1876.] Bartramian Names in Ornithology. 21 
quality, being prepared by the Maoris. In 1870, there was sold 
in the London market four thousand tons of Phormium fibre ; 
this, however, was of an inferior quality, having been imperfectly 
prepared by machines. Its principal use is, at present, in the 
manufacture of ropes, for which purpose it is usually mixed with 
manilla. Numerous chemical means have been resorted to for 
obtaining the fibre, but without satisfactory results. Thus far 
civilized man, with all his array of machines and engines, has 
been unable to do the simple work of cleaning the Phormium 
fibre as well as the tattooed cannibal did with a sea-shell. 
THE AVAILABILITY OF CERTAIN BARTRAMIAN 
NAMES IN ORNITHOLOGY. 
BY J. A. ALLEN. 
a DER the caption “ Fasti Ornithologie Redivivi.—No. I. 
Bartram’s Travel’s,” Dr. Elliott Coues has recently ! attempt- 
ed to revive sundry of Bartram’s names of the birds of the United 
States, on the ground of their priority. Dr. Coues assumes 
that Bartram was “on principle binomial, occasionally laps- 
ing ;” and that “if his occasional slips are to count against him, 
then not a few great modern ornithologists must also be ruled 
out ; among whom may be instanced Schlegel, Bonaparte, Sunde- 
vall, and others, in whose writings are found trinomial names,” 
etc. “ But the count against him [Bartram] for nearly a cent- 
ury,” says Dr. Coues, “is not a true bill; the verdict must be, 
if not reversed, radically modified.” Since a few of Bartram’s 
binomial names have come into current use, whilst others are 
commonly cited in synonymical lists, Dr. Coues claims that if 
Bartram is entitled to anything, he has not received what is 
rightfully his due, and if not entitled to anything we have given 
him tribute to which he has no claim. Dr. Coues adopts the 
former alternative, and on the ground of consistency advocates the 
adoption of all of Bartram’s binomial names that can be identi- 
fied, in cases where they happen to have priority, whether they 
are accompanied by descriptions or not. 
Before accepting fully the results that follow such premises, 
let us examine a little into the nature of Bartram’s work. The 
ornithological matter contained in Bartram’s Travels is not- 
ably of two kinds. In the general narrative he has at sundry 
* Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila., 1875, pp. 338-358, September, 1875. 
