President's Address. 287 



was in all cases to quote the author of the combination only, 

 whether he was the original describer of the species or not, 

 and this method is still used by many naturalists, including, 

 I understand, all botanists. But the plan adopted by the 

 British Association committee was in all cases to quote only 

 the name of the author of the species ; where, however, the 

 species had been removed to another genus, to add the letters 

 "sp."to show that his responsibility stopped with the species. 

 The reasons given are — 1st, that to quote the then authority 

 for the new combination alone is to rob the author of the 

 species of his due credit ; 2d, that '^ by giving the authority 

 for the specific name in preference to all others, the inquirer 

 is referred directly to the original description, and is at the 

 same time reminded of the date of its discovery, habitat, etc., 

 of the species, while genera being less numerous than species, 

 may be carried in the memory or referred to in systematic 

 works, without the necessity of perpetually quoting their 

 authorities." Professor Alexander Agassiz, in his intro- 

 ductory remarks to the Eevision of the Echini, takes exception 

 to the " credit " view of the case, and says that the author of 

 the combination is quoted simply to show that in his works 

 the placing of the species under the genus will be found, and 

 that in the table of synonyms, which he will probably give, 

 the reference to the original description will be found. And 

 our friends the botanists declare that to call a plant Semcle 

 androgyna, Linnaeus, is an untruth, because that was not the 

 name given to it by Linnseus, who on the contrary called 

 it Ruscus androgynus. 



I must agree with Professor A. Agassiz so far that the 

 question of " credit " should not be entertained, and I con- 

 sider that its introduction by the Committee of the British 

 Association was a mistake. Though it may be very right 

 that an author should get due credit for what he has done 

 for science, yet the quotation of the authority for a name is 

 not a matter of credit, but of precision and convenience. 

 Nevertheless, I must emphatically take the side of the 

 Committee in the plan which they proposed, and which 

 has met with approval from a large body of naturalists, 

 especially in Great Britain. 



