[Taxacom] names abbreviated

[dipteryx at freeler.nl]

Van: taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu namens Phil Jenkins
Verzonden: di 22-9-2009 19:23

> We and many others struggled a bit over such abbreviations 
> as "H.B.K." Since it was Kunth that did most of the botany 
> in this work, many people simply changed H.B.K. to Kunth. 
> But Kunth authored plants in a number of other works, and 
> the argument arose to retain the H.B.K. because it referred 
> the investigator to a specific publication. The result of 
> this argument gave rise to such depictions as H.B.& Kunth, 
> H.B.ex Kunth, Kunth in Humbolt, Bonpland & Kunth, and some 
> others. The point was that "H.B.K." identified a work to look 
> in for answers where simply Kunth would not be informative, 
> and was, at the end of the story, an ego trip for Kunth, 
> who presumably has moved beyond that now. H.B.K. was again 
> resurrected. Not everyone knew which authors to change back 
> to H.B.K. and they are still Kunth. So the attempt to specify 
> Kunth became somewhat of a boondoggle, and there is a mix of 
> ways to refer to this publication, or not to refer to it. So,
> can anyone tell me that H.B.K. is not useful?  And I repeat, 
> it is perfectly right to use "Humbolt, Bonpland & Kunth." And 
> that Brummitt and Powell did not address these sorts of issues.

***
At the risk of stating the overly obvious, a few remarks:
* I don't think there is anybody who would contest that H.B.K. 
  is/was useful.
* Indeed, Brummitt and Powell did not address these sort of issues, 
  as it is outside the scope of their project.
* The exact author(s) to whom a name is to be attributed is/are 
  not a matter of style, but is/are ruled by Art. 46. What may be 
  debatable is the exact available evidence that Art. 46 is to be 
  applied to.
* Not being closely familiar with this work, I have no idea what 
  the evidence is, or what may or may not be contested. I can only 
  note that TL-II summarizes the situation as
      "Authorship: Main author to whom new taxa are to be attributed: 
      Carl Sigismund Kunth (1788-1850) (as "Kunth in Humboldt, 
      Bonpland and Kunth, Nova genera .. ."). Manuscript annotations: 
      Aimé Jacques Bonpland (Goujaudi (1773-1858)." 
  and that this is indeed what the ICBN does in practice, also IPNI, 
  TROPICOS, etc.

Paul