INTEODUCTION. 



still considered our national dish, and our cheese is 

 celebrated, but oysters are not so abundant as they 

 used to be. 



Many names that we consider English are simply 

 Latin or Greek, — as Angelica, Crocus, Asparagus; 

 sometimes the terminations are slightly altered, — as 

 in Agrimony (Agrimonia), Saxifrage (Saxifraga), 

 Gentian (Gentiana) ; others are translations of con- 

 tinental names, — as Devil' s-bit (Morsus diaboli), 

 Hound's-tongue (Cynogiossum), Loose-strife (Lysi- 

 machia). We might suppose, however, when we 

 meet with a name like ^* Jack of the Buttery" (Sedum 

 acre), that such a one, at any rate, is English ; but 

 this is not always the case, for Dr. Prior, who is our 

 best authority on these matters, tells us of this 

 absurd appellation in his ' Popular Names of British 

 Plants,' that it '^ seems to be a corruption of Bot- 

 thcriacque to Buttery Jack, the plant having been used 

 as a theriac or anthelmintic." 



The popular names of our plants are well worth 

 study, and are of great interest ; but they are more 

 for the student of philology than for the systematic 

 botanist, as they are of little use to the latter. 



Mr. Bentham ('Handbook of the British Flora') 

 has invented a number of names, by prefixing an 

 English specific name to the Latin or Greek generic 

 one, altering the termination of the latter where 

 necessary, in accordance with our usual practice, so 

 as to give the appearance of a systematic arrange- 

 ment in our own language. He gives us such names 



