366 THE ORCHID REVIEW. 
Count Kerchove accépts the latest views that the tribe Cypripediez contains 
four distinct genera, and I am particularly glad to note that he adopts the 
old familiar spelling of Cypripedium and Selenipedium, instead of the new- 
fangled Cypripedilum and Selenipedilum, and, of course, he makes the new 
genera fall into line with the others in respect to this. It is unfortunate 
that the necessary alterations in the nomenclature of the group should be 
complicated by a question of this kind. 
As to this useless tampering with the spelling of familiar names, it is 
interesting to recall some remarks made long ago by Reichenbach. In 
discussing the question whether the spelling of Lindley’s Odontoglossum 
cirrhosum should not be amended to cirrosum, he observed :—* If we indulge 
in changes, we may fall into the hands of an amusing school. I'll give 
an illustration. A young Berlin writer changed Linnzus’ Cypripedium 
into Cypripedilum. Another member of the same school will, no doubt, 
write better—Cypridipedilum. The third will propose, against our rules, 
Kypridipedilum ; and the fourth will object that Kypridipedilon is even 
better. And let me add that it is a bad plan to write Cypripedilum Calceolus, 
L., when Linnzus wrote Cypripedium Calceolus. My opinion is that we 
should keep names as they are given” (Gard. Chron., 1876, vi., p- 452). 
These remarks I alluded to from memory when discussing the question at 
page. 37, and they have proved almost prophetic. 
The rule of keeping names as they were originally given is a good one 
for general purposes, if not carried too far, as it easily may be. For example, 
it should not prevent the correction of an obvious blunder, however it may 
have originated, and it should not prevent uniformity in spelling the same 
word or part of a word. Some of those who write Cypripedium, 
Selenipedium, and Phragmipedium, because that is the original spelling, also 
write Paphiopedilum, and for the same reason, but it is repugnant to 
common sense to have two methods of spelling the same termination. 
Paphiopedilum of Pfitzer, it has been shown, is a mixture of two distinct 
genera with a couple of Catasetums and a Cyrtopodium thrownin. Besides 
which it was primarily said to be based on the plants now referred to 
Phragmipedium (see note at p. 38), though on the same page some of the 
Asiatic species were also referred to it. Some day I suppose some “ purist ”’ 
will prove to his own satisfaction that it was the latter group which should ~ 
have been re-named, and promptly act on the discovery. It will be as well 
to keep an eye on this question in case of further developments. 
I was particularly glad to see the excellent figure of Odontoglossum 
crispum Prince of Wales given at page 377, which amply justifies my 
