300 THE ORCHID REVIEW. 
BOTANICAL NAMES. 
THE following might have been written to-day instead of in 1860. 
“J. B. will thank the Editor of the Gardeners’ Chronicle to inform him 
the rule for terminating the botanical names such as Hookeri, Douglassi, 
Darwini, &c. Sometimes they are written with one and sometimes with 
two i’s. The latter appears to be incorrect. Hooker latanised would 
become Hookerus and not Hookerius, and hence the genitive should end in 
i and not in ii. Proper names ending in y might very properly end in ii in 
the genitive, such as Lindleii. [The whole system of names is in so 
confused a state that we can offer no better explanation than that of our 
correspondent. Nobody in these enlightened days will pay any attention 
to rules of construction.) ’’—Gard. Chron., 1860, p. 1062. 
“If J. B. will refer to the report of a Committee appointed by the 
British Association for the Advancement of Science in 1842, to consider of 
the Rules by which the nomenclature of Zoology may be established on 
a uniform and permanent basis, he will find the following :—In Latinising 
proper names, the simplest rule appears to be to use the termination ws, 
genitive 1, when the names end with a consonant ; and ius, genitive 1%, 
when it ends with a vowel. P.G.E. [We only wish those who name 
plants would attend to this very proper and simple rule. But alas !]’’—l.c., 
p- 1081. ; 
“If the rule for Latinising proper names quoted in your last from the 
‘Report of the Committee appointed by the British Association in 1842’ isa 
fair sample of the code therein proposed, we cannot wonder that it is so 
lightly esteemed. It says, use the termination us, genitive 7, when the 
name ends with a consonant; and ius, genitive 77, when it ends with a 
‘vowel. In obedience to this Lindley would make Lindleyii ; Decaisne, 
Decaisneit; Kirke, Kirkeii; Munroe, Munroeii ; &c.; and on the other 
hand Bennett would make Bennetti : Lobb, Lobbi; Potts, Pottst; &c., 
none of which would, we think, be tolerated. The fact is that there is no 
practicable rule for such terminations, and euphony is the only safe guide 
Names are means, not ends, and rules that lead to embarrrassment defeat 
the objects for which a nomenclature is intended. J.D.H.”—l.c., 1105. 
**As I understand the rule for Latinising proper names, the termination 
ius, gen. tt, should be substituted for, and not added to a terminal vowel ; 
thus Decaisne would make Decaisnius, gen. Decaisnii, &c. Terminal y 
should be treated as a consonant and retained, e.g. Lindley, Lindleyus, 
Lindleyi. In proper names ending with a consonant the termination 4s, 
gen. 7, is added; thus Lobb would make Lobbus, gen. Lobbi; Hooker, 
Hookerus, gen. Hookeri ; and to my ear these terminations sound quite 
as harmonious as Lobbii and Hookerii. If euphony is to be ‘the only safe 
