526 
PHYTOGKAPHY. 
BOOK IV. 
CHAPTER III. 
OF PUNCTUATION. 
As the principle of composing and punctuating generic and 
specific characters and descriptions, when written in Latin, 
differs from that employed in ordinary composition, a few rules 
upon the subject may with propriety be introduced here. 
In the characters of classes^ orders, or genera, the nominative 
case is employed, the ablative being only occasionally intro- 
duced: each adjective is separated by a comma; and the 
different members of a character by a semicolon, or a period; 
as : “ Perianthium deciduum. Ovarium liberum, sessile, mo- 
nospermum, ovulo erecto. Stylus brevissimus. Stigma sublo- 
batum. Semen nucamentaceum, arillo multipartite. Albumen 
ruminatum, sebaceo-carnosum.” 
Or,— 
“ Perianthium deciduum. Ovarium liberum, sessile, mo- 
nospermum, ovulo erecto ; stylus brevissimus ; stigma subloba- 
tum. Semen nucamentaceum, arillo multipartite; albumen 
ruminatum, sebaceo-carnosum.” 
The latter is the better of the two, because the semicolons 
show that the parts connected by them all form portions of 
the same organ ; while, if the period is exclusively used, it 
would appear as if the parts divided by it were all so many 
distinct organs. 
In specific characters, it is customary to employ the ablative 
case ; not to separate the adjectives that belong to the same 
noun by any point; to use commas to divide the members of 
the sentence; to employ the colon to indicate when a new 
sentence forms a part of that which precedes ; and to exclude 
the semicolon altogether, or to employ it to separate adjec- 
tives in the nominative case, when such are introduced, as is 
sometimes the case, from the ablative part of the character. 
Thus we write, — 
