rLANTS COLLECTED IN BAHAMAS, ETC. 49 



Species Plantarum, 1753, while others would allow no 

 limit. The argument in favor of the former is that the 

 second part of a pre-Linmean binomial was not a specific 

 name but a phrase accidentally consisting of but one 

 word. 



Again, opinions differ as to whether a name dates from 

 the time the plant is placed in a given genus or from the 

 original description. In the one case it is held that the 

 name is the combination of the genus and species and 

 must date from the time this combination is made. Thus 

 when a species is transferred from one genus to another, 

 the plant receives a new name, which may or may not have 

 a connection with the previous name. The Botanical Con- 

 gress modified this by saying that if a plant is transferred, 

 the new specific name should be the same as the old. 

 However, if an author does not do this, but gives a differ- 

 ent specific name, his binomial would stand unless dis- 

 carded on other grounds. The laws of this school require, 

 therefore, that a given plant should bear the binomial first 

 given to it under the accepted genus. This has seldom, 

 possibly never during this century, been strictly adhered to 

 by any botanist in an extended work. The oldest name 

 may have been little used, or it may have seemed inappro- 

 priate ; or a plant may have been long known in one genus, 

 but on being transferred to another has been given a 

 different specific name, and a subsequent author has 

 restored the original. This has been the fate of many of 

 Rafinesque's names in the hands of Dr. Gray and Mr. 

 Bentham. 



In the second case the original specific name is consid- 

 ered to be the essential feature in nomenclature. This 

 should be retained through whatever changes in classifica- 

 tion the plant may go. As in the previous case, this rule 

 has never been strictly adhered to in any extended work. 

 Many botanists have done so more or less closely and 

 much discussion has taken place lately, particularly in this 

 country, regarding the principles of this second or " re- 



4 



