88 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 



respondent does not mention the locality in which she resides, 

 which may differ materially from others, but here in Banstead; 

 and for many miles around, the young bracken shoots are 

 protected by very stringent laws, inflicting a heavy fine on 

 any person cutting or mutilating the bracken before notice 

 allowing them to do so is issued. This generally appears 

 about the middle of September. The bracken is then dry and 

 of a beautiful golden brown and then any person can cut any 

 quantity he pleases." The usual fine is $25.00 and costs. 

 The correspondent does not indicate the uses to which the 

 bracken is put, but it is probably used in packing vegetables 

 and protecting tender plants outdoors, much as straw is used 

 in America. — Fern Bulletin. 



Changes in Nomenclature. — Those who are always 

 ready to adopt the latest fad cannot understand wdiy conserva- 

 tive botanists object to changing the names of plants. The 

 fact is, however, that the names of plants cannot be changed 

 without working much mischief to the literature of botany. 

 The monumental works of Darwin, Kerner, Schimper and 

 many others use what is now-a-days termed a conservative 

 nomenclature. Books on medicine and pharmacognosy adopt 

 the same nomenclature and even the drugs of the pharmacist 

 are labeled in the same way. In a few years, if all the propos- 

 ed changes are adopted, druggist, scientist, physician and stu- 

 dent cannot understand these invaluable books without a 

 glossary or a knowledge of the two styles of nomenclature. 

 And upon what ground are we asked to adopt new names? 

 Simply in order to conform to somebody's "system" or to 

 honor some dead-and-gone botanist who failed of recognition 

 in his own day. We shall continue to maintain that the name 

 of a plant is of no significance beyond being a convenient 

 and universally understood term to indicate it and the less 

 it is changed, the better. 



