116 
THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 
Acid from Wood Sorrel.— In the old world it is 
said that large quantities of the wood sorrel {Rutnex 
Acetosdla) are used for the extraction of oxalic acid. 
This acid is a deadly poison but does not occur in the 
plant in quantity suiBcient to be harmful. The same acid 
is found in the succulent rhubarb {Rheum Rhaponticum.) 
Changes In Plant Names.— Let us take a few of the 
commonest examples of this juggling with names of plants. 
We allknow the genus Inoa. This was a name given by 
the South American T 
of this genus have v 
Inga, and evtn C' 
Pithecolobium. Oui 
plant as Inga burr 
they knew as Inga i. 
nothing against it. . 
rary botanists wcrt 
along another bot^n: 
called after its nat 
straightway he c< i - 
ape, and lohos, the ! 
the natives of Souiv 
therefore it cannot i;; 
been well to have let ti 
common name. When Li is: 
CrpHpedium upon thegenus <.t 
(from Cypris, one of Venus n'.r 
It was a pretty an^i very apj>r 
systematic botanist comes ai 
as a senseless change and sha . . \: . :< i 
name. We could go on multiplying mstances ad nausQam 
meaning. —Indian Planting. 
