INTRODUCTION 25 



It might also be questioned whether it is fair 

 to burden any plant with such a discordant name 

 a.s Eschsckoltzia (Chamisso)." 



Linnaeus complains " that " Botanists seem (to 

 me) never to have touched upon nomenclature 



as a study Nothing is more certain than 



that the whole stock of specific names are erro- 

 neous " ; and Professor Pollard " gives some 

 names which fail to be complimentary because 

 misspelt: fVisteria-WistSLT (Nuttall), Leche- 

 naultia "-Leschenault"" (Brown), Scoria for Hi- 

 coria ^ (Rafinesque) . 



" The credit of having reformed the nomen- 

 clature of genera by the exclusion of names made 

 of two distinct words has been given to Linnaeus, 

 but Brunfels " had inaugurated the reform 220 

 years before Linnaeus published his Philosophia 

 Botanic a." '^ 



In early days plants sent from America evoked 

 pretty letters from European botanists asking 

 permission to name a genus after the sender, and 



"Johann F. Eschscholtz, 1793-1831, M. D. and botanist. 

 " Correspondence of Linnaeus, vol. ii, p. 258. 

 '= Of. cit. 



"Lindley {The Vegetable Kingdom) has the correct spelling — 

 Leschenault. (Brown.) 

 " A French botanist and traveller. 

 ^' Barton has Scoria and Hicoria, two plants. 

 "^Otto Brunfels, M. D., in Berne, 1500-1534. 

 ^E. L. Greene. Landmarks of Botanical History, 1909. 



