2 
title of Systema Vegetabilium and Systema Plantarum, the Linnaean 
traditions were handed down with additions and annotations by well 
known botanists, so that there is no gap separating the original edition 
from the date of the appearance of the first volume of De Candolle^ s 
Prodromus in 1824. It should also be borne in mind that under the 
careful guardianship of the Linnaean Society of London, the Linnaean 
herbarium is still in existence and accessible to botanists. It is there- 
fore not difficult to see that for a basis of nomenclature of flowering 
plants the Species Plantarum was well chosen. 
If we turn now to the Cryptogams of the Species we find a very 
different state of things. To those who have not examined the Species 
with reference to this point it might seem that the cryptogamists for 
the sake of uniformity might be willing to make some sacrifice. For 
such persons a comparative examination of the phaenogams and 
cryptogams in the Species may be of interest. For this purpose I 
have prepared a table showing the number of genera and species in the 
two groups. The number of genera can be determined without 
difficulty. The counting of the species is less easy since in some cases 
it is not quite certain whether under a given name Linnaeus intended 
to indicate a species properly speaking or merely a form or variety. 
In my enumeration I have included only those forms clearly desig- 
nated as species, omitting subspecific forms. That the enumeration 
here given is conservative is shown by the fact that, while according to 
the Codex Linnaeanus the total number of species in the Species 
Plantarum is 5938, the total of my list is 5247, divided as follows. 
Genera 
Species 
Phaenogams 
1049 
4630 
Cryptogams 
50 
617 
Total 
1099 
5247 
Of the 50 genera and 617 species, 16 genera and 189 species are 
Filices and there are in addition 24 species of the genus Lycopodium 
which was placed by Linnaeus in Musci. Among the Filices are to be 
found numerous characteristic species of America and the tropics and 
in this respect the treatment of the group by Linnaeus is quite com- 
parable with his treatment of phaenogams. For nomenclatorial 
purposes the Filices and Lycopodium are even at the present day 
