414 Transactions. 



Yet, again, the spirit of compromise is an alien in the world of science. 

 If we adopt a policy of laissez-faire and allow something to develop some- 

 how in the usual British manner of " muddle through and hope for the 

 best," then the ultimate result will have been partly at least determined 

 by unguided and unenlightened forces working more or less blindly (and 

 in this case deafly), and it will be an unscientific, inconsistent, and unsatis- 

 factory result, encouraging yet more inconsistency, and individual, capri- 

 cious variation ; it will be unstable, illogical, and absurd, and may yet 

 have, wc suppose, the sole merit of " pronouncability." 



Conclusions. 



1. In spite of the difficulties and apparently insuperable barriers with 

 which the practical carrying-out of such a scheme is beset, it is advisable 

 that an attempt be made to establish in New Zealand a uniform mode of 

 pronouncing all scientific terms of Latin and Greek origin upon the basis 

 of such a modern or reformed j^ronunciation as is used in the schools. 



2. It is advisable that a committee of the New Zealand Institute be 

 set up to go into the details and draw up a logical, uniform, soientific 

 system of ]n'onunciation of scientific terms ; that the scheme when com- 

 plete should be adopted by the Institute ; and that every possible effort 

 should be made to introduce and explain it in all the University colleges 

 and all institutions where science (even elementary science) is taught, with 

 a view to establishing such uniformity as may prove possible. 



3. In order to give practical effect to this idea it would be necessary 

 to draw up a fairly complete glossary of scientific terminology, and to 

 assign to each word a definite phonetic form indicating the sound of each 

 vowel and the incidence of the stress or stresses. 



4. It is essential that all students intending to specialize in science 

 sliould learn Latin ; that in the teaching of Latin in the schools the pro- 

 nunciation should be made as uniform as possible ; and that the pupil 

 should be taught to accentuate the svllables of Latin words in as level a 

 manner as possible, and to break himself of the English habit of " prefer- 

 ential accentuation " (if such a term may be used). This is counsel of 

 perfection, and the writer of this paper knows only too well by long and 

 bitter experience how hard it is to induce British boys and girls to modify 

 in the least degree an}^ of those profoundly seated speech-instincts which 

 are a part of their heritage. 



5. Even though such an attempt be foredoomed to failure, and even 

 thougli ultimately a compromise only can be attained (and this is much 

 to be feared), yet the attempt will undoubtedly have some effect for good 

 if only by giving such an advantage to the enlightened and organized 

 forces in the battle as may tend to make the inevitable compromise a better 

 thing — a thing nearer to the " scientific " than to the " popiilar " result. 

 It is to be hoped also that an attempt of this kind may tend to hasten 

 the arrival of the desirable end — i.e., uniformity of practice — even if that 

 practice be based upon no sound or logical theory. If any such effect 

 should hereby be produced this paper will not have been written in vain. 



