April 19, 1895.] 



SCIENCE. 



423 



I am not aware of the distribution of As- 

 trcea and other corals sonth to Paranagua. 

 It is quite possible tliat the Asfriea. like the 

 mollusks above mentioned, was a denizen of 

 warmer water, demonstrating that the tem- 

 perature of the Atlantic Ocean in this region 

 has diminished since the Tertiary epoch. 



Santiago Roth says that marine (Ter- 

 tiary ?) shells also occur at Buenos AjTes 

 at a considerable depth, and at other local- 

 ities in the Pampean beds. The question 

 is a ditheult one, and only in the future may 

 it be possible to fully appreciate such facts 

 as are here put on record. The Argentine 

 geologists have hitherto paid little attention 

 to the study of the fossil mollusks, and for 

 this reason this first contribution of Ame- 

 ghino is encouraging and important. 



H. VON Ihering. 



MusEO Paulista, Sax Paulo, Brazil. 



USE OF THE IXITIAL CAPITAL IN SPECIFIC 

 XAMES OF PLANTS. 



The idea seems to prevail among some 

 naturalists, as may be seen from a recent 

 re^^ew in this journal (p. 162), that the re- 

 tention of the initial capital in certain spe- 

 cific names of plants is a barbarous relic that 

 the botanists themselves cannot honestly de- 

 fend. As a matter of fact, this is very far 

 from the truth, for it is almost universally 

 adopted in botany, and for good and logical 

 reasons. In the latest authoritative enumer- 

 ation of American plants, namely, the Lid 

 of Pteridoplujta and Spermatophijta, there are 

 four classes of specific names that are written 

 with an initial capita,l : (1) Species named 

 in honor of persons; (2) species named 

 from places; (3) names of old genera, tribes 

 or sections used as specific names; (4) 

 substantives used as specific names. 



The fii-st case is based largely on senti- 

 ment. It, to the botanist, does not look 

 well or dignified to write a person's name 

 with a lower ease initial. The name was 

 given as an honor or monument to the per- 



son, and should be maintained as such. 



Not Sedum torreyi, Plantago jmriihii, but S. 

 Torreyi and P. Furshii. 



The second case is, perhaps, least defen- 

 sible of all, yet it seems most natural and 

 logical to give the name of a place as nearly 

 as it is usually written, at least in English 

 speaking countries. Thus, Sambucits Cana- 

 demis and Campanula Americana, rather than 

 S. canadensis or C. americana. 



The third case, namely the capitalization 

 of specific names derived from old genera, 

 tribes or sections, is in the highest degree 

 valuable and condusive to accuracy. As 

 names derived from these sources do not 

 necessarilj- agi-ee in case and number with 

 the generic word, the initial capital calls 

 attention to this, saves much trouble, and 

 reduces the probability of error. Campanula 

 Medium, for example, would half the time be 

 changed into Campanula Media, but for the 

 initial. So also with Convolvulus Sepium, 

 Achillea Millefolium, Delphinium Consolida 

 Vacciniitm 0.rycoccui<. and hundreds of others 

 that could be mentioned. 



The ease with which words of this kind 

 are changed is very well shown by the spell- 

 ing of the name of the rufled-grouse in the 

 Century Dictionary. The correct name is 

 Bonasa Umbellu.< and it is so printed in most 

 places, but under the vocabulary word 

 Bonasa it is B. umbella. This is, of couree, 

 quite a different thing, and simply shows 

 that some unguided proof-reader, observing 

 that the termination «.< did not agree with 

 Bonasa, changed it. 



The fourth case is much the same as the 

 one just considered. Substantives do not 

 necessarily agree with the generic word, 

 and it is a matter of much convenience and 

 information to write them \vith an initial 

 capital, e. g., Ile.r Dahoon, GauUheria Shallon. 

 In this form they stand out in bold relief, 

 Avhile if the lower case was used there would 

 be the constant tendencj' to make them har- 

 monize in termination with the genus word. 



