HISTORICAL BASIS OF BINOMIALS ASSIGNED TO HELMINTHS COLLECTED ON SCOTTS LAST ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION

Scientific investigations were a feature of Captain R. F. Scott's ill- fated expedition to the South Pole in 1910-1912. Among them was a stud y of parasitic worms in the coastal wildlife of Antarctica. It was the special project of Surgeon Edward L. Atkinson, whose scientific contr ibutions, like his passion for high adventure, have largely been forgo tten. The new parasitic species that he discovered were given names th at were intended to honor the Expedition and many of its members. Howe ver, it was not then usual for new species descriptions to include an explanation of the proposed new binomials, and the significance of the se particular names is not obvious to modern readers. This article exa mines the historical connection between the names of Atkinson's worms and the individuals and exploits commemorated by those names.