The Parsley Fern. 
59 
the present notice. Later on Linnaeus referred the plant to Ptcris, with which genus 
indeed, although so different in habit, it has several points in common, such as the 
folding over of the margin of the segments of the fertile fronds so as to form a false 
indusium. The common English book-name for the species, “ Rock Brakes,” bears witness 
to the time when the Parsley Fern was placed in the same genus with the common 
Brakes (Pteris aquilina). It is unnecessary to notice any of the other generic synonyms of 
the Parsley Fern with the exception of two — that under which it is described in these 
pages, and another one by which it is at least as often referred to, Allosorus. The 
name Cryptogramma was given by Robert Brown, who defined the genus in 1823, and 
is from the two Greek words, crypto , hidden, and gramme, a line, in reference to the lines of 
the fructification being concealed. Sir W. J. Hooker, pointing out this derivation, considers 
Brown’s spelling to be inaccurate (as no doubt it is), and writes the name Cryptogramme. 
In this he is followed by many botanists ; but this alteration in spelling is hardly in 
accordance with botanical laws of nomenclature, according to which the name under which a 
genus was published must be accepted as the recognised designation of the plant, and 
even the original spelling must be adhered to, unless in very exceptional cases. This rule 
might seem strange to those unacquainted with scientific terminology, and indeed outsiders 
might be excused for considering entirely wasted much of the ink and paper which has been 
devoted to what seems very trifling questions of nomenclature. The question of the right way of 
spelling Cinchona, for example, has given rise to a controversy of considerable extent. This 
name was intended to commemorate the Countess of Chinchon, who was the wife of a viceroy 
of Peru. Having been attacked with fever, a packet of powdered bark was sent to her physician 
by a native of Loxa, who assured him that it would prove efficacious in the treatment of her 
disease. The drug fully bore out its reputation, and the Countess was cured, and upon her 
recovery she caused large quantities of the bark to be collected, which she gave away in the 
form of powder to those sick of fever.* It was probably owing to this that the drug was 
introduced to Spain, and thence spread through Europe. Its employment by the Countess 
took place in 1638 ; it was not until 1742 that Linnaeus founded the genus Cinchona. There 
is no doubt but that in so doing he intended to commemorate the Countess of Chinchon ; and 
it has of late years been strongly urged that the spelling of Cinchona should be altered to 
Chinchona, and some writers on quinine and its sources have gone so far as to adopt this 
form. But the word Cinchona has been so thoroughly established, and so many derivatives 
have originated from it, that the proposed alteration has never been generally adopted, nor is 
it likely to become so. It has been pointed out that Linnaeus also wrote the name Cinhona, 
a form of spelling which, however, may be owing to a blunder of the printer. In spite of 
Shakespeare’s implication to the contrary, there is really a good deal in a name ; and a very 
interesting chapter might be written on the subject of commemorative names alone. In many 
instances, as Linnaeus himself tells us, these titles were bestowed on account of some fancied 
resemblance between the plants to which they were given and the botanists whom they commemo- 
rated : thus, for example, the genus Bauhinia, named after the brothers Caspar and John Bauhin, 
has a two-lobed or twin leaf ; Schenchzeria, a grassy Alpine plant, is so called in order to bring 
to our minds the two Scheuchzers, one of whom had a great knowledge of Alpine plants, and 
the other an extensive acquaintance with grasses. Sometimes such names were not compli- 
mentary — for .instance, Bnjfonia tenuifolia , an insignificant plant, is said to have been so called 
* Any one curious to see how much of interest and history may be associated with so simple a matter as 
the introduction of a drug should consult the account of Cinchona bark, given in “ Pharmacographia,” pp. 304— 309. 
