PRIORITY AND FERN NAMES. 



By Willard N. Clute. 



The subject of botanical nomenclature is one that 

 bids fair to engross the attention of students for a long 

 time to come. The great obstacle to a definite and set- 

 tled list of plants names, is the fact that no two groups 

 of botanists can agree upon the cognomen a given 

 plant should bear. Here in America we have two dis- 

 tinct codes each with a considerable following. The 

 "Vienna Code" is of world-wide adoption and one 

 would naturally expect it to be supported by all botan- 

 ists worthy of the name, but so difficult to suit are 

 scientists of this bent that many have adopted a set of 

 rules which they call the "American Code" and will be 

 guided by no other. It may be said that any code would 

 be good enough if, when once made and accepted, no 

 further changes were made in it, but this never seems 

 possible. The makers of a code seem always desirous 

 of adding a few more touches to their handiwork. 

 Like our political law-makers they are prone to leave 

 some "joker" in their rules which makes it possible to 

 undo the work and do it all over again. 



Among botanists the greatest joker is "priority" but 

 priority has been found to be no joke. In theory it is 

 desirable to begin with the first name given a species 

 and to call the plant by that and nothing else, but un- 

 fortunately there is no way of determining that any 

 given name is first. Many a plant student who is will- 

 ing to call a plant anything so long as the name is set- 

 tled, is calling the nametinkers everything because 

 they will not allow what is settled to remain settled. 

 The Vienna rules adopted the date 1753 as the starting- 

 point, and a certain book of Linnaeus' as the one be- 



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