PRE1 \< I.. xvn 



by interfering with them; such aa Penaea, Hugonia, Park 

 Mimosa, Arbutus, &c. Ami, finally, there is a large class of 

 scientific words which are best Englished by an alteration of tl 

 foreign terminations \ for example, Melanthium may be changed 

 to Melanthj Desmanthus to Desmanthj Lecythis to Lecythj M 

 rospermum to Myrospermj and such an alteration would at once 

 possess the great advantage of rendering English plural termina- 

 tions possible. Melanthiums, I >< smanthuses, Lecythises, fee., sound 

 offensively to classical ears; Melanthia, Desmanthi, Lecythid 

 arc, if not pedantic, at least beyond the skill of uneducated readi 

 but Desmanths, Melanths, and Lecyths, are formed by the ordinary 

 English plural termination without difficulty. 



It is, however, to be feared that a longtime will elapse before tl 

 views are carried out in such a manner as to insure their adoption. 

 But in the meanwhile a commencement of the plan is practicable, 

 and the Author hopes it will meet with support. The names by 

 which the great groups of plants are known are few in number, and 

 very often in use. There is certainly no reason why we should not at 

 once English them; the practice, indeed, is already adopted to some 

 extent hv the substitution of the words Monocotyledons, Dicotvle- 

 dons, Exogens, Endogens, Cryptogams, Phsenogams, &c, tor Mo- 

 nocotyledones, Dicotyledones, Exogcme, Endogenae, Cryptogams, 

 Phsenogamae, &c. It is even carried further by speaking of Ro- 

 saceous plants instead of Rosacea^ Orchidaceous or Orchideous 

 plants instead of Orchidaceae, or Orchideae, &c. lint these amended 

 names are still too long, and too un-English in sound to he in 

 favour with the world which lies without the narrow circle ofm< 

 svstcmatists; and no valid reason seems to exisl for not immediately 

 reforming that part of the nomenclature of Botany. The attempt 

 has been already made in the Author's School Botany, where it 

 will be found that by availing himself of well-known English 

 names, or of the Knglish word ''wort." or by merely remodelling 

 the terminations, a uniform English nomenclature has been secured 

 for all the common European Natural Orders of plants. Thus t'..i 

 N\ mph;eacca\ l!anuneulacra\ Tamarieacea'. Zygophyllaceae, Kla- 

 tinaceae, are substituted Water-Lilies, Crowfoots, Tamarisks, Bean- 

 Capers, and Water-Peppersj tor Malvaceae, Aurantiaceae, Gentian- 

 acea% Primulaceae, (Jrticaceae, Euphorbiaceae, are employed Mallow- 

 worts. Citronworts, Gentianworts, Primworts, Nettleworts, Spurg 

 worts- and the terms Orchids, Hippurids, Amaryllids, [rids, T\ - 

 phads, Arads, Cucurbits, are taken as English equivalents forOrchi- 



