272 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



THE LANGUAGE OF METEOROLOGY 



By CHARLES FITZHUGH TALMAN, 



U. S. WEATHER BUREAU 



f~N discussing the vocabulary of any branch of science one is embar- 

 -*- rassed by the fact that scientific language in general is a neglected 

 subject. The principles of scientific terminology and nomenclature (on 

 the etymological side) are not, to my knowledge, taught in modern cur- 

 ricula; their formal exposition belongs to the scholarly literature of a 

 past generation; and the writings of our contemporaries bear evidence 

 of the fact that philology does not now enter to so large an extent as 

 formerly into the equipment of the average man of science. 



The student of to-day is, as a rule, left to make his own generaliza- 

 tions on this subject from the transformations in the technical vocab- 

 ulary that happens to come under his observation; and his inductions 

 suffer in proportion as these transformations become less orderly. 

 When he arrives at the creative stage, and is called upon to label his 

 contributions to knowledge, he is apt to still further increase the dis- 

 order of the language; and thus an interaction is going on that would 

 speedily lead to chaos, if it were not checked by powerful though un- 

 recognized laws governing the development of human speech — a per- 

 vasive " Sprachgef iihl " that saves the language from falling into rapid 

 ruin, though it can not protect it from gradual deterioration. 



The fact that the underlying principles of terminology and nomen- 

 clature are not, to say the least, clearly formulated in the minds of most 

 men of science makes it desirable, in discussing a particular group of 

 technical terms or names, to begin far back of one's subject — just as it 

 is desirable for a newspaper writer on Halley's comet to begin by en- 

 lightening the public in regard to the heavenly bodies in general. How- 

 ever, it is not practicable to follow such a plan within the limits of a 

 brief paper. In the present case I shall cut the Gordian knot by simply 

 referring my readers to the two statements of fundamental principles 

 that I have myself found most illuminating — viz., the fourth book of 

 William WhewelPs " Novum Organon Eenovatum " and Dr. Lereboul- 

 let's article " Etymologie " in the " Dictionnaire encyclopedique des 

 sciences medicales " — and proceed at once to a discussion of some 

 salient features of the language of meteorology. 



One curious fact about this language is that a considerable part of 

 it is unknown to meteorologists. Hundreds of useful terms have been 

 introduced to fill the gaps in its vocabulary — some highly felicitous, 

 others at least tolerable — only to sink into speedy oblivion, leaving their 

 places unfilled. Take, for example, the names of the isograms — and 



