1893.] Botany. . 821 
BOTANY. 
Check-List of New North American Plants. The botanical 
publications of the Department of Agriculture at Washington are 
becoming year by year of more scientific value, and at the same time 
more useful. Botanists have come to look upon the * Contributions 
from the U. S. National Herbarium " as real contributions which they 
are glad to receive, and in which they may feel a just pride. The last 
number (No.7) consists of a “Systematic and Alphabetic Index to New 
Species of North American Phanerogams and Pteridophytes, published 
in 1892,” prepared by Miss Josephine A. Clark. Appearing the mid- 
dle of July, it is refreshingly recent, and makes us hope that under the 
energetic management of Chief Coville this will be the rule with pub- 
lications from his division. 
The list is much like the one published last year (Sept. 20, 1892), 
and as then described, it is based upon the card index of new species 
and new combinations, made primarily for the use of the Botanical 
Division. Its usefulness there, suggested to Dr. Vasey its publication 
for the benefit of botanists throughout the country. 
A marked improvement which we notice with great pleasure is the 
uniform decapitalization of all specific names, and the omission of the 
‘comma before the name of the author. We trust that this will here- 
after be the rule in the National Herbarium. 
CHARLES E. Bessey. 
Shall we Decapitalize Specific Names ?— By the time that 
this is in print, the Botanical Club of the A. A. A.S. will have dis- 
cussed and perhaps decided this question; but we wish here to record 
before this anticipated action, our conviction that it is but a question 
of time when decapitalization will be the rule. It is to be hoped that 
the Club will decide in favor of it now, but if it does not, it will but 
defer the matter a few years. The revulsion against the over-capitali- 
zation of DeCandolle, Gray and Watson may not now be strong enough 
to demand absolute decapitalization ; it may be satisfied with retaining 
the capital initial for genitives of personal names, and possibly for old 
substantives. This would be a great improvement, inasmuch as it 
would require the decapitalization of nearly one-half of the names now 
capitalized in the new edition of Gray's Manual. 
