eae 
a 
right « and that those who do not agree with is, a 
strong esa da and some pers weak ones. | 
But he does believe that one who looks for sp 
described, or cre reduced to ee in which ae 
-based his conclusions solely upon the trivial and less i 
characters, and then later, when some one else called a 
to the weighty characters, he finally could see them for hie mse 
and concluded that he had species after all. Ai 
The observation of plants in the field—and I have described 
but few species not familiar to me in the living state—impresses 
me more and more each year that many important characters ; 
‘ have been overlooked by herbarium workers; and apparently 
those who had much herbarium and little field knowledge, first 
started the fashion of naming varieties. 
And it seems to me that a little reflection should show the 
absurdity, under present conditions, of using other than specific 
names. Recent legislation, both home and foreign, has reduced 
to practical nonentities names other than specific. The law of 
priority does not apply to them, neither (according to the Vienna 
code) does that of homonyms, and if it is allowable to make a 
foot-ball as it were of a certain class of plants, permitting them 
to be kicked and tossed about at will, or manipulated so as to 
give the unscrupulous undue opportunities, it is foolishness to 
consider them at all, according to my way of thinking. If we 
are to have more than one category of names, then let the law 
of priority apply rigidly to all. There can be no law of priority 
if exceptions are allowed. ; 
