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Sticklers for exactness in expression would lay down 

 very hard and fast rules for the writing of the scientific 

 names of plants, some of which we are not inclined to 

 follow. For instance, we are assured, and certainly 

 this is the way the world in general looks at the matter, 

 that the plural of eqnisetiun is equiseta, although the 

 plural of equisetum when not italicized .may be equise- 

 tums. It seems to us, however, that there may be cir- 

 cumstances that permit the plural of italicised words to 

 be formed by adding the letter s. The theory of forming 

 plurals of scientific words is that a word taken from a 

 foreign language forms its plural as in that language, 

 and this gives sanction to the form equiseta, but are the 

 names of plants to be considered strictly in this category ? 

 We incline to consider such words as Aspidium, Dryop- 

 teris, and Lastrea as mere names, and believe we violate 

 no essential rule when they are written as the names of 

 plants without italicizing. In fact, many scientific pub- 

 lications now print these and similar words in Roman 

 when indicating genera and species, while those which 

 still cling to the italic for the lesser divisions of the plant 

 would write the families in Roman, as for illustration, 

 Polypodiacese and Ranunculacese. If we are to consider 

 these words as mere names when used in botany, we may 

 certainly write them in Roman, but the special advan- 

 tage in using them otherwise, and possibly the principal 

 reason for the italic being retained in scientific publica- 

 tions, is the facility with which the species may then be 



