THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 111 



the fumes of various chemicals. Benzoic and salicylic acids pro- 

 duce results at once but the most potent agent thus far found is 

 acetic acid. By exposing green dates to the fumes of this acid 

 for 12 hours, the experimentor was able to ripen them in three 

 days. Since the ripe fruit of the date deteriorates very rapidly 

 it cannot be sent to market in the fresh state, but the new pro- 

 cess will allow it to be sent green and ripened at the end of the 

 journey. The process is probably applicable to many of the 

 perishable fruits of the tropics. 



The Names of Plants. — The last congress of botan- 

 ists to legislate regarding the names of plants, decided that a 

 large number of generic names should not be changed. This 

 was on account of their long use by botanists, though accord- 

 ing to strict "priority" they should be changed. In this case 

 "priority" would mean any name published after 1753 and 

 before the one now in use was published. To go back to 1753 

 as a starting point is bad enough, but there are several anxious 

 botanists who object to even this date and who want all re- 

 strictions removed so that they can trace their plant names 

 back to those given by Adam. They say with truth that this 

 is the only way to secure real priority, but what does priority 

 really matter. How silly it is for scientists, sane in every other 

 respect, to want to change well-known names of plants for 

 those totally unfamiliar. Most botanists of this type have ac- 

 cumulated a large stock of ancient and musty volumes from 

 which, if the 1753 bar is removed, they expect to dig up a lot 

 of old names to supplant the familiar and just as useful ones 

 we have at present. This will not help science in any way, nor 

 will it add to our knowledge of plants, but it would increase 

 the possibilities in that game of word making which closet 

 naturalists delight to play and would give them a chance to 

 associate their own names with those of ancient botanists 

 about as worthy of remembrance. It is to be hoped that no 

 botanical congress will consent to open this Pandoras box. 



