AUGUST 23, 1901.] 



SCIENCE. 



285 



c's, as has been done in our recent manuals. 

 If, on the other hand, we adhere to the view 

 that a name, to be worthy of acceptance, 

 must be in Latin form, we have no recourse 

 but to abolish ' graminoides,' 'polyclava- 

 tum,' and the other hybrids, relegating 

 them to the same limbo of obscurity with 

 Gansblum, Catjang, Rulac and similar 

 creations. 



After uniformity in recognizing the rights 

 of the doctrine of priority, the most im- 

 portant thing is to secure uniformity in our 

 treatment of the names assured to us 

 through the operation of that principle. 

 It is true here, as in most other affairs, that 

 the fewer exceptions we admit, the greater 

 the practical benefit of the rule. At the 

 present time our writers are serenely pur- 

 suing their individual preferences, correct- 

 ing a name when they deem it advisable to 

 do so, or even making substitutions of one 

 name for another through one of the causes 

 above discussed. It matters little whether 

 we establish a rule of absolute permanency, 

 retaining names in exactly the form in 

 which they were first published, or whether 

 we admit certain fixed exceptions ; but the 

 determination of a case should always be 

 settled by authority and never left to per- 

 sonal caprice. ISTo principle can be main- 

 tained if it is to be followed only at dis- 

 cretion. 



One practical obstacle to any improve- 

 ment of existing conditions is to be found 

 in the tendency of the age itself. In this 

 connection, let me quote a paragraph or 

 two from the article by Professor Greene 

 above referred to : 



"It is easy to trace to its origin this con- 

 dition of scanty mental equipment evinced 

 by a great number of the botanical writers 

 of to-day. Young men of the present are 

 more than ever in haste to be earning wages 

 and getting rich. It is a vulgar spirit 

 which pervades — it is everywhere confessed 

 — all classes of youth, as well as of older 



people. Even they who aspire to what 

 were once known as the learned professions, 

 will hardly allow themselves the expendi- 

 ture of time, not to say money, that. is nec- 

 essary to acquire anything beyond the most 

 elementaryand superficial education. * * * 

 Nature study is captivating, perhaps much 

 more so than grammatical, linguistic and 

 metaphysical studies, to youth in general. 

 There is no doubt of that. Neither need it 

 be called in question that even a single 

 branch of natural history study, long and 

 ardently pursued, must have the effect of 

 training a mind to careful and minute ob- 

 servation, and to reasoning and reflecting, 

 and this is an important part of an edu- 

 cation. But in our time few if any nature 

 students are content with observing and 

 thinking. All must write and print ; and 

 this whether they have or have not learned 

 to write," 



Against this somewhat discouraging state 

 of affairs we are to set the tendency of the 

 present time to recognize law as paramount 

 and personal judgment as an uncertain 

 guide. If botanists of all schools can be 

 brought together in a strong and united 

 effort to improve the literary and etymo- 

 logical side of nomenclature, it will not be 

 difficult to secure agreement upon some 

 sound general principle which will com- 

 mand the respect and win the adherence of 

 every working scientist. There is here a 

 subject upon which conservatives and radi- 

 cals may unite, and a condition of affairs 

 which cries aloud for attention and reform. 

 Charles Louis Pollard. 



U. S. National Museum. 



THE USE OF HYDROCYANIC ACID GAS FOB 

 EXTERMINATING HOUSEHOLD INSECTS. 



With the growth of our population and 

 the consequent crowding together of resi- 

 dences, the problem of the prevention and 

 control of household insects is deserving of 

 careful consideration from a sanitary stand- 



