BH. KUNT2E AND HIS REVIEWERS, 269 



son was induced to relinqnisli the 1735 date in favor of that 

 of 1753? Did he, after working on that basis for six or 

 seven years/ find the extraordinary amount of bibliographical 

 research entailed by reckoning from the earlier date, au 

 insuperable obstacle to his ever finishing the Index of Plant 

 Names? Some sort of an explanation — perhaps amounting 

 to an affirmative answer of my last question — is given by Mr. 

 Hemsley, as if on Mr. Jackson's behalf, when he says; ''It is 

 no breach of confidence to say that Mr. Daydon Jackson, who 

 has been engaged ten years on Darwin's Index to Plant 

 Names, has come to the conclusion that any attempt to adopt 

 genera of an earlier date [than 1753] will lead to hopeless 

 confusion, to say nothing of inconvenience," If Mr. Jackson 

 recognizes no authorized starting-point, and so concedes to 

 every one the privilege of reasoning and selecting according 

 to his own judgment, then this answer is measurably sufficient; 

 though it leaves him in a position of injustice to Dr. Kuntze 

 when he arraigns him as taking au " ai'bitrary " starting-point. 

 It ought here to be said in vindication of Dr. Kuntze that 

 he does not regard himself as arbitrary in the selection of 

 1735 as the year from which to reckon genera. He professes 

 to be conforming to "International Law;" and from this 

 stand-i)oint it seems to me clear enough without argument 

 that if any general treatise of Linnseus is to be taken as 

 initial for genera, it is quite inevitably to be the Systema 

 of 1735; and it looks as if Mr. Jackson had seen this, and 

 acted upon it up to a time when his reason may have become 

 influenced unduly by the discovery of extremely formidable 

 obstacles to the reforming of nomenclature with this date for 

 a basis. We now understand something of the magnitude 

 .and multiplicity of the obstacles; but for the information we 

 are indebted solely to Dr. Kuntze. Mr. Jackson did not stop 

 to tell lis, or even to give us a hint, until now the obstacles 

 are at once revealed, and in large part removed, by Dr, 

 Kuntze's work. But, to show how completely the Paris Code 



^ Five years had already been devoted to tlie work when, iu 1S87, the 

 1735 " annotiucement was made. 



