COMMENTARY. 45 



to thiSj in some largOj very conspicuous, old OrderSj bear- 

 ing names of quite another fornix the difficulty of choosing 

 one genus among many hundreds^ and making it, as it were, 

 the standard of the Order, is a real obstacle. Why should 

 LeguminoscB be called Fahacece rather than Trifoliaceoe or 

 Astragalacece, or by fifty other names ? In thinking of most 

 Orders, one of their genera frequently offers itself alone 

 to the mind; but if we be thinking of Leguminosce, a mul- 

 titude immediately come to memory, not Faha rather than 

 any other. The objection, that some Leguminosce have no 

 legumes, that certain Componitce have isolated flowers, is 

 not a very strong one, when compared to the advantage 

 attached to old and well-known names. Fixity of names is 

 a principle of superior order (Art. .3) . 



26. What is said of our patronymic names may be said 

 equally of the names of genera or of sections. Certainly 

 many names of persons are inconvenient, or even ridiculous, 

 either because they have an adjective form with some par- 

 ticular meaning, or because they are difficult to pronounce, 

 or for some other reason j but when they do exist, why 

 change them ? The aim of Science is not making names. 

 Names are used by her to distinguish things. If a name is 

 sufficiently distinct from others, that is the essential point. 



Generic names are drawn from certain characters, from 

 certain appearances, from localities, from the names of 

 persons, from vulgar names, and even from combinations 

 of letters that are quite arbitrary. All that is required 

 of a name is that it shall lead neither to confusion nor to 

 error. As long as this very general principle was over- 

 looked, the rules laid down had the defect of being accepted 

 • by some and rejected by others. 



It has sometimes happened that very distinct generic 

 names have been made in honour of the same person, or of 

 persons bearing similar names, when those names allowed 

 it, as Pittonia and Tournefortia for Pitton de Toumefort, 

 Brownea and Brunonia for Browne and Brown, etc. We think 

 these names are to be preserved, for they cannot be con- 

 founded in an index ; nor can they be so in conversation. 



