xiv PREFACE. 



reply to this must be, that he has never done this 

 out of the love of change, but only where it seemed 

 necessary to distinguish one species from another, 

 and in strict compliance with the rules laid down 

 by that great father of natural history, in his Phi- 

 losophia Botanica, where he says, ^'Nomen specj/icum 

 continet differentiae notas essentiales" (g) And again 

 *' Nomen specijicum legitimum plantam ab omnibus 

 congeneribus distinguat."{h) When, therefore, the 

 Linnean definition of any species does not con- 

 tain all those characters which constitute its essence, 

 or which distinguish it from its congeners, it is ne- 

 cessary that it be altered, provided this be done 

 cauQ, caste, judiciose, according to the same rules. 

 When Linneus published the last edition of his 

 Systema Naturce, the known species of ApeSy 

 speaking comparatively, were but few, and there- 

 fore fewer notes of discrimination would sufficiently 

 point out any individual then, than at this time, 

 when the number of species is increased beyond 

 measure. Much confusion has unavoidably been 

 introduced into the genus by this brevity, for the 

 same definition will now be found to agree with se- 

 veral distinct species (?). 



(^)§.256. 



{K) §, 257. He says under another section (294), Qwi novam 

 detcgit speciem, addat et non modh ejusdem differ entiam, sed et 

 in congeneri vel congenerilus differentias avgeat, ut distin- 

 guantur in posterum species sufficienti differentia. 



(i) E.G. The definitions of Apis cunicularia, centunculariSf 

 conica, succincta, &c. 



The 



