164 RULES IN NOMENCLATURE. 



name) ; as, Tulipa Gesneriana, Gesnerian Tulip, or Gesner's 

 Tulip ; Erica Linneana, Linnaeus' Heath. 



537. Rules for the use of Capitals. The names of the 

 order, the sub-order or tribe, and of the genus, should always 

 commence with a capital letter. The name of the species should 

 never commence with a capital except in the following cases : 

 (1), when it is derived from the name of a person or of a coun- 

 try, as Phlox Drummondii, Aquilegia Canadensis / (2), when it 

 is a substantive, as Delphinium Consolida. 



538. Synonyms. Very frequently, the same species has been described by different 

 (or even by the same) authors, under different names. In such cases it becomes a ques- 

 tion, often of difficult solution, which name is to be adop:ed. Obviously, the prior name, 

 that is, the original one, if it can be ascertained, is entitled to the most respect ; and it 

 is a rule with botanists to adopt this name, unless it has been previously occupied, or be 

 strongly objectionable on some other account. All other names are synonyms. 



539. Authorities. In the ./fora which accompanies this work, immediately after the 

 Genus we insert the abbreviated name of the author by whom it was originally published, 

 with a comma between, thus : Triiolium. Tourn. After a species the authority is in- 

 serted without a comma, as T. repens L., that is to say, Trifolium repens (of) Linnaeus. 

 In changing the generic relations of a species (as subsequent writers often deem neces- 

 sary), it is a custom for the author of the change to annex his own name, or a blank, instead 

 of the original authority. The custom is often unjust, and always liable to abuse. It offers 

 a bribe for innovations in the Genera, and recent works abound in changes which other- 

 wise could scarcely be accounted for. When such changes become necessary, the just and 

 proper rule (actually adopted in Conchology) is the following. Let the original specific 

 name and authority both be retained, the latter in parenthesis, thus, Lychnis Githago 

 (Linn.) originally Agrostemma Githago Linn. This method is often but not always used 

 in the present work. 



Authorities for our species of exotic cultivated plants, for want of space, have all been 

 here omitted. 



