1 68 Journal of Comparative Neurology. 



been vain. The diversity is the only thing which stands out 

 prominently. Nevertheless in this country the results of per- 

 sistent agitation and particularly of the uniform recommenda- 

 tions of the several anatomical and medical societies are clearly 

 manifest. The danger of " the formation of a peculiar anatom- 

 ical vocabulary in America," such as seriously to impede scien- 

 tific intercourse with other countries does not, however, seem 

 to be imminent. There is a tendency, often implied and some- 

 times clearly expressed, to return to the simplest English words 

 which can be found adequate to express the meaning. 



On many points, such as the dropping of certain substan- 

 tives, the authorities are so evenly divided that each must form 

 his independent judgment. Such points are not matters of 

 vital importance, as all will admit, and may properly be left, 

 like most other questions of nomenclature for that matter, with 

 the working neurologists, among whom they will in time come 

 to a condition of stable equilibrium. The unification of our 

 nomenclature is to be accomplished, if at all, by a process of 

 survival of the fittest among competing terms at the hands of 

 our working anatomists rather than by legislative enactment. 

 Yet the international discussions now in progress may do much 

 to further this end. 



