The Philippine Journal op Science, C. Botany. 
Vol. XII, No. 2, March, 1917. 
THE DATES OF PUBLICATION OF THE THIRD EDITION OF 
BLANCO’S “FLORA DE FILIPINAS” 
By E. D. Merrill ‘ 
{From the Botanical Section of the Biological Laboratory, Bureau of 
Science, Manila, P. I.) 
The third edition of Blanco’s “Flora de Filipinas” was pre- 
pared by Father Celestino Fernandez-Villar and Father Andres 
Naves, of the Augustinian Order, more than thirty years after 
Blanco’s death. It was printed in Manila during the years 1877 
to 1883, under the general editorship of Domingo Vidal y Soler, 
who supervised the printing of the first two volumes ; the remain- 
ing volumes were printed after he had left Manila, and his place 
was apparently taken by his brother, Sebastian Vidal y Soler. 
The first three volumes of this edition consist only of a reprint 
of the second edition of Blanco’s work, with the addition of a 
Latin translation of the same. No new matter was added, so 
that the exact date of publication of these volumes is of little 
special value. Volume IV, however, contains the “Novissima 
Appendix’’ by Villar and Naves, the title page giving the date 
of publication as 1880, while on page 373, the printer’s date for 
the last fascicle is given as June 15, 1883. As this is really 
the most important part of the third edition, and contains a 
number of new combinations, as well as the descriptions of some 
new species, the actual date of publication of the various parts 
is of considerable importance. In some cases the same name 
transfers were made by other botanists in the intervening three 
years, and it has previously been difficult or impossible definitely 
to determine which author should be credited with the transfer 
according to the rules of priority. 
The work was issued in fascicles, and I have previously made 
several attempts to ascertain the dates of publication of the vari- 
ous parts, especially of the “Novissima Appendix,” but without 
success. Even Father Fernandez-Villar was unable to give me 
any definite information as to this portion of the work, other 
than that a number of parts were issued in 1880, and that there 
was considerable delay in printing the remaining ones. Fortu- 
‘ Professor of botany. University of the Philippines. 
113 
