Vol. XIV. Xo. 353. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



macerated in water produce a lather like soap 

 again love vine (dodder) ' '•< sen '. sp., named afti i 

 hal.it of [tarasitic embrace; L-sidi grap ' 



loba u vifer't , so called on :v c >unl ■ f its mai 



mil the superficial resemblance of the ripe 

 fruit to purple grapes. Bui the common or vernai 

 name has man) sei ious d ip I with the 



scientific designation. In the fii n \> rpular nam.' 



us nothing about the class or order to which the 



es belongs, that is to say, it. gives us no 

 what to its position or status in the classifi- 



cation ol ill' vi getable kingdom. Further, there is 



the re sei ious aspect from a . ictical point ol view, 



thai i \iii in the same place a plant ma) I" 1 km.u n bj 



more than common name. Thus BryopkyUum 



calycinum is known both as Wonder-of-the World 

 and Love Bush; Borrickia << a Sea-side 



( >xeye Sea-side tans) . and Samphire: and the common 



/ rosea as Old maid or Periwinkle. When we 

 come i" consider the matter from an international 

 point of view, it becomes even more obvious thai 

 scientific naming is essential Thus in the case of the 

 genus of fruit i rees designated Anona, the same species 

 is called bj entirety different nanus in various parrs of 

 the world, and it would be hopeless to attempt to use 

 a popular nomenclature in writing of this group. That 

 such should be the case is almost a foregone conclusion 

 on account of foreign languages. In the West Indies, 

 even, we find that the admixture of French and English, 

 and to some extent Spanish, leads to great confusion in 



d to vernacular names. The desirability of using 

 Latin and Greek for scientific names is not, as Linneus 

 thought, because these are less barbarous than the 



i I. rn languages, but because the dead languages are 



more fixed and international. 



The subject of scientific and vernacular naming is 

 a wide one, but it is believed that in the foregoing we 

 have referred to most of its principal aspects. It will 

 be realized that if employed at all, it is essential to 

 use scientific names intelligently, and with due regard 

 to synonymy and the vernacular. Very frequently the 

 common name is a quicker and better means ol 

 indicating a species than the scientific, though as 

 a general rule it may be laid down that it is safer and 

 more scientific to use both kinds of names. In this 

 connexion we would call the attention of writers in the 

 Easl to the fact that the employment of the Indian 

 vernacular withoul the scientific, oratleast the English 

 equivalent, verj often makes then literature quite unin- 

 telligible in other countri s, which is a pity on account of 

 the high standard and general interest of much of tin- 

 Indian work. No reference has been made in this 



article to the promt t 



is a matter which what on 



subject. It the conl m is unfamiliar to him, 



t he beginner will do well to pi L a the 



way as we sb English, in the same 



value to the vowels V en! ual ioi of tin 



sonants occasion a c i i n amount oi but vi rj 



slight a 1 1 i irks and directions to be 



found in many botan) 1 ks will lead anyone to 



a correct pronunciation. It is hardlj 

 point out t li.it a know i dge of I he classi 

 themselves is ofgreal use in connexion with 



n: s, and may be regarded as essential to 



botanists and zoologists who an enga d in the 

 of systematy. 



Monograph on Sansevieria. A useful key- 

 to the different species of Sansevieria is contained in the 

 A Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information, No. 5 oi L915. 

 .Many species of this genus are largely cultivated in various 

 parts of the tropics for their valuable fibre, which is of 

 excellent quality in almost all, although varying with the 

 species. It is understood, however, that there is considerable 

 doubt in regard to the proper name, of the plants from which 

 Museum and other specimens of fibres have been obtained. 

 One of the most interesting characteristics of this genus is 

 the very remarkable change which takes place in the form of 

 the leaves of many of the species as the plant advances from; 

 the juvenile to the adult stage. This variability renders it 

 impossible to name specimens that are not of adult age — 

 a matter which should be remembered by agriculturists 

 and others who may desire at anj time to have determina- 

 tions made for them. 



The Sediment Test for Lime Juice.— Concen- 

 trated lime juice is tested for sediment as follows: 100 c.c. of 

 concentrated juice is diluted with water to 1,000 c.c, care- 

 being taken to effect thorough mixing. The mixture isv- 

 allowed to stand overnight in a graduated 1,000 c.c. cylinder, 

 and the level of the sediment is read off. The reading is 

 recorded as units of sediment. 



This has sometimes been incorrectly stated as percentage- 

 of sediment. 



The method is a conventional one, convenient for purp 

 of comparison. It now possesses additional interest in view 

 of the efforts that are being made in the West Indies to 

 prepare concentrated lime juice on a commercial scale, as free 

 from sediment as possible. The units of sediment may range 

 from i or 3 in samples containing little sediment up to 10(K 

 in samples prepared with little regard to its removal. 



An interesting botanical review of the Neu English 

 Dictionary, consequent on the death of its editor sir James 

 Murray, appears in the Kew Bulletin of Miscellaneous' 



Information (No. 7 ol 191,5). Ai igst other matters, the 



spelling of the fruit of Cocos nucifera is discussed, and it is 

 shown that the in spelt Cocoa-nut instead of Coco-nut 



is due to confusion with Cacao Other botanical words 

 discussed include Cinchona, which according to its derivation* 

 .should reallj be spelt Chinch' >. 



