196 THE .TOUKNAL OF BOTANT 



Hah. Ill ripis fiuminis Peninsulse Malaicae, Muar, Sungei Pauh, 

 Fox] Pahang, Pekan, Ridley; Perak, Temengoh river (i^2 J/ey) ; Harara 

 {ScortecJiini) ; Telok Anson, Kunsfler 1018 ; Tringanu, Bundi, 

 JRosfado ; Kelantan, Kota Bahru, Ridley ; Penang, Wallich 5298 

 i^JEntada monostachya) ; Ajer Hitam, Curtis ; Java, Jocjokarta, 

 Junghuhn. 



In the Kew Museum there is a pod very closely resembling that 

 of this species from Pegu, collected by Capt. Mellersh, but I have no 

 other evidence of the occurrence of the plant in Burmah. The 

 small usually obovate round-tipped leaves, green on both sides, 

 and the very small flowers distinguish this species readily, and the 

 very stout round-backed rib running on each side of the pod, the 

 segments of which are transversely wrinkled is distinctive. The 

 only seed I have seen is smaller in most species and considerably 

 thicker. This is the only species in the Malay Peninsula, except the 

 very distinct E. spiralis, with larger leaflets, glaucous beneath, and 

 the singular green spiral pod breaking up into joints, each of which 

 dehisces, and exposes a larger thick light-brown seed with a thin 

 testa. Distinct as this latter species is, Wallich distributed some 

 leaves of E. spiralis with his Penang plant 5293, and Prain 

 (Materials for the Flora of the Malay Feninsula) quotes two 

 specimens of F. sjjiralis as F. scandens. 



F. Scliefferi usually occurs draping the forest on the river-banks 

 far away from the river-mouth, but I found a large plant of it in a 

 village in Kelantan, which supplied the village chief with soap ; the 

 bark of the plant is used for this purpose, pieces being chopped off as 

 required. The native name of the plant is Akar Beluru, or in 

 Kelantan, Akar Blu. 



THE USE AND ABUSE OF THE GENUS. 



Under this title Dr. Wilmer Stone pviblishes in Science for 

 April 30 an -article containing what appears to us a much needed 

 protest against the practical inconvenience caused by the growing- 

 custom, more frequent in America than among ourselves, of multi- 

 plj'ing genera on comparatively slight grounds. Dr. Stone of course 

 recognizes the changes in nomenclature which the law of priority 

 renders necessary: his protest is confined to "cases where a generic 

 group is subdivided, the old name being restricted to one of the sub- 

 divisions and new names given to all the others." Such cases, he 

 points out, are " entirely dependent upon personal opinion, with no 

 hope of uniformity or finality. Generic groups are separated from 

 one another by all degrees of difference, and there is no standard by 

 which the amount of difference may be consistently measured. Con- 

 sequently no two systematists will be in agreement as to how many 

 groups may be recognized in any given family. 



"Ever since the time of Linnaeus generic groups have been under- 

 going disintegration, until in some families the ultimate condition has 

 been reached of a generic group for every species. When this stage 

 has been attained we have lost all trace in the scientific names of any 

 relationship whatever between the species. The binomial name, in 



