280 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XIV. No. 347. 



tributed membersbip, its strong bold on the 

 sympathies of scientific men, the high ap- 

 preciation in which it is held throughout 

 the country, and the appropriate constitu- 

 tion of its Council, all point to the Ameri- 

 can Association for the Advancement of 

 Science as a suitable nucleus for a Senate 

 of Science — whenever the time arrives for 

 establishing such an organization. 



An obstacle in the way of instituting an 

 American scientific body of general char- 

 acter may be noted : Our country is one of 

 magnificent distances, so that the cost of 

 attending meetings or sessions is necessarily 

 large ; and equitable representation in a 

 general body would seem to require pro- 

 vision for meeting costs of travel incurred 

 by delegates. Doubtless this could be ef- 

 fected through 2^i^o rata assessment on the 

 constituent associations, if the central or- 

 ganization were once well under way ; and 

 it is possible that the burden might be 

 measurably diminished by migratory meet- 

 ings, after the fashion of the associations 

 for the advancement of science in difl'erent 

 countries. The difficulty might perhaps be 

 overcome by securing a foundation through 

 donation, bequest, or otherwise ; certainly 

 it is not insuperable in these days of un- 

 precedented scientific prestige, and of rapid 

 increase in material prosperity through the 

 applications of science. 



Summarily, it would seem appropriate 

 for American scientists to draw inspiration 

 and suggestion from American statecz-aft 

 as to organization ; it would seem timely to 

 start a movement toward the more compre- 

 hensive organization of American science 

 in connection with the first great assemblage 

 of scientific men in the western half of the 

 country ; and it would seem especially fit- 

 ting to initiate the movement at the ap- 

 proaching meeting in Denver of that organ- 

 ization which would most properly serve as 

 a nucleus for an American Senate of Science. 



W J M. 



SOME STRANGE PRACTICES IN PLANT 

 NAIIING. 



In a recent issue of the Bulletin of the 

 Catholic University of Washington, the dis- 

 tinguished professor of botanj^ in that insti- 

 tution, Dr. Edward L. Greene, presents 

 what he announces to be the first of a series 

 of papers entitled ' Some Literary Aspects 

 of American Botany. ' It should be a source 

 of gratification to the whole scientific fra- 

 ternity that public attention has been thus 

 called to the philological abuses so prevalent 

 among the latter-day writers. This first 

 paper contains a trenchant and forcible 

 criticism of the titles applied to many recent 

 botanical serials ; and the author's com- 

 mentary on such examples as ' Contribu- 

 tions to the Myxogasters of Maine,' and 

 ' Contributions from the Herbarium of 

 Franklin and Marshall College ' is scarcely 

 less instructive than entertaining. 



It is a significant fact that this article by 

 Professor Greene has already elicited a 

 paper on a kindred topic, written by Dr. 

 P. A, Pydbergand published in Torreya for 

 June. As the latter author confines him- 

 self, however, to a discussion of personal 

 specific names and their mode of construc- 

 tion, I may be permitted to offer a brief 

 commentary on the subject of plant names 

 in general, frorn both the orthographical 

 and etj^mological standpoint. 



It has always been a widely accepted 

 principle of scientific nomenclature that a 

 specific once published cannot be subse- 

 quently altered in form except upon ' reason- 

 able grounds ' ; but there has been, and still 

 continues to be, a wide divergence of opinion 

 as to what constitutes reasonable grounds 

 for such alteration. The author of the 

 name has usually been allowed more lati- 

 tude in this respect than other writers ; and 

 in past botanical literature there are con- 

 sequently many changes in orthography, 

 corrections of typographical errors, etc., 

 made either by the author himself, or more 



