271 



too slight to be permanent, precious to us for their very evanes- 

 cence, for thereby we know they are the direct result of what to 

 us must be first causes, if the term " first cause/' is anywhere 

 admissible. Look at it in this light and it becomes evident that 

 we must no longer omit them from our lists, and that above all 

 things it behooves us to take note of them, and of the circum- 

 stances under which they grew, for so shall we learn the begin- 

 nings of varieties and of species themselves. So we come back 

 to the original question, how are they to be recorded ? Now as 

 to naming — are they to be named ? Well, we cannot at all avoid 

 some semblance of a name, if we only speak of *' white varieties," 

 and so forth. But science is international, and we have no busi- 

 ness to be using English names, and it is exact, or should be, so 

 *' white varieties " evidently will not do, as we know that as a 

 matter of fact this term will be applied quite loosely — as it is so 

 often in the case of birds, where an " albino '' is often recorded, 

 which we afterward discover to have been a pallid or white- 

 spotted form. 



The names, then, must be like other scientific names, interna- 

 tional and representing properly defined objects. So much for 

 their general character, but do they follow the rules adopted for 

 specific and other names ? For mstance, if I find a white-flowered 

 Campa?iula, may I dedicate it to Jones, and call it Jonesii ? This 

 would hardly do, for the name does not in any way indicate the 

 nature of the form, and nobody wants to associate it with the 

 name of Jones for all time (myself and Jones excepted ! ) Again, 

 what are these varieties to be called — are they '* varieties " in 



point of fact ? We 



same footing as 



geographical races, and well established though not specific forms, 

 and yet it has generally been the rule to rank all forms that were 

 less defined than species under the common term *' variety." 

 Rather, these changeable varieties are to be called technically 

 *' forms " — a term which, if generally accepted, will Hkely swallow 

 a good many of the so-called '' varieties " of our text-books and 

 periodicals. Therefore, perhaps we may go by two rules : 



(i). Classify all plants as species, subspecies, varieties or 

 forms, according to the permanency of their characters. 



(2). In naming forms use only names which indicate the na- 



