I40 BIOLOGICAL LECTURES. 



has now become so general ^ that the matter would hardly need 

 discussion but for the reactionary attitude of the German com- 

 mittee. Yet this attitude is really not maintained consistently. 

 Cornea is a feminine adjective; so is sclera. In aracJinoidea 

 £ncepJiali the feminine adjective is used as a noun. Miiscidaris 

 mucosae and tela s?ibmHcosa are warrants for mucosa, etc. 

 Finally, although the useless noun is retained in dura mater 

 spinalis and filum durae matris spinalis, the very next terms in 

 their list, cavuin epidurale and cavum subdurale, are indirect 

 and probably unintended, yet none the less complete, precedents 

 for dura pure and simple, and for the substantive employment 

 of any and all feminine adjectives whatsoever. 



Epiphysis vs. corpus pineale. — His regards epiphysis as a 

 " generelles Wort " ('95, 163), and the ancient dionym is 

 adopted by the German committee.^ My own earlier prefer- 

 ence was for conarium, as already stated (p. 124). I now realize 

 the desirability of the verbal as well as the topographic corre- 

 lation with hypophysis doad paraphysis, and the inutility of main- 

 taining in all cases the rigid doctrine of 1871. 



FissuRA Centralis vs. sulcus centralis (or fissura or sulcus 

 Rolando). — By comparison of the three columns it will be seen 

 that two distinct points are concerned, involving respectively 

 the generic and the specific names of this feature of the lateral 

 aspect of the cerebrum. If eponyms or personal names are to 

 be abandoned, as decided by the German committee and as 

 advocated by me since 1880,^ then all the derivatives of 

 Rolando must be discarded in favor of centralis and its deriva- 

 tives. Those who prefer the eponym should show that Rolando's 

 figure and description really merit such commemoration, and 

 should be also at least consistent in the employment of deriva- 

 tives. Paracentralis, praeccntralis, and postcentralis have no 

 other justification than topographic reference to centralis ; yet 



1 In Foster's Medical Dictionary, dura and/M, dural and/zV?/, are major head- 

 ings, dura mater and pia fnater being merely synonyms. 



2 In Science, July 17, 1896, p. 71, the date i8g^ after epiphysis would 

 indicate its adoption by the Germans. That was an error for which I must 

 be held responsible, and which was corrected as soon as possible after it was 

 noted. 



^ With the exception qI fissura Sylvii and certain derivatives of sylviana. 



