236 



SHORTER NOTES 



Nomenclature. — The constant discussion now in progress 

 concerning nomenclature may add to the interest of the following 

 extract from Dr. George Sumner's leisurely treatment of the sub- 

 ject in his book entitled " A Compendium of Physiological and 

 Systematic Botany" published at Hartford in 1820 : 



" In all ages it has been customary to dedicate certain plants 

 to the honor of distinguished persons. Thus Enplwrbia com- 

 memorates the physician of Juba, a Moorish prince, and Gentiana 

 immortahzes a king of Illyria. The scientific botanists of modern 

 times have adopted the same mode of preserving the memory of 

 benefactors to their science ; and though the honor may have 

 been sometimes extended too far, that is no argument for its total 

 abrogation. Some uncouth names thus unavoidably deform our 

 botanical books ; but this is often effaced by the merit of their 

 owners, and it is allowable to model them into grace as much as 

 possible. 



" Linnaeus has in several instances drawn a fanciful analogy 

 between botanists and their appropriate plants, thus — 



Bauhinia, after the two distinguished brothers, John and 

 Caspar Bauhin, has a two-lobed or twin leaf 



SclimcJizcria, a grassy Alpine plant, commemorates the 

 two Scheuchzers, one of whom excelled in the knowledge 

 of Alpine productions, the other in that of Grasses. 



Dorstenia, with its obsolete flowers, devoid of all beauty, 

 alludes to the antiquated and uncouth book of Dorstenius. 

 Hernandia, an American plant, the most beautiful of all 

 trees in its foliage, but furnished with trifling blossoms, bears 

 the name of a botanist highly favored by fortune, and allowed 

 an ample salary for the purpose of investigating the Natural 

 History of the Western world, but whose labors have not 

 answered the expense. On the contrary 



Magnolia with its noble leaves and flowers, and 

 Dillenia, with its beautiful blossoms and fruit, serve to 

 immortalize two of the most meritorious among botanists. 

 Linnaea, "a depressed, abject, Lapland (and American) 



