errors, both as to naeus' working copies of the tenth and twelfth the Linnaean names and those of Gmelin, editions of the "Systema." These statements were caused by the confusion in the latter's were based on erroneous information. I have synonymies and his preoccupation with what not had an opportunity of examining the seems to have been his concept of the word marked copies, but I am now advised by the "species," a concept that was demonstrably General Secretary of the Linnean Society of too broad. London, the custodian of Linnaeus' library, On the credit side of the ledger Gmelin was that the "owned" species are indicated by the author of many new species, most of the underlining of the serial numbers of the which were adequately described, although species in the working copies. 2 Cuvier's French is here extremely idiomatic, but 1 I agree with those who consider B. acicula Gmelin the quotation may be freely rendered as: "confused to be a synonym of S. ater. The most recent adherents and lacking in critical comment and in familiarity with to this view are Adam and Leloup (1938, p. 88). the subject." CLASS GASTROPODA TROCHUS LINN] headings: (1) "Umbilicati erecti, perforata Fourteen of the 23 identified species in columella"; (2) "Imperforati erecti, umbilico Trochus of the "Systema naturae" belong in clauso"; and (3) "Turriti umbilico exserto, the superfamily Trochacea as at present con- qui positi cadunt in latus." The third group, stituted.