198 ERYTHEA. 



Europe, i. 22 (1798): Desfontaines, Flora Atlant. i. 69 

 (1798): Thuillier, Flore Envir. Paris, 2 ed., 35 (1799): 

 Kceler, Descr. Graminum, 89 (1802) : Eoucel, Flore du Nord 

 France, i. 49 (1803): Mouton-Fontenille, SysUme des 

 Flanfes, i. 114 (1804). 



It is incomprehensible that the consideration of such unan- 

 imity in interpreting the specific name Agr. capillaris, did 

 not deter Smith from his unfortunate idea of according to an 

 herbarium label greater value than to a tradition uninter- 

 rupted for nearly half a century. 



Linne lived till 1778, consequently he must have allowed 

 his contemporaries to propagate a false interpretation 

 as to the sense of the expression Agr. capillaris for 

 twenty-five years (1753-78) without protestation. How is 

 it that he did not say to them: You are mistaken, for under 

 this name I wished to speak of an Agrostis sent to me from 

 Portugal by Loefiing. The Agrostis which you call capil- 

 laris is my Agr. siolonifera. In short, it is inadmissible 

 that none of his pupils nor correspondents, who well knew 

 the opinion of the master concerning one of the commonest 

 of plants, did not raise a protest if it had been incorrectly 

 re-published by all the authors of Floras. 



During the three centuries which preceded ours, tradition 

 had a much greater importance than contemporary botanists 

 who have at their command works containing accurate and 

 complete descriptions, and the finest iconographies, would 

 give credit for. Formerly it was extremely difficult, and 

 often impossible, to determine certain plants, notably the 

 grasses, by books. To give an idea of this difficulty, it will 

 be sufficient to reproduce the description, considered as 

 classical from 1620 to 1753, of the grass which we at present 

 call Agrostis vulgaris: 



"Gramen montanum panicula spadicea delicatiore. 



" Eadice est alba, brevi capillacea, culmis ternis, quaternis, 

 geniculatis, pedalibus, uno alterove folio cinctis, quae etiam 

 ad radicem brevia et pauca sunt; in culmorum summo pani- 

 cula triuncialis, spadicei coloris, ex locustis minimis com- 

 pobita. 



