Gleason 



The Reason Behind Scientific Names 



69 



QUESTIONS 



1. What fact prompted Linnaeus to at- 

 tempt to lay down a set of rules for 

 the naming of plants? 



Did Linnaeus think that his rules were 

 the best? What challenge did he hurl 

 out to other botanists regarding them? 



3. Which names should be considered 

 the foundation of all classification? 



4. What is the language of learned men? 



5. Did Linnaeus consider it an honour 

 for a man to ha\c a plant named after 

 him? Would you consider it an hon- 

 our? 



6. How would one go about having a 

 plant named after him? Talk this over 

 with your instructor if in doubt. 



7. List at least five of the rules of nomen- 

 clature laid down by Linnaeus and 

 explain why you do or do not agree 

 with them. 



N. B. Linnaeus was born in 1707 and died in 1778. He promoted the 

 binomial system of nomenclature, now universally used. His Genera Plantarum 

 and Species Plantarum are standard works in the field. 



H. A. Gleason 



The Reason Behind Scientific Names 



Reprinted with the permission of the author 

 and publisher from Journal of the New York 

 Botanical Garden 36:157-162, 1935. 



If two people are going to talk to- 

 gether on any sort of subject, they 

 must have names for things. Further- 

 more, they must have the same names 

 for things, so that they can properly 

 convey their thoughts to each other. 

 If I think of a certain common shade 

 tree, now much under discussion in 

 this vicinity, and say elm, you at once 



think of the same tree. If I say gasoline, 

 you know exactly what I am talking 

 about. If I say gasoline to an English- 

 man, he does not know what I mean; 

 he calls it petrol. If I say wallaba to 

 you, you do not know what I mean. 

 Possibly you might think of an Aus- 

 tralian kangaroo, which is a wallaby 

 instead of a wallaba, but what I mean 



