50 LAWS OF NOMENCLATURE. 



There are, however, already such unlucky names as Rhodo- 

 dendron papilionaceum, Gamiellia planipetala, etc., that seem 

 as if they belonged to species, and that will insinuate them- 

 selves into botanical works. What they represent would 

 be vainly sought either in nature or in herbaria. These 

 garden products are factitious j let them be treated as such, 

 and do not let us be exposed any more to confound plants 

 of this kind with those that are spontaneous. Moreover, 

 after a few years fashion changes. No one then cares any- 

 thing about these innumerable horticultural creations that 

 have been the delight of amateurs. Where are the tw;o or 

 three thousand Dahlias of this or that catalogue issued thirty 

 years since ? Most of them no longer exist ; their names 

 are forgotten. It is fortunate that the greater number 

 were named after some celebrated General or lady, rather than 

 by a Latin name that would have been preserved in books. 



43. Communications made in pubUo meetings, until they 

 have been followed by the publication of a report, may be 

 but imperfectly remembered. Commonly, the author is at 

 .liberty to make alterations in his manuscript before it is 

 printed, or in the proofs. If the communication has been a 

 verbal one, it may be modified when the author prepares 

 it for the press. Persons with good memories, or who have 

 taken notes, may find fault ; the first publicity may conse- 

 quently be accounted insufficient for conferring rights. 

 Labels in public collections or in gardens may be transposed 

 or removed at any moment. In all these cases the fact of 

 publication is not sufficiently undeniable.' 



45, 46. A specific name without that of the genus, a com- 

 bination of a generic and a specific name without any kind 

 of explanatory matter, are tantamount to nothing. They 

 are words without meaning. They acquire value only from 

 the day that some one gives them meaning by completing 

 them. It may, perhaps, be said that some specific phrases 

 are so short, so badly made out, that they are almost void 

 of sense ; that, in consequence, all such inaomplete publica- 

 tions ought to be looked upon as nuU; else, if it was 

 ' See Bentham, Address to tke Linn. Soc. 1867. 



