1899] CURRENT LITERATURE 223 
genera containing 74 named species, as against its abandonment for 23 genera 
containing 7310 species. This principle was applied in the manuscript of 
the Torrey Check List and sanctioned at the Madison meeting of 1893, five 
days before the Madison Botanical Congress. But in the Check List, as after- 
wards printed, this wrong principle was mostly eluded by separating in the 
Appendix, Blitum from Chenopodium, Sarothra from Hypericum, as also 
formerly Dalibarda from Rubus, Phaca from Astragalus, etc., to avoid the 
change of the thousands of specific names belonging to these genera. Thus 
the wrong principle was not applied, but resulted in bad taxonomy. 
The principle “once a synonym always a synonym” was recommended 
byme only for future cases in which new names were necessary. If it is 
applied retroactively, however, it is very harmful, as I showed in 1894 in 
“nomenclatur Studien ” (Bull. Boiss. 477-481), and nowin Revisio II". I 
show that with the retroactive use of this principle 447 generic names and 
16,000 specific names of phanerogams are still to be changed ; while only 34 
seneric and 134 specific names were changed until now by this principle. 
Since the harmfulness of the retroactive application is so evident, why not 
‘ankly abandon it ? 
oa 26 begins with the title « Engler’s international breach of faith.” 
fenterprising director of the deceased international commission 
by an 
Manner y the officers of the Berlin Botanic Museum in a very careless 
these rules in Revisio 111% in a masterly way, and rejected the 
