SPECIFIC NAMES'. 293 



lia, dentata, &c. ; but perhaps those which express 

 something equally certain, but not comprehended in 

 that character, are still more useful, as conveying addi- 

 tional information, like Ixora alba and coccinea, Scle- 

 ranthus anniius and perennis, Aletrisfragrans, Saxlfraga 

 cernua, &c. ; for which reason it is often useful that 

 vernacular names should not be mere translations of the 

 Latin ones. Comparative appellations are very good, as 

 Banksia ericifolia, Andromeda salicifolia^^ Saxifraga 

 Iryoides, Milium cimiciiium, Elymiis Hystrix^ Pedicula- 

 ris Sc€ptrum.{\\l) Names which express the local situa- 

 tions of different species are excellent,such asi1/<?/am/z/rw;?i 



* Some botanists write ericxfolia, salichfolia, linguaformis^ Sec, 

 instead of following the analogy of the Latin in forming adjectives 

 with an z, as fialmifcr from iialma^ <z ; baccifer, from bacca^ <c ; 

 barbiger, from barba, a ; Sec. 



(117) [Comparative appellations are useful, provided they do 

 not protract the name to an inconvenient length, which is too 

 apt to be the case. Linnseus himself occasionally transgresses 

 his own rules, and some of his specific names are among the 

 most formidable of the Sesqiiifiedalia verba. Such are Arethusa 

 sfihioglossoidcs^ Ajiocynum androscemlfoUum^ &c. The genus 

 Eufiatorium, which is itself none of the shortest, has for its spe- 

 cies a Coronopifolium, Hyssofiifolium^ Ceanothifolium, and several 

 others of the kind. Names of this sort give a repulsive aspect 

 to the science, and increase its difficulties, since, at the present 

 day, many persons who possess a great taste for the study, are to- 

 tally unacquainted with the languages. To those who are con- 

 versant in Latin and Greek, it is true, the etymology affords a 

 very great aid to the recollection ; but it often happens that the 

 standard of comparison is imperfectly known to us, so that the 

 name gives no more idea of the species, than a much shorter, or 

 less significant one jnight dn. American plants are often com- 



