Cheeseman. — Botanical Nomenclature. 457 



and species, provided that when transferring a species from 

 its original genus to another the original specific name should 

 be retained ; and finally recommended that a name which 

 had been lost sight of or neglected for fifty years should not 

 be allowed to displace the corresponding one which had remained 

 in common use. Following up this report, the Berlin botanists 

 issued a series of rules embodying its principles, and suggesting 

 a number of minor points for adoption. In the meantime 

 recommendations or suggestions were freely made by individual 

 botanists or groups of botanists in all parts of the world, and 

 in 1900 a preliminary Congress met at Paris. At the outset, 

 it was decided that its work, so far as botanical nomenclature 

 was concerned, should be confined to providing the machinery 

 under which the subject should be prepared for discussion at a 

 fully representative Congress to be held at Vienna in 1905. A 

 commission on nomenclature was therefore set up, of which 

 Dr. Briquet, of Geneva, was appointed Rapporteur General. 

 It was understood that the duty of the commission was to pro- 

 vide recommendations for the amendment or modification of 

 the laws of nomenclature drawn up in 1867 by Alphonse de 

 Candolle. Mainly through the great activity and praise- 

 worthy industry of Dr. Briquet the commission succeeded in 

 preparing a " Texte Synoptique," in which were collated and 

 compared the numerous suggestions made by botanists during 

 recent years for the amendment of the Candollean laws. The 

 suggestions were referred seriatim to the members of the com- 

 mission, and were voted upon by the members, after which 

 recommendations were tabulated according to the results of 

 the voting. 



The International Botanical Congress of Vienna, as it is 

 officially styled, sat from the 11th to the 18th June, 1905, and 

 was in every way a most successful and impressive gathering. 

 Nearly five hundred botanists, representing most of the countries 

 and nearly all the important botanical institutions in the world, 

 attended the meeting. Among those present were several of 

 those who may be styled the leaders of botanical science, and 

 a majority of the names would be familiar to any one acquainted 

 with recent botanical literature. The Congress can therefore 

 be regarded as a thoroughly representative body, possessing a 

 full claim to have its decision^ respected by the great mass of 

 working botanists. Passing over that portion of the work of 

 the Congress not directly concerned with the subject of this 

 paper, it is perhaps advisable to say that the plan adopted 

 ior the consideration of botanical nomenclature was as follows : 

 Every afternoon the nomenclature conference, consisting of 

 about a hundred and fifty representatives, with Professor 



