44 SYSTEMATIC POMOLOGY. 



viduals and places. Such names should be given the original 

 pronunciation. This is common usage in other sciences and is 

 in accord with the commemorative object of the name. . Foreign 

 names should retain their foreign pronunciation so far as 

 euphony will permit. 



Peioeitt. — ^N^either of the two sets of rules given above pay 

 sufficient attention to priority. One of the fundamental prin- 

 ciples of any system of nomenclature is priority of publication, 

 inasmuch as the chief object of .rules is to restore and retain 

 old and true names. The adoption of a most rigid rule as to 

 priority is the only practicable way of securing a current and 

 stable nomenclature. 



The rule governing priority ought to set a date to fix the 

 limits within which priority shall be reckoned. In botanical 

 nomenclature such a date is set and is 1753, the year of the 

 publication of Linnaeus' "Species Plantarum." A good date 

 for pomological literature would be 1845 which marks the 

 advent of our greatest pomological work, Downing's "Fruits and. 

 Fruit Trees of America." 



PuBLicATioiir. — The Cornell Code covers the ground of pub- 

 lication very well. It would seem desirable, however, that a little 

 more latitude be given in defining publication. Distribution by- 

 sale or otherwise among plant growers or improvers ought to be 

 tantamount to publication if specimens be accompanied by auto- 

 graph letters, inasmuch as such distribution is constantly being 

 carried on, especially by plant improvers, before publication as 

 it is defined in the Cornell Code. 



It is understood, and possibly the rule should so state, that a 

 printed description without a name no more constitutes publi- 

 cation than does a printed name without a description. 



