153 



TEE GABDENEB'S MONTHLY 



[Mat, 



suffering from the attacks of a small fungus — 

 the Uredo alliorum or onion rust, — with which 

 the factory had nothing whatever to do. 



Pronunciation of Botanical Names.— We 

 have had several inquiries lately about this mat- 

 ter. Unless one is very well versed in the an- 

 cient languages, it is best not to look for any 

 " rules," but go at once to authorities. In re- 

 gard to our native plants, Dr. Gray's Manual 

 gives the pronunciation, and Loudon's Encyclo- 

 paedia most of those in general cultivation. The 

 matter has excited the same attention in Eng- 

 land recently as in our own pages. We give 

 from the Gardener's Chronicle the following ex- 

 tract from its correspondence : — 



" I note the remarks of your corresi)ondents 

 'W. P.- (p. 179), and ' Ebor' (p. 212). I had not 

 forgotten to mention how the correct pronun- 

 ciation of names is to be decided ; there was no 

 need for me to mention it. Obviously it is to be 

 decided in the same way that correct spelling is 

 decided at a spelling bee— so far, that is, as pro- 

 nunciation can be commnnicated through the 

 medium of the eye; namely, by reference to 

 some great and recognized dictionary. In Eng- 

 land, for pronunciation, we have Loudon's Enct/- 

 clopaedia of Plants, published in 1829, a supple- 

 ment following in 1840, and a second supplement 

 in 1855. Tliis massive and manifold book— con- 

 tained, I should suppose, in all good reference 

 libraries— has 3,337 generic names, and describes 

 considerably over 21,000 species of flowering 

 plants and Cryptogamia. Every name, both 

 generic and specific, is accentuated, and though, 

 possibly enough, there may be tyjwgraphical 

 mistakes, aft«r making allowance for these it 

 may be depended upon implicitly. I think it 

 will be found that the typographical errors are 

 all or mostly corrected in the general index U> 

 the whole work. Individual botanists, erudite 

 Bcholars, may, perhaps, find an accent here and 

 there which they would dispute; just as at a 

 spelling bee there are diflerencos of opinion, 

 even among the best informed, in regard to the 

 orthography of certain exceptional words of 

 doubtful etymology, upon which nobody can 

 pretend to insist. But over 999 out of every 

 1,000 accentuations in Loudon all scholars and 

 authors arc willingly agreed upon — those, I 

 mean, who abide l)y {ho. system of proininciation 

 observed in England at the present day. For- 

 eigners would probably object to a good many ; 

 with that we have nothing to do, in the absence 



of an absolute, immaculate, and unimpeachable 

 standard of right and wrong, such as we can 

 never hope to possess. For all the everyday and 

 really useful purposes that a pronouncing bee 

 would care to promote, we may reasonably be 

 content with Loudon, and be glad of it. I 

 thought that every one who took the slightest 

 interest in botanical nomenclature and pronun- 

 ciation would be perfectly well aware of the ex- 

 istence of Loudon's Encyclopiedia, or I should 

 have mentioned it in my little article. That 

 article, in some of its utterances, as all would 

 see, was half playful. It was half playfully that 

 I suggested the pronouncing bee, never sup- 

 posing that any one would seriously set one on 

 foot, though if anybody would take the trouble 

 there can be no doubt that it would render good 

 service. I proposed it, not for the learned, but 

 for the sake of the scores of people who do not 

 know how to pronounce ordinary and accus- 

 tomed names ; those, for example, who say 

 Podoph'phyllum and Tragop'ogon. Just as the 

 spelling l>ee, in the eyes of all sensible and prac- 

 tical people, is not got up to decide on the or- 

 thography of — 

 ' Spermagoraiolekitholakapotides, 

 Words that should only be said upon holidays 

 When we have nothing else to do.' 

 — but to show young men and young ladies the 

 importance, if they would pass for 'educated,' of 

 correctly spelling Fuchsia, aeronaut, acquies- 

 cence, and the rest of the common words in 

 which so many at the bees fail miserably, so the 

 pronouncing bee would address itself to Epacrli, 

 Polypogon, and the like." 



QUERIES. 



Poisox-viNE. — [Rhus toxicodendron). — J. H. C, 

 writes : "Be it known after all that has been writ- 

 ten on the remedy for this poison, that hot water 

 is a speedy and certain cure. Let it be applied 

 as hot as can be endured without blistering — 

 probattim est." 



Rocky Mountain Silver Spruce. — Mr. Siler, 

 Osmer, near Ranch P. 0. Utah Territory, writes: 

 " In the Gardiner's Monthly and Horticulturist for 

 January, current year, on page 25, I find a 

 question in regard to the Silver Spruce of the 

 Rocky Mountains. I am not able to answer H's 

 question as to the name, but with due respect, I 



