468 SOME QUESTIONS OF NOMENCLATURE. 



and fixed to a rock (a projecting clod), exposed to frightful dragons 

 (frogs and newts). She bends her sorrowful face (the flower) towards 

 the earth, stretches up her innocent arms (the branches) toward heaven, 

 worthy of a better place and happier fate, until the welcome Perseus 

 (summer), after conquering the monster, draws her out of the water 

 and renders her a fruitful mother, when she raises her head (the fruit) 

 erect. 



The relation of the old myth to the plant may be farfetched, and no 

 other would ever be likely to notice the analogy without suggestion ; 

 but at least the conceit is harmless, if not agreeable. 



The analogy that gave rise to this fanciful description, contained in 

 the "Flora Lapponica," suggested itself to Linnaeus on his Lapland 

 journey: 



The Chamredaphne of Buxbaum was at this time in its highest beauty, 

 decorating the marshy grounds in a most agreeable manner. The flow- 

 ers are quite blood red before they expand, but when full grown the 

 corolla is of flesh color. Scarcely any painter's art can so happily imitate 

 the beauty of a fine female complexion; still less could any artificial 

 color upon the face itself bear comparison with this lovely blossom. As 

 I contemplated it, I could not help thinking of Andromeda as described 

 by the poets ; and the more I meditated upon their descriptions, the more 

 applicable they seemed to the little plant before me; so that, if these 

 writers had had it in view, they could scarcely have contrived a more 

 apposite fable. Andromeda is represented by them as a virgin of most 

 exquisite and unrivalled charms ; but these charms remain in perfection 

 only so long as she retains her virgin purity, which is also applicable to 

 the plant, now preparing to celebrate its nuptials. This plant is always 

 fixed on some little turfy hillock in the midst of the swanips, as Andro- 

 meda herself was chained to a rock in the sea, which bathed her feet, as 

 the fresh water does the roots of the plant. Dragons and venomous 

 serpents surrounded her, as toads and other reptiles frequent the abode 

 of her vegetable prototype, and, when they pair in the spring, throw 

 mud and water over its leaves and branches. As the distressed virgin 

 cast down her blushing face through excessive affliction, so does the 

 rosy-colored flower hang its head, growing paler and paler till it withers 

 away. Hence, as this plant forms anew genus, C have chosen for it the 

 name of Andromeda. 



DOUBLE NAMES. 



It was long the custom when a specific name was taken for a genus 

 to substitute a new specific for the one so diverted. There was some 

 reason for this, for sometimes the specific name covered several forms, 

 or at least was equally applicable to several; of late, however, the 

 acceptance of both the generic and specific names — that is, the duplica- 

 tion of a name — has been quite general, and various precedents have 

 been adduced in favor of the procedure. " In the solemn anthem musi- 

 cians have been known to favor such repetitions, the orator uses them, 

 in poetry they occur without offense, and even our English aristocracy 

 sometimes bears them as an added grace." 1 It is also a frequent cus- 

 tom in many barbarous and half- civilized races, as well as the young of 



Stabbing in Nat. Science, viii, 255. 



