60 Rhodora [Marcu 
species which is the Hemlock Spruce." According to the Philadelphia 
Code, the taking of the first synonym as the type is only resorted, to 
when there is no other way to determine the type, but this is not so in 
this case, for, we find that here again Linnaeus indicates in his diagnos- 
tic phrase what he considers the type of his Pinus balsamea; that 
phrase is abstracted from the detailed description of the leaves of his 
species and not from any of the synonyms, as in none of them is 
any mention of subemarginate leaves or of their two white lines 
beneath. By reading carefully Linnaeus’ description and taking into 
consideration the geographical distribution he attributes to his species 
we must come to the conclusion that he had in mind a true Fir, and as 
there are only two species, namely Abies balsamea and Abies Fraseri 
native to eastern North America and as the latter was not known at 
that time, no botanist having then penetrated to the higher altitudes | 
where Abies Fraseri grows, Linnaeus could have meant no other spe- 
cies but Abies balsamea. From the detailed description he gives we 
may assume that he had specimens before him, either from a culti- 
vated tree or from the collection brought back by Kalm who may 
have come across this species during his travels. Also the specific 
name “balsamea” shows that he got his information elsewhere and 
not from the synonyms where no reference to “balsam” occurs. I 
cannot understand how Farwell can assert that “there is absolutely 
nothing in the descriptive matter that will limit it to any species." 
The comparison with Pinus Picea excludes the Spruces and the de- 
scription of the leaves as broader than those of the Silver Fir excludes 
the Hemlock Spruce, and neither Tsuga canadensis nor any of the 
Spruces have the white bands of the underside of the leaves composed 
of 8 rows of stomata; the former has only 5 or 6 and the Spruces even 
less, while Abies balsamea has indeed usually 8 rows of stomata. 
Miller adopted binomial nomenclature in the 8th edition of his 
Dictionary and gave specific names under Abies to four American 
species which he had already distinguished but not specifically named 
in 1759 in the 7th edition of his Dictionary. In transferring the 
Linnaean specific names from Pinus to Abies he made the mistake, 
if it really was his intention to transfer the names, of transferring the 
name canadensis to the previously unnamed species No. 5 of the 7th 
edition, probably because this number was placed by Linnaeus as a 
synonym under his Pinus canadensis, and of creating a new name for 
No. 3 which ought to have been called 4. canadensis according to the 
