NOMENCLATURE. BOTANICAL ANALYSIS. 175 



in nus, na, num; as .Erica Linneana, Linnaeus' heath; Rosa Lawrenciana, Mis3 

 Lawrence's rose. 



913. RULES FOR THE USE OP CAPITALS. The names of the order, the sub-order 

 or tribe, and of the genus should always commence with a capital letter. The 

 name of the species should never commence with a capital except in the following 

 cases; (1.) when it is derived from the name of a person or of a country, as Phlox 

 Drummondii, Aquilegia Canadensis ; (2.) when it is a substantive, as Delphinium 

 Consolida. 



914. SYNONYMS. Very frequently, the same species has been described by differ- 

 ent (or even by the same) authors, under different names. In such cases it becomes 

 a question, often of difficult solution, which name is to be adopted. Obviously, the 

 prior name, that is, the original one, if it can be ascertained, is entitled to the most 

 respect ; and it is a rule with botanists to adopt this name, unless it had been pre- 

 viously occupied, or be strongly objectionable on some other account. All other 

 names are synonyms. 



915. BOTANICAL ANALYSIS. The application of the rules of Systematic 

 Botany to the natural plant, in order to ascertain its affinities, place, name, &c., is 

 called botanical analysis. This exercise, whether for pleasure or improvement, is the 

 constant pursuit of the practical botanist. A moro accurate and useful knowledge 

 of a plant can be acquired in a few minutes, by a careful examination of the living 

 specimen, or even of the dried, than by committing to memory the most elaborate 

 description -found in books. 



916. During the flowering months, the learner will often in his walks meet with 

 plants in blossom, with which he is yet unacquainted. And he who is duly inter- 

 ested ia his pursuit, will by no means fail to seize and analyze each specimen while 

 the short hour of its bloom may last, and to store his memory with the knowledge 

 of its names, habits, and uses. Thus, in a few seasons, or even in one, he will have 

 grown familiar with nearly, or quite, every species of plants in his vicinity. 



917. Let us suppose the pupil in possession of a specimen of an unknown plant 

 in full blossom. In order to study it by the aid of authors, a point immediately 

 requisite is its name. Now, having learned" by examination the organic and physi- 

 ological structure of the flower, leaves, stem, etc., the experienced botanist, who 

 has at his command the characters of all the Natural Orders, will at once determine 

 to which of them tho plant belongs. 



918. But tfiis is not to be expected of the pupil who is supposed to bo yet, in a 

 measure, unacquainted with the characters of the orders. He must be guided to 

 the place which his specimen holds in the classification, by a longer course of inquiry 

 and comparison. For the assistance of the learner, therefore, and for the conve- 

 nience of all, we arc happy to be able to add a full series of ANALYTICAL TABLES, 

 which, with proper use, will seldom fail of conducting them almost immediately to 

 the object of their search. 



919. THE ANALYTICAL TABLES which accompany the present edition of our Flora,. 

 are in many respects novel in form, and remarkable, at least, for their simplicity. 

 A dichotomal division, that is, of the whole into two parts, is the principle on which 

 they are constructed ; and since those divisions are, each, characterized mainly by a. 

 single character, the tables are technically artificial But they are also natural to a 

 considerable extent, at least so far as the divisions and sections which they make 

 are in accordance with the natural method. "We subjoin a few examples of the analy- 

 sis of particular species by the aid of these tables. If the exercise be conducted in. 

 the class-room, the successive steps in the process (indicated by the numbers, 1, 2, 

 3, &a, below) may be assigned, ia order, to each pupil in the class. 



