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  Elementary 
  Species 
  

  

  one 
  character, 
  often 
  by 
  slight 
  differences 
  in 
  

   nearly 
  all 
  their 
  organs 
  and 
  qualities. 
  Such 
  

   forms 
  have 
  come 
  to 
  be 
  designated 
  as 
  " 
  elemen- 
  

   tary 
  species.' 
  They 
  are 
  only 
  varieties 
  in 
  a 
  

   broad 
  and 
  vague 
  systematic 
  significance 
  of 
  the 
  

   word, 
  not 
  in 
  the 
  sense 
  accorded 
  to 
  this 
  term 
  in 
  

   horticultural 
  usage, 
  nor 
  in 
  a 
  sharper 
  and 
  more 
  

   scientific 
  conception. 
  

  

  Genera 
  and 
  species 
  are, 
  at 
  the 
  present 
  time, 
  

   for 
  a 
  large 
  part 
  artificial, 
  or 
  stated 
  more 
  cor- 
  

   rectly, 
  conventional 
  groups. 
  Every 
  systematist 
  

   is 
  free 
  to 
  delimit 
  them 
  in 
  a 
  wider 
  or 
  in 
  a 
  nar- 
  

   rower 
  sense, 
  according 
  to 
  his 
  judgment. 
  The 
  

   greater 
  authorities 
  have 
  as 
  a 
  rule 
  preferred 
  

   larger 
  genera, 
  others 
  of 
  late 
  have 
  elevated 
  in- 
  

   numerable 
  subgenera 
  to 
  the 
  rank 
  of 
  genera. 
  

   This 
  would 
  work 
  no 
  real 
  harm, 
  if 
  unfortu- 
  

   nately, 
  the 
  names 
  of 
  the 
  plants 
  had 
  not 
  to 
  be 
  

   changed 
  each 
  time, 
  according 
  to 
  current 
  ideas 
  

   concerning 
  genera. 
  Quite 
  the 
  same 
  inconstancy 
  

   is 
  observed 
  with 
  species. 
  In 
  the 
  Handbook 
  

   of 
  the 
  British 
  Flora, 
  Bentham 
  and 
  Hooker 
  de- 
  

   scribe 
  the 
  forms 
  of 
  brambles 
  under 
  5 
  species, 
  

   while 
  Babington 
  in 
  his 
  Manual 
  of 
  British 
  

   Botany 
  makes 
  45 
  species 
  out 
  of 
  the 
  same 
  mate- 
  

   rial. 
  So 
  also 
  in 
  other 
  cases. 
  For 
  instance, 
  the 
  

   willows 
  which 
  have 
  13 
  species 
  in 
  one 
  and 
  31 
  

   species 
  in 
  the 
  other 
  of 
  these 
  manuals, 
  and 
  the 
  

   hawkweeds 
  for 
  which 
  the 
  figures 
  are 
  7 
  and 
  32 
  

  

  