CCLXLIII 
addressed to him upon this subject and which expressed his positive opinions upon 
this point. 
There is nothing whatever of an ethical character inherent in a name through any 
priority of publication or position which should render it morally obligatory upon anyone 
to accept one name rather than another; otherwise it would be applieable or true as well 
in the case of ordinal names, morphological names, teratological, and every other form of 
name, to which now no one feels himself bound to apply the law of priority. The appli- 
cation of this law as at present practiced by many botauists, which would make it the 
one great law of botanical nomenclatare, before which every other must yield regardless 
even of common sense, is a mere form of fetichism exemplifiel in science. Many in- 
stances of the application of this law are not science but are rather superstition 212), 
February, 22. 1892. 
June 1892. "The Botanieal Club of Washington published in The 
Botanieal Gazette p. 199 and in other serials a resolution about: 
A botanieal congress and nomenclature. At a meeting of the Botanical 
Club of Washington, held April 23, 1892, a committee was appointed to consider and rc- 
port upon the questions of botanical congress and nomenclature. At a special meeting 
called May 7, this committee presented the following report which was unanimously adopted 
by the club: . 
"Your committee, appointed to consider the questions of a botanical congress and 
botanieal nomenclature, held a meeting on the second of May and prepared the following 
resolutions: 
* Resolved, ''hat, while favoring the final settlement of disputed questions by means 
of zn international congress, we do not regard the present as an opportune time, 
but we recommend the reference of the question of plant nomenclature 
first to a representative body of American botanists. 
We suggest the consideration, by such body, of the following questions, among 
others; the law of priority; an initial date for genera; an initial date for species; the 
principle once a synonym always a synonym; what constitutes publication; the form of 
tribal and ordinal names; the method of citing authorities ; capitalization. 
"We recognize the Botanieal Club of the A. À. A. S. as a representative body of 
American botanists and commend to that body for discussion and disposal the subject of 
nomenclature as set forth in these resolutions. 
"Respectfully submitted, 
Lester F. Ward, Geo. Vasey, F. H. Knowlton, B. T. Galloway, Erwin F. Smith, 
Geo. B. Sudworth, Frederick V. Coville. Committee." 
It Was voted dm) that a copy of these resolutions be communicated to the Botanical 
Gazette, Torrey Botanical Club, Garden and Forest and Science. — L. H. Dewey, Sec'y, 
Washington, D. C. 
2. August 1892. Dr. Ernst Huth in Engler's bot. Jahrb. S. 280 schreibt: 
. In Bezug auf die so schwierige Frage der Nomenelatur habe ich bei Benennung der 
Species den Grundsatz durchzuführen gesucht, vom Jahre der Publication der ersten Aus- 
gabe von Linné's Species plantarum, also vom Jahre 1753 an, das Gesetz der Prioritüt 
streng walten zu lassen. (Eine Ausnahme habe ich nur einmal, bei Myosurus aristatus 
aus, wie ich glaube, triftügen Gründen gemacht.) Dagegen habe ich mich O. Kuntze's 
Forderung, die Prioritütegesetze 4n Bezug auf die Genera bis zum Jahre 1735 zurück durch- 
zuführen, noch nicht anzuschliessen gewagt, weil ich der Ansicht bin, dass solche tief- 
greifenden Aenderungen vorzunehmen nicht Sache des Monographen einer kleinen Gruppe 
*1*) See page CCLXLVI for reply of Prof. Britton. 
?13) 'lThis manner of publishing beforehand in several botanical vazettes 
the questions to be moved at the next congress should be adopted by future 
competent congresses in a similar manner, so that all botanists more interested 
therein may meanwhile give also their opinion on the subject. 
