688 president's address. 



Of late years two American codes have claimed attention, 

 viz : — 



(1). The Rochester Rules, promulgated at a meeting of the 

 American Association for the Advancement of Science, held at 

 Rochester, N.Y., in August, 1892. 



(2). The Madison Rules, promulgated by the Madison Botani- 

 cal Congress, held at Madison, Wis., on August 23rd and 24:th, 

 1893. 



Our American brethren, with the fervour of their nation, have 

 in certain points of nomenclature been more sweeping in their 

 changes than have European botanists, and it will be sufficient 

 for my present purpose to draw attention to the able criticisms 

 of those codes to be found in the 'Journal of Botany' (London) and 

 in the 'Botanical Gazette' (Chicago). 



Then come the original Berlin Rules for nomenclature. They 

 are 14 in number, and were promulgated in 1897"^ under the 

 authority mainly of the staff of the Royal Botanic Garden and 

 Museum of that city. They have been generousl}'- criticised by 

 Mr. J. Britten,! and they certainly command the respectful 

 attention of botanists all over the world. 



They are supplemented by ' Zusatze zu den Berliner Nomen- 

 clatur-Regeln,'t promulgated last year. 



Then we have the International Congress of Botan}^, held at 

 the Paris Exhibition from 1st to 10th October, 1900, and at 

 which I was present. The question of nomenclature was there 

 iscussed, and the "Bureau Permanent" appointed by the Con- 

 gress have invited me to contribute to the preliminary agenda- 

 paper and to be present at the adjourned Congress to be held in 

 Vienna in 1905. The work in regard to Botanical Nomenclature 

 at the Paris Exhibition was only of a preliminary character, but 

 the work has been taken up with such enthusiasm that I do not 

 doubt that results important to the whole botanical world will be 



* Notizblatt des K. bot. Gart. Berlin, 1897, 248. 



t Journ. Bot. xxxv. 305. 



tBeiblatt zu den Botanischen Jahrbiiehern Nr. 70 (Berlin), xxxi. p. 24. 



