THE NAME TOXYLON AGAIN 



By J. C. Ne;i.son. 



At the risk of being consigned by the editor to reahns of 

 extreme and perpetual xerophytism, I find myself unable to 

 refrain from pointing out to Dr. Everard, that in his well- 

 meant attempt to lift my feet from the nomenclatorial slough 

 into which they had unwittingly strayed, he has himself ex- 

 emplified the editor's warning, that the most skillful player 

 may sometimes slip into the mire. To assert dogmatically 

 that ''the scientific name for osage orange is Toxylon pomi- 

 feriim Raf." is simply to ignore the fact that there are still a 

 few benighted systematists, who prefer to abide by the Inter- 

 national Code, according to which Madura is one of the 

 "nomina conservanda" — and a better instance of the wisdom 

 of retaining such a list could hardly be found. Secondly, his 

 assertion that "the term Toxylon was applied by Rafinesque 

 in the American Monthly Magazine in the year 1817, vol. 2, p. 

 118" is just as inaccurate as my attribution of the genius to 

 Sargent. If Dr. Everard will look up this citation, he will find 

 printed, not Toxylon, but loxylon. The article is headed, 

 "Description of the loxylon Pomeferum, a new genius of 

 North American Tree", and in the second sentence one reads : 

 "I have been able to ascertain that it belongs to a new genus 

 which I have called loxylon in my Florula Missurica [which 

 never appeared.] This name means Arrowwood in Greek" 

 This, it may be said in passing, was a perfectly legitimate deri- 

 vation — as might have been expected from one whose mother- 

 tongue was the modern Greek. 



In his "Florula Ludoviciana," which appeared at a later 

 date in 1817, he reviews his first article and repeats the name 



