CLASSIFICATION 2$ 



time, there were as obviously certain differences, 

 so that a second name was given to each. Thus 

 a medical botanist who wrote in the tenth century 

 (and others before him) speaks of Aristolochia 

 clematis, A. lo7iga, and A. rotunda, the two latter 

 terms referring to the shape of the root. Another 

 writer in the fifteenth century says of Titimallus 

 (which we now call Euphorbia\ there are many 

 " species." 



As more and more plants came to be studied 

 for their real or supposed medicinal virtues, more 

 words were required to distinguish certain plants, 

 till their titles became most cumbersome. 



It was Linnaeus who, in the eighteenth century, 

 based his system of classification by fixing two 

 names to every plant ; the first being the " generic " 

 name, the second the " specific." 



He made use of the old names, sometimes retain- 

 ing them as the genus, as Senecio (the groundsel), 

 and adding vulgaris, because it is so common. In 

 other cases he used the old name as the species. 

 When this was the case, it is spelt with an initial 

 capital letter, as Ranunculus Fla7ninuladind Solanum 

 Dulcamara. To other species, which had no special 

 names, Linnaeus supplied them, as Ranunculus 

 bulbosus and R. repens (from the forms of the 

 stems), R. acris (from its acridity), and R. aquatilis 

 (from its living in water), etc. 



When it was found that many plants, which no 



