588 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. I. No. 21. 



are urging the adoption of these ulti-a rules. 

 The best sj'stematic botanists of the world 

 are opposed to them, and there is such a 

 widespread and determined opposition to 

 them in the botanical fratei-nity generally, 

 both in this country and in Europe, that 

 the movement is certain to amount only to 

 a lamentable schism. It has been claimed 

 that nine-tenths of our American botanists 

 are in favor of these rules, but such state- 

 ments are Avide of the mark. Some of these 

 rules are in conflict with the Paris Code, 

 and others claim to be a strict interpretation 

 of it; but de Candolle himself, the author of 

 this code, considered such interpretations of 

 it as ' abuses,' and urged that the Paris 

 Code of 1867 be so amended as to prevent 

 the swamping of our nomenclature by ultra 

 theorists. 



One fact lost sight of by the movers of 

 this new American system, for it has no 

 following in Europe, is that science is an 

 international affair, that the bulk of the 

 botanical work of the world is done outside 

 of the United States, and that even if we 

 were all agreed on this side of the water, 

 which is far from true, it would still be 

 necessary to gain consent of botanists else- 

 where before giving to these rules any more 

 weight than mere suggestions. It -will be 

 time enough for American botanists to put 

 them into practice when they have received 

 the sanction of an International Botanical 

 Congress. Another very strong objection 

 to making radical changes in our botanical 

 nomenclature is the extent to which botan- 

 ical names are used in agriculture, forestry, 

 horticulture, floriculture, pharmacy and 

 medicine. There is nothing comparable to 

 it in zoology. Only intolerable confusion 

 can result from calling a plant by one name 

 in botany and by another in horticulture or 

 pharmacy, and it is surprising that the force 

 of this argument was not perceived long ago. 

 Finally, the Botanical Club x-ules do not 

 have the sanction of the A. A. A. S., as 



might be inferred from some statements 

 which have been made, and the organization 

 of the Club is so loose as to be a fatal ob- 

 jection to regarding its doings or recommen- 

 dations as in any sense binding on Ameri- 

 can botanists, when these are opposed bj- 

 counter-recommendations proceeding from 

 the most famous botanists in the world. 

 F. A. Lucas, Secretary. 



BOSTON SOCIETY OF NATURAL HISTORY, 

 MAY 15. 



Notes on the Dissection of a Chimpanzee, with 

 Especial Reference to the Brain: Prof. 

 Thomas Dwight. 

 The Conditions of Escape of Gases from the In- 

 terior of the Earth: Prof. N. S. Shaler. 

 Samuel Henshaw, 



Secretary. 



THE MINNESOTA ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCI- 

 ENCES, MINNEAPOLIS, MAY 7. 



I. An Observation on Ants : O. W. Oestlund.^ 



II. Remarks on Some Birds New to Minne- 

 sota : De. Thos. S. Roberts. 



III. An Amine Compound of Gold : H. B. 



HOVLAND. 



IV. The Chemical Characters of the Minnesota 

 Sandstones: Chas. P. Berkey. 



V. Miscellaneous Business. 



C. W. Hall, Secretary. 



NEW BOOKS. 

 Zur Psychologic des Schreibens. W. Preyer. 



Hamburg and Leipzig, Leopold Voss. 



1895. Pp. 230. M. 8. 

 The Female Offender. CiESAE Lombroso and 



William Fereeeo. New York, D. Ap- 



pleton&Co. 1895. Pp. xx + 31.3. $1.60. 

 Story of the Innumerable Company. David 



Starr Jordan. Stanford Univ. Press. 



1895. Pp. 38. 

 Short Studies in Nature Knoidedge. William 



Gee. London and New York, Macmillan 



& Co. 1895. Pp. xiv + 313. $1.10 



