HICKORY KUTS. 151 



for botanical research, and who came to this country 

 several years before Nut tall, as some recent investiga- 

 tions appear to prove, denned the distinct character- 

 istics of the hickories, and not only proposed, but pub- 

 lished the name Hicoria for this genus in 1817, while 

 Nuttall's Gary a did not appear until one year later, viz. : 



1818. For these dates I am mainly indebted to Dr. N. 

 L. Britton, who appears to have been delving among 

 " first editions" of the works of the authors named 

 (Bulletin, Torrey Botanical Club, 1888). 



It seems strange, however, at this late date, that 

 such eminent botanists as the late Dr. John Torrey and 

 Dr. Asa Gray, who were both intimately acquainted 

 with, in fact associates of, Eafinesque, should have ig- 

 nored his rights in regard to the name of Hicoria, if he 

 was really entitled to the honor of founding this genus 

 and separating the hickories from the Juglans. But for 

 some good reason they left the matter in abeyance, for 

 their successors to settle. Dr. Torrey does, in a way, 

 recognize Kafinesque, in his "Catalogue of Plants With- 

 in Thirty Miles of the City of New York," published in 



1819, but in a manner which shows that he had no con- 

 fidence in Rafinesque's claim, but did approve of Nut- 

 tail's classifications and name of Carya, for on page 74 

 he refers to the hickories as follows : " Carya, Nuttall ; 

 HicJcoria, Rafinesque." 



From this it appears that Dr. Torrey did not adopt 

 Hicoria as the proper mode of spelling this word, but 

 retained the letter k in giving it a Latin form. This is 

 not strange, inasmuch as Rafinesque had no settled form 

 of his own, and varied the spelling at different times ; 

 as, for instance, Scoria, Hicoria, HicTcorius and Hi- 

 corias. It is but reasonable to suppose that Dr. Torrey 

 was familiar with Rafinesque's earlier writings, and also 

 whether his proposed generic name of Scoria, in 1808, 

 was legitimate, or a misspelling of Hicoria, as suggested 



