ABSTRACT
The main avowed aim of the international codes of nomenclature, botanical, zoological and microbiological, is the promotion of stability and uniformity in the scientific naming of organisms. The two basic principles of the botanical and zoological codes today are Priority and Typification. The principle of priority is that, where more than one 'available' name is found to be attached according to the current code to the same taxon, the first bestowed of them should be used and the other relegated to the status of junior synonym'. The zoologists go even further than the botanists in following the logic of the principle of typification, in that their latest code permits the availability of a generic name provided only that a species name was mentioned in connection with it. Classification can aspire to be natural, a perfectly natural classification of plants and animals might even be considered as objectively existing, and thus requiring to be discovered rather than invented.
