  The classical Lie method is applied to a nonisospectral problem associated
with a system of partial differential equations in 2+1 dimensions (Maccari A,
J. Math. Phys. 39, (1998), 6547-6551). Identification of the classical Lie
symmetries provides a set of reductions that give rise to different nontrivial
spectral problems in 1+1 dimensions. The form in which the spectral parameter
of the 1+1 Lax pair is introduced is carefully described.
