26 ORCHID HYBRIDS. 



that far, he would have had a fair sized cemetery along 

 every one of those little curiosities. The modern art of 

 naming lets us earthliiigs escape with a single cross, but 

 not without that. If anybody should be tempted to 

 remark that I have not followed the rule throughout this 

 book, I neglect it only then when it is plain from the 

 sentence that I speak about a hybrid. Remember, too, 

 that I am one of those dancers that have to pay the 

 piper, and I have had to pay enough for extra type, 

 without laying in an unnecessary stock of crosses. I 

 do not see any reason whatever, though, for burdening 

 bigeneric hydrids with a cross. Ever since Dr. Masters 

 established his Philageria, everybody concerned knows 

 that a hybrid is spoken about as soon as you pronounce 

 a plant to be a Catlselia, a Zygolax, etc. To affix to them 

 a x is nothing but an uncalled for display of wisdom, 

 and burdensome at that. 



We have grown into the habit of adopting the most 

 cumbersome conglomerates of names for bigenerics, 

 without uttering a word of objection. It may be the 

 rule of scientists to express in their combination-name 

 as fully as possible how the plants in question originate; 

 but I want to enter a very urgent claim for convenience's 

 sake. We have to learn every name, good or bad, diffi- 

 cult or easy to adopt. Hundreds of roads lead to the 

 seat of St. Peter, and if we are obliged to make our way 

 towards it, why not take a ticket for the most direct 

 route, the most convenient? If I recollect right, it was 

 Mr. H. N. Ridley, then of the Museum of Natural His- 

 tory, South Kensington, who proposed at the Orchid 

 Conference (sic!) at Manchester, the name of Catleelia 

 for hybrids between Cattleya and La3lia. That is as 

 good and convenient, as euphonious and significant as 

 Dr. Masters' classic Philageria. The scientists use these 



