PREFACE. 



within the average thirty-mile radius assigned to this compilation ; 

 reports, however, as to the actual occurrence, generally, of a per- 

 centage of these plants, are considered by Mr. Watson doubtful. 1 

 As this radius is almost entirely restricted to province iii. of the 

 * Cybele ' and Compendium, the separate list of these aggregates, 

 with their respective segregates, which is given, is drawn up with 

 reference thereto exclusively. 



It can, after all, matter little whether, once named, these 

 segregates be regarded as mere varieties, or as distinct species ; every 

 botanist is at liberty to form his own conclusion on the subject, 

 but the chief objection lies " in the inextricable confusion caused 

 by the transfer of names from one variety to another, and adoption 

 of obsolete ones to replace those till lately in use ; so that, in 

 several cases, it is hard to say whether the aggregate plant is meant 

 by the term, or one of its segregates" (Cybele Comp.). The author 

 of the ' Cybele Britannica,' who has devoted forty years to the study 

 of the geographical distribution of plants, justly observes, with 

 regard to this system of species splitting, that " empirical names 

 are given to species, much after the methods resorted to by florists 

 in naming their varieties of Roses and Geraniums. It is individuals, 

 not species, that are described technically. The thing is overdone ; 

 species are subdivided on differences so slight that descriptive 

 botanical language cannot make them intelligible, without figures 

 or specimens. There is no constant distinction made between 

 species and varieties, other than a decision by individual opinion in 

 each case ; the splitters leave others to prove the contrary ; hence 

 conflict of opinion ; and decision may be altered by succeeding 

 generations." (Ibid.) Whether we endorse Mr. Watson's opinions 

 or not, it must surely be apparent to every one, that in attaching 

 equal value to the distinctions between species and varieties we 

 necessarily lessen the value of those between species and species ; 

 and are led on to consider this question, what then, after all, 

 constitutes a species and what a variety? One glance at the 

 Catalogue will reveal, in addition to the promotions just made, a 



1 See Appendix to Index. 



