353 



fera, and referred to the help in the matter Avhich he had 

 obtained from Dr. Murray, who later on discussed the subject 

 m a letter to Kew. It is quite clear that Cocoa-nut is wrong, 

 yet m many publications, including those of some important 

 botanical establishments, this spelling is still used. The mistake 

 IS attributed to Dr. Samuel Johnson, who in his Dictionary, 

 confused the Coco-nut {Cocos nucifcra) with Cocoa {Theohroma 

 cacao), though in using the word Cocoa lie showed that it 

 came from the Spanish cacaotal, ''and therefore more correctly 

 written Cacao." Johnson quotes from Miller's Gardeners' 

 Dictionary and Murray says that Miller wrote Coco Nut, but 

 this statement appears to be incorrect, as no instance of .that 

 spelling has been found in his works, but Cocoa nut occurs 

 several times. Miller, however, did not confuse Cgcos and 

 Theohroma, ^ the latter of which appears under Cacao. Prof. 

 Skeat, in his Etymological Dictionary, has " Cocoa, the cocoa- 

 nut palm-tree," and quotes De Barros, Asia, for the origin of 

 the word. It is "called coco by the Portuguese in India on 

 account of the monkey-like face at the base of the nut, from 

 coco, a bugbear, an ugly mask to frighten children." Prof. 

 Skeat explains Cocoa [Theohroma) as a corrupt form of Cacao. 



The terms Phanerogamia and Cryptogamia, as commonly 

 used, occasioned Dr. Murray some surprise. With regard to 

 the latter he wrote : " Like the names of other Linnean classes 

 and orders, it is a singular noun, and was always so treated 

 in the 18th century; but in the 19th century, probably by un- 

 thinking confusion with classes and orders of the animal king- 

 dom {e.g., Vertebrata, Mammalia, Carnlvora) which are adjs. 

 neuter plural, it has been (first apparently by persons not 

 botanists, and afterwards by some botanists also} misused as a 

 noun plural Cryptogams." 



On one occasion there was a request for the etymology of 

 CypripediuTri which Sir James regarded as apparently a cor- 

 ruption of Cypripodium, and on another for the dates of intro- 

 duction of the Eed and Black Currants. These appear to have 

 been brought to England some time shortly before 1578, when 

 Lyte, in his edition of Dodoens, referred to Eed Currants as 

 "Redde Gooseberries" and "Bastard Corinthes." 



Cork, Costmary, Cranberry, Damask-Eose, Passion-flower, 

 Petal, Petunia, Phylloxera, Pipe and Pipe-tree, Plantain, 

 Ponipelmoose, Potato, Tangerine, Tea and Tokicco, are a few 

 of the numerous otlier words aboiH which Sir James Murray 

 wrote to Kew. 



The earliest record for Petal (or Petala) is 1704, when Harris 

 used it in his Lexicon Teehnieum, and the first mention found 

 in any English publication of the terrible vine pest. Phylloxera, 

 was in the Gardeners'' ChrotiicJe for October 31st, 18G8. 



It is generally known that Syringa, the generic name of the 

 I^ilac, is also a popular name for Philadcluhus coronanus, the 

 Mock Orange. The researches into the applications of the terras 

 Pipe and Pipe-tree, as summarised in the Dictionary, show that 

 Syringa, as a name for the Philadelphus, dates at least from 



