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whicli I gathered iu Aschara bogs in the year 1828, and the one pub- 

 lished in Baines's Flora under the name of Carex teretiuscula iu 1840, 

 being identical with the one that Mr. Spruce discovered in the year 

 1841. T^nimt honor Mr, Spruce or any other person can possibly have 

 iu being the discoverer of a new plant, I am totally at a loss to com- 

 prehend, knowing as I do that such an occurrence is merely a matter 

 of chance. 



And as far as regards Mr. Sidebotham's misiakes, I will just tell 

 Mr. Luxford (as it appears he has forgotten), that the subject of these 

 Carices was no^ private one, and that when Mr. Sidebotham was asked 

 for the plant, it was not for the pui-pose of perfecting a series, but 

 purely wifli the intention of coming at the truth of a puhlic dispute. 

 And as Mr. Sidebotham knew this, he would have done much better 

 if he had acknowledged his inability ) comply witli Mr. Babington's 

 wish, than to have sent him something that would tend to lead him 

 into error. Such a request as Mr. Babington's ought not to have been 

 attended to iu a careless manner ; but on the contrary, a little more 

 than ordinaiy care should have been bestowed. Mr. Luxford may 

 think that the mistake should have been set right by a piivate letter; 

 but I will now tell him that this was no private affair. When I re- 

 ceived the letter in question, as I had been previously called on to 

 show whj' Mr. Sidebotham's specimens did not agree with the de- 

 scription which I had given of my Carex pseudo-paradoxa. And fur- 

 ther, Mr. Luxford must recollect that Mr. Sidebotham's mistake was 

 between Mr. Babington and himself, and although I was deeply inte- 

 rested, I had no part in it. 



Yom's respectfully, 



Saml. Gibson. 



To the Editor of ' The Pliytologist.' 



York, 3rd of 9th Month, 1844. 

 I have a specimen of Carex paradoxa in my herbarium, which was 

 gathered at Ascham bog, by my father, in 1818. The C. teretiuscula 

 of Baines's ' Flora of Yorkshire ' refers to this specimen ; thinking it 

 most resembled C. teretiuscula, my father named it accordingly. The 

 specimen has since been shown to R. Spruce, who pronounces it to 

 be C. paradoxa. I believe C. teretiuscula is not found at all in As- 

 cham bogs. Jas. Backhouse, Jdn. 



