PLA^T NOMENCLATUHE 26 L 



as much as ot" rules ; it was most tletinite in the case of words in 

 general use in conversation and in literature. When a word was 

 rarel}' used, and in the literature that has been preserved is known to 

 occur only in the writings of two or three scholars, it is likelj to be 

 recorded in the dictionaries as variable in gender. What a different 

 concept of the classical languages would prevail if we really knew 

 them, instead of being obliged to interpret them through the frag- 

 ments that have been preserved ! 



10. Ortho(/niphic correction of names. — It is really amusing to 

 read, in connection with tliis suggestion of Mr. Sj)rague's, his own 

 comment : "A glance at Post and Kuntze's Lexicon (1904) is suffi- 

 cient to demonstrate the need for caution in orthographic correction." 

 How true ! And if one becomes familiar with the discussions by 

 Kuntze, the older proposals of Saint-Lager, and the newer ones of 

 Clements (" Grreek and Latin in biological nomenclature," Univ. 

 Stud. Nebr. iii. 1-85, 1902 ; an essay too little known to botanists), 

 he soon realizes that there is no middle ground ; either radical and 

 wholesale revision of orthography must be undertaken, or alterations 

 in spelling must be rigorously avoided, being permitted only in cases 

 Avhere the evidence is clear that there was an unintentional error in 

 the original publication, lleformers are a])t to cast names into too 

 rigid moulds, forgetting the flexibility of classical orthographv. 



11. Small initial letters for all trivial names. — This is a common 

 practice in America, and 1 have no serious objection to it. Classical 

 precedents cannot be cited, for the classical languages knew nothino* 

 of small letters, and our classical friends might reasonablv insist 

 upon the use of capitals only for scientific names. Such names as 

 llumex hritannica and Liriodendron tiilipifera, when Avritten in 

 this way, look like errors for jRiimex hritannicus and Liriodendron 

 tulipiferum ; but the number of such cases is small and is perhaps 

 too insignificant to warrant opposition to a general rule. 



12. Omission of comma hetween name and authority. — As far as 

 as I am aware, such a comma has never been used outside of the 

 British Empire, except by Asa Gray and those who have followx^d 

 his example. Few Englishmen seem to realize how provincial the 

 use of this comma is. It would be interesting to know just how 

 it came to be introduced ; I have been able to trace it no farther 

 back than the writings of the elder Hooker. Earlier writers often 

 sei^arated the name and authorit}^ by a period, and it seems to have 

 occurred to Sir William that such a full stop was undesirable, and 

 a comma would therefore be preferable. British conservatism has 

 clung to the practice, in the face of the rest of the world; and 

 the Index Kewensis alone contains more than half a million sui^er- 

 fluous commas. 



13. Fixiny of yeneric types. — The desirabilit}^ of some provision 

 for fixation of types seems to me unquestionable. An international 

 commission is desirable, if so constituted that its members comprehend 

 the significance of a type-method and will render unprejudiced 

 decisions. Otherwise such a commission might do \evj serious harm. 



14. Invalidity of yeneric homonyms not listed under '' nomina 

 conservanda.'' — If " nomina conservanda " are to be recognized at 



