A Word for Books 
deed, is the only one the plant has ever 
borne ; that sometimes there is another which 
is common in the sense of being English, but 
not in the sense of being more familiar even 
to non-scientific ears; that sometimes the 
botanical and the vernacular names differ 
only through the change of a letter or two, 
as with orchid, heliotrope, lily, and gentian ; 
that sometimes, of course, the vernacular 
name is so well known and sufficient that 
even a botanist does not use the other in con- 
versation or ordinary writing ; and finally, 
that the specific botanical name need not 
always be tacked to the generic — even a 
botanist does not say claytonia virginica 
when claytonia would do as well, or refuse 
to speak of a houstonia without adding the 
coerulea. 
Then, would it not have been better to 
explain why botanical names have sometimes 
been duplicated than simply to jeer at the 
fact ? Does not the fact that so many of 
them refer to Carolina, Virginia, and Canada 
seem interesting instead of ludicrous if one 
understands that they were bestowed at a 
time when European botanists knew little 
3 2 9 
