Page:Journal of botany, British and foreign, Volume 34 (1896).djvu/191

 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL KOTES. 169 {I. c. 180), the actual date of issue may usually* be ascertained by those who know where to look for it ; but both wrapper and front page are usually falsely dated, and this date is the one which is most likely to be quoted. Here is a list of the numbers for 1895, showing the supposed and actual dates of issue : — apper and front page. Date of issue. January. February. February. n March. March. April. May. June. June. July. July. August. September. September. >> October. October. November. December. December. January, 1896. In the case of the last number, not only are the new species it con- tains likely to be included in any list of novelties for 1895, but it actually forms part of the volume which bears this date on its title- page ! Seeing the difificulties which continually arise in consequence of past irregularities in dating, it is a matter for regret that Kew should set so bad an example in matters of detail. Supposing the species not to be included in an 1895 list, another danger arises. In the course of time, some one — perhaps some transatlantic nomenclaturist, should the craze for innovation and general disturbance then continue — will discover them in their 1896 volume, and, innocent of the reason for their omission from the list, will insist on their dating from the ostensible year of publication. All this confusion might be avoided if one of the most important botanical establishments of the world could succeed in keeping its publications up to date. Those who are responsible for the confusion seem to hold the view that we should do nothing in this direction for posterity, on the unassailable ground that posterity has done nothing for us. Attention was called (Journ. Bot. 1895, 77) to the absence of any date to the parts of the Boletim de Sociedade Brotei'iana. The two parts for 1895 show no improvement ; nowhere is any indi- cation of date to be found, save "1895" on the cover of each. Part i. was received at the Natural History Museum 24th June, 1895; part ii. 18th Jan. 1896; but, as I have said, there is no record in the publication itself. Worse still, the title-page for the volume, bearing the date *' 1895" twice repeated, is issued with the first part; yet it is certain that the volume cannot be completed until some time in the present year. The Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information now gives an excellent 6/95," was not issued until the latter month.
 * Not always: the number headed "June and July, 1895," and dated