Scriba?

[Michael Schmitt]

At 15:38 04.06.02 -0400, you wrote:

Dear Derek, dear taxacomers,

according to Schmitt et al. (Nomina Auctorum. Nova Supplementa Entomologica
11, 1998).
there were three persons named Scriba who described (and also collected)
insects and other animals:

Ludwig Gottlieb Scriba (1736-1804)
Wilhelm Georg Heinrich Scriba (1817-1898)
Emil Scriba (1834-1917)

'Scriba' is indeed a latin word meaning 'writer' or 'secretary'. Presumably
one of the ancestors of these persons adopted the Latin version of the
German word 'Schreiber' which is quite a common surname here. It was not
unusual that educated people did that, especially in the 18th century.

                                 Greetings
                                  Michael


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* Prof.Dr. Michael Schmitt (Zoologischer Anzeiger, Managing    *
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