124 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 



which stands for new family, immediately following them and 

 suspect the separation of the groups, was not dictated entirely 

 by disinterested motives. Those who are not too far away 

 from school days may remember the struggle they had in 

 studying decimals to get the decimal point in the right place. 

 Removed one point to the right or left, every figure was ex- 

 aggerated or diminished ten times. It seems to us that the 

 trouble with many of our modem botanists is that they have 

 got their botanical decimal point in the wrong place. Under 

 such circumstances forms readily look like species, species like 

 genera and genera like families. All plant groups are at pres- 

 ent better defined than ever before, and the relation of one to 

 another is practically unchanged. All we need to make a 

 sane botany is to change our decimal point. 



* * * 



Those who are hesitating between the nomenclatures fav- 

 vored by the "American code" and the Vienna code respect- 

 ively, are invited to consider the following facts. The Vienna 

 code has been accepted by practically all the great centers of 

 botanical activity in the world. We do not hear of a Japanese 

 code, a Russian code, nor ought we to have heard anything 

 about an "American code." Of all people, we who believe in 

 the rule of the majority should be the last to get off in a comer 

 by ourselves and make a new "code" when the voting goes 

 against us. But suppose we do follow this new code, it will 

 not affect world botany in the least except to make a lot of 

 synonyms. The botanists on the other side of the pond will 

 go on making their floras, and monographs according to the 

 rules which everbody else has adopted, giving our species the 

 names they deserve and compelling us, by sheer force of num- 

 bers and authority to agree with them. As soon as those who 

 are most interested in foisting this spurious nomenclature 

 upon us have passed away, the "American code" will meet 

 the fate it deserves, and those who have followed it will re- 

 gret the precious time wasted. The question is not how many 

 American botanists at present can be found willing to support 

 our provincial code, but what the final outcome of the move- 

 ment will be. With practically all the rest of the world ar- 

 rayed against us. the "American code" leads only to defeat 

 and he who forsakes it now is wise. 



