viii PREFACE. 



of last resort for they alone may infallibly distin- 

 guish any object in nature. 



These names are written in Latin, so as to be read 

 and understood by the learned of all nations, but the 

 ordinary English reader often hesitates about dealing 

 with them, not knowing that they are generally easily 

 pronounced, for all the letters are given their proper 

 sound, none are silent, and every vowel is in a sepa- 

 rate syllable. 



The conferring of English or vernacular names, 

 however, is often left to the indiscriminate fancy of 

 thoughtlesfe persons those first meeting with the 

 object. For instance, in one short range of California 

 mountains, there are seven different species of pine. 

 Four of these pines are called by the same name, and 

 that the meaningless one, "Bull Pine." Now, one 

 of these species Pinus Coulteri bears the largest 

 and heaviest cones in the world, often weighing five 

 to eight pounds each. What better name for this 

 tree than Big-Cone Pine? A second P. Sabinituid 

 has pea-green or grayish foliage, distinguishing the 

 trees from others at a distance. Gray-Leaf Pine is 

 suggested for this tree. The third species P. Jeffreyi 

 has dark, often black bark, finely checked, in strong 

 contrast with the fourth species, the light-colored well- 

 known Yellow Pine P. ponderosa with which it is 

 often associated. What better name for this third 

 tree than Black Pine? 



