MR. F. N. WILLIAMS ON THE GENUS SILENE. 21 
sufficiently indicated. The habitat of species not distributed 
over a wide area is given in the usual way. In the case of 
species of wide distribution the extreme geographical limits in 
each direction are given. Records extending the limits of the 
species are everywhere given. As frequently as possible I have 
added the date of publication to the reference cited for the 
species, except in the case of works repeatedly cited.* For the 
dates of works and memoirs not readily accessible I am often 
indebted to the excellent and carefully edited series of Botanical 
Catalogues issued by Messrs. Dulau of London, and by Messrs. 
Friedlander of Berlin; in all cases in which I have referred 
from the Catalogue to the work cited I have found absolute 
accuracy in titles and dates. 
In the matter of absolute priority in names of species, I have 
preferred not to change a few old-established names which are 
always met with in the floras generally used, and under which 
the literature of the species is always to be found, in favour of 
obscure, little known (and usually inappropriate) names, which 
may possibly have antedated them in publication by a few 
months. The “plea of convenience” and stability in nomen- 
clature is of far more scientific importance in morphology than 
endless name-changing for reasons of priority. 
Of the 390 species enumerated in this Revision, published 
figures are cited for 172 species; and of the 141 varieties 
enumerated, additional figures are cited for 29. Where a 
figure is obviously bad and misleading, I have not thought it 
worth while to refer to it. I have not always cited what may 
appear to be the best plate, but, for convenience of reference 
and to facilitate the comparison of species, have preferred to 
quote works in which several species are figured, such as 
the ‘Flora Greca,’ Reichenbach’s ‘Ic. Flor. Germ. Helv.,’ 
Willkomm’s sumptuous ‘Icones,’ and Cosson’s ‘TIlustr. FI. 
Atlantice.’ 
The position of Silene and its relationships with the other 
genera of Silenoidew are shown at the end of a previous 
section. The following table shows the position of the subtribe 
Silenoides in the natural order Caryophyllacese :— 
* This, however, is everywhere added in the index, to which reference 
should be made for the dates. 
