CURIOUS AND ODD NAMES 



passed away, all knowledge, including that of medicine, of 

 botany, and of law, was imparted in Latin, which indeed was 

 supposed to be learnt by every educated person almost until 

 the present century. 



Even now descriptions of new plants have to be given in 

 Latin, and the name must have a classical appearance. Of 

 course, nowadays, it would be much more convenient and 

 much more generally useful if every person learnt English, 

 German, French, and Japanese, but in this case of naming 

 plants, the Holy Roman Empire still exercises its sway over 

 the whole world. 



Very often the names given to plants are of the most 

 extraordinary character. The I^tin is curious and the 

 Greek remarkable, yet sometimes they are both pleasant to 

 the ear and have a pretty and poetical meaning. 



Poggeophyton^ on the other hand, for example, means the 

 plant discovered by Dr. Pogge, a German botanical explorer. 

 Wormskioldia, ZahlbrucJcnera, Krascheninikowia, Acantho- 

 sicyos^ Chickrassia^ Orychophragmus^ Warczewiczia^ Lychno- 

 phoriopsis, Krombholtzia, Pseudorhachicallis, Sczegleewia^ 

 Zschokkia, are all names that sound harsh and look odd to 

 us. Yet most of them are just called after those who dis- 

 covered them, or their friends. In many of the smaller 

 microscopic plants the names are really much longer than 

 the plants themselves. Thus Pseudocerataulus Kinkeri is a 

 diatom which cannot possibly be seen without the use of a 

 microscope. 



Names are and were given in the most extraordinary way. 

 Not merely great botanists, but Themistocles, Aristides, 

 Aristobulus, Virgil, and even Gyas and Clianthes, have plants 

 named after them. 



Yet that is not inexcusable, if people had not sufficient 



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