120 OCCASIONAL PAPERS. 



The task of distinguishing between the different 

 species of violets is a difficult one, and in fact it is by 

 no means easy to say how many there are. To 

 ordinary mortals, guiltless of botanical lore there are 

 but two, viz., the Sweet Violet, and the Dog Violet. 

 Why " dog " violet it is hard to say ; it seems a term 

 of contempt, often applied to a thing which will not 

 bear comparison with its rivals. We have it in dog 

 rose and other flowers. The epithet " horse " is 

 similarly prefixed in horse-radish, horse-mustard, 

 &c. Both terms are found again in connexion with 

 the names of animals, e.g., dog- whelk, dog-fish, 

 horse-mussel, horse-stinger (the dragon fly), &c. 



But the species of violet are by no means limited 

 to the above two; the name "Dog violet" usually 

 includes all those that have no scent, of which there 

 are certainly several well marked forms All botani- 

 cal authorities vary in their number of species. Dr. 

 Hooker in his Student's Flora gives five, including 

 several sub-species under canina; Miss Pratt gives 

 seven, identical with those of Withering ; Babington 

 gives eight. I suppose there is no house, society, or 

 sect, where absolute unity of views on any particular 

 subject is to be found. Botanists are certainly no 

 exception, they are divided into sections known 

 respectively as Lumpers and Splitters; the former 

 reducing the number of species as much as possible, 

 the latter increasing them at their own sweet will. 

 This is due to the fact that nobody is able to define 

 what a species is, at any rate to the satisfaction of 

 anyone else. Until that is done the two factions in 

 botany are bound to exist. If I were giving notes 

 for the assistance of young botanists, I should feel 



