Capt. S. E. Cook on Pinus and Abies. 299 



and the most important, being that in the section to which 

 the name of Picea is affixed ; the scales are arranged round a 

 spindle, which remains on the tree after the scales have dropped 

 off. As no real distinction in the great family of Pinus exists, 

 and properly speaking it in reality forms one whole, as pro- 

 posed by our great progenitor Linnaeus, therefore all divisions of 

 it being merely matters of convenience, it remains to be decided 

 whether the additional section of Picea be required or not. 

 Granting fully all the points of difference which have been set 

 forward, and supposing, which is by no means clear, that they 

 are hereafter to be found uniform in the various species which 

 are scattered over the globe, it will then remain to be deter- 

 mined whether the members so distinguished properly form a 

 genus or merely a group. Some limit must unquestionably be 

 put to the crowding our catalogues with useless names of ge- 

 nera, quite as much or even more than species, and it does, on 

 mature consideration, appear that the subdivision of Abies will 

 lead to this. There are good and substantial reasons (conve- 

 nience solely being understood) for the admitting the Abies 

 section, which is a well-defined division, as is also the Larix 

 or deciduous portion of the family ; but it certainly does 

 seem, that by allowing the establishment of this genus we 

 shall open the way to other subdivisions to the hindrance ra- 

 ther than the advance of science, by making demarcations 

 where none exist, and denominating genera what are in fact 

 only groups. Should further and more extended observations, 

 however, make it expedient to adopt this separation, it is to be 

 hoped a better word will be found to designate it than Picea, 

 which of course means u pitch/ 5 and would lead to the infer- 

 ence that the members composing it were distinguished by af- 

 fording that substance in greater quantity than the congeners, 

 such conclusion being quite erroneous, and any step leading 

 to such should be avoided in the affixing of terms connected 



with science. 



On the Pinus hispanica. 



In describing this remarkable species in the preceding pa- 

 per, it ought to have been noticed that my observations were 

 entirely made in the Sierra de Segura, in the South of Spain. 

 This magnificent forest, which in 1804 contained 62,000,000 



