142 Miscellaneous. 



synonyms, but merely observe that Mr. Ralfs is frequently made to 

 have used a nomenclature quite different from that which really exTf 

 ists in the ' Annals ' and ' Transactions.' " 



In answer to the first statement I would observe, that Mr. Ralfs' 

 papers, so far as they had appeared up to the date of the publication 

 of my work, are quoted throughout, and that whenever I conceived 

 any description or fact to be appropriate or well-expressed in those 

 papers, I have preferred to adopt the ipsissima verba of Mr. Ralfs, 

 acknowledging the source of the quotation by the inverted commas, 

 and appending the name of the writer thereto. It would have been 

 easy for me, had I thought proper so to do, to have abstained from 

 these quotations altogether. 



So much for the first statement. Now for the comparison made 

 between my drawings of Desmidice and those of Mr. Jenner and Mr. 

 Ralfs. It should be recollected that circumstances compelled me to 

 be my own artist, and that I had not the advantage of a professional 

 engraver ; notwithstanding this very great drawback, I will venture 

 to assert that my plates of DesmidicB, taken as a whole, will be 

 found wanting in no essential particular, and that from the circum- 

 stance of the drawings being coloured, they are both more instructive 

 and more pleasing to the sight. The best sketches contained in 

 Mr. Ralfs' plates were drawn by Mr. Jenner, who, in his researches 

 into the Desmidia, has been not less successful than Mr. Ralfs. 

 Your reviewer might with propriety have referred to the name of 

 Mr. Jenner in connexion with the Desmidice. 



To the charge contained in the last statement, viz. that I have 

 frequently attributed to him a nomenclature not belonging to him, 

 I must, except in a single instance, plead entire ignorance. In one 

 example I have indeed, and designedly, altered a termination of a 

 specific name, and this at the request of Mr. Moore, the original 

 discoverer of the species in Britain. Thus Meloseira arenaria, Ralfs, 

 I changed to M. arenosa, Moore : the former appellation, independ- 

 ently of its not being the name conferred upon it by Mr. Moore, is 

 erroneous, while the latter is not merely that originally assigned, but 

 likewise expresses a character of the species, viz. the gritty sensa- 

 tion which it imparts when rubbed between the fingers. I cannot 

 help suspecting that this charge rests upon a very feeble foundation. 

 Your reviewer disclaims the intention of hunting out and record- 

 ing errors. I would remark, that without intending it then, he has 

 exhibited considerable ability in the search which unknowingly he 

 has certainly pursued. 



I trust, gentlemen, that I have now proved to your satisfaction, and 

 to that of the readers of this letter, the proposition with which I 

 commenced, viz. that I believed that I should be able to show, that, 

 on certain points, the reviewer has indulged in animadversion to an 

 extent, which on a candid and careful examination of the work in 

 question is not justified. 



The following remarks, addressed by Linnaeus to Haller, will not 

 inappropriately conclude this letter : — 



" If you detect any mistakes of mine, I rely on your superior 



