THE KNIGHT OF THE POLAR STAR 285 



and their principle has been with the greatest advan- 

 tage extended to chemistry, of which the celebrated 

 Bergman, the friend of Linnseus, originally set the 

 example. 1 



4 Mr. Lyonet complained of the number of new 

 names that Linnaeus has introduced. This is absurd. 

 He has introduced new names only because he has de- 

 scribed new objects; as to old names, every intelligent 

 naturalist knows Linnseus has been rather too cautious 

 of changing them. It would, perhaps, have been better 

 could he early have foreseen his extensive influence and 

 have reformed many things which, from a deference to 

 the opinion of others, he suffered to remain.' l We do 

 not now find it inconvenient that the dahlia should be 

 called from Dahl, nor the fuchsia from Fuchs. In old- 

 fashioned country places the original slender red fuchsia 

 is still picturesquely called the c lady's eardrop ' ; but 

 this would never do for a scientific or a universal 

 name it is too long, and difficult to translate ; besides, 

 now that earrings are worn short, or merely as a bead 

 stuck on the lobe, no one knows what ladies' eardrops 

 are. Red wallflowers are in like manner called ' bloody 

 warriors.' Names that convey a poetical figure or a 

 sentiment, as mignonette, the passion-flower, love-lies- 

 a-bleeding, the sensitive plant, or forget-me-not, are 

 very sweet as applied to flowers ; but these need that all 

 florists should likewise be poets. 



The Earl of Bute, writing to Collinson, says, 'I 



1 Smith. 



