252 INDEX I. 



cautious, sentence, two conditions of matter are con- 

 fused, no notice being taken of the difference in manner 

 of dissolution between a vitally fragrant and a mortally 

 putrid substance. 



It is still more curious that when I look for more 

 definite instruction on such points to the higher ranks of 

 botanists, I find in the index to Dr. Lindley's ' Intro- 

 duction to Botany ' seven hundred pages of close print 

 not one of the four words ' Volatile, ' c Essence, ' 

 ' Scent,' or ' Perfume.' I examine the index to Gray's 

 ' Structural and Systematic Botany, ' with precisely the 

 same success. I next consult Professors Balfour and 

 Grindon, and am met by the same dignified silence. 

 Finally, I think over the possible chances in French, 

 and try in Figuier's indices to the ' Histoire des Plantes ' 

 for ' Odeur ' no such word ! ' Parfum ' no such 

 word. ' Essence ' no such word. ' Encens ' no such 

 word. I try at last ' Pois de Senteur, ' at a venture, and 

 am referred to a page which describes their going to 

 sleep. 



Left thus to my own resources, I must be content for 

 the present to bring the subject at least under safe laws 

 of nomenclature. It is possible that modern chemistry 

 may be entirely right in alleging the absolute identity of 

 substances such as albumen, or fibrine, whether they 

 occur in the animal or vegetable economies. But I do 

 not choose to assume this identity in my nomenclature. 

 It may, perhaps, be very fine and very instructive to 



