274 \ THE JOURNAL OF BOTANY 
Ranunculaceae, he replied that he had none: he remarked, how 
ever, that the members of the family were mse distributed 
throughout Europe, that they were fairly common plants, and 
eing “generally known and recognized by nbneacientific people, it 
Botany exemplifies in a marked manner the hidebound conser- 
vatism of insular inode igs and the cnwilingnes to break aw ay 
from the illusory traditions of the past 
 Raidarad have been reasonably justified i me their restoration 
of ooitiita generic names in accordance wi und principles of 
none One can only wonder at the slipshod methods of 
compilers in neglecting such methods hitherto. They have amended 
the short list British species placed Alsine, in accordance 
may" the ougeeraaare of Mr. W. P. Hiern in this Journal for 1899, 
pp. 317-822. Much ink has been spilt in in ache the respective 
Ditsb ba ebogitish of Spergularia, Lepigonum, Buda, Tissa, Corion, 
Delia, Alsinelia, and other generic synonyms; also of Cherleria, 
yecmtion and Honkenya. Dr. N. L. Britton and the school of 
can botanists who follow him apply the generic name o 
Alsine (with some plausibility) to the plants which Europe 
botanists have always included in Stellaria. Wahlenberg failed to 
others. Alsine opera as a pomemi binominal, dates from very 
early times, and was the name given to the common Huropean 
plant now known as "Stellavia media Vill. by Clusius in 1560, in _ 
French version of Dodoens. Alsine salina Groves is a new com 
nation (= er marina Dumort, of Lond. Cat. ed. ix.) in lieu of 
A, media Crantz, adopted in a restricted sense by Mr. Hiern. An 
interesting nonrtaned: also is Capnotdes Tournef., sunk in umaria 
by Linneus, but always kept separate by Miller, even in the first 
edition of his Dictionary (1781), and maintained in all succeeding 
editions ; this precludes discussion of the respective claims of Cory- 
dalis Cand. an | Neckeria Scop. It is curious to note that the mis- 
print of ‘‘ Knapwell’’ for Knawel as the English equivalent of 
peat which = os in the fifth and all subsequent editions of 
Manu In some instances the ordinary 
