Wilder, Neural Tenns. 273 



not be imputed to Harris H. Wilder, professor in Smith Col- 

 lege, Northampton, Mass., whose researches, especially upon 

 lungless salamanders,^ make me proud to claim him as a distant 

 relative. 



§175. The objectionable words are attributed to "Wilder 

 and his colleagues." Not one of the three specified words, or 

 of the " many similar terms," has been sanctioned by either 

 of the four committees, and few of the members thereof have 

 adopted them. For the confusion and possible injustice here 

 occasioned no adequate explanation can be offered. 



§176. The phrase " postcava statt vena cava posterior" 

 would naturally imply that the latter is the name preferred by 

 the German committee. Yet the official list contains (p. 'j'j^ 

 only vena cava inferior} 



§177. So far as appears in the article of Prof. His, post- 

 cava was coined by me. On the contrary, so far as I am aware, 

 it (in the derivative, postcaval') was first introduced by Richar d 

 Owen about the middle of the century, and employed by him 

 consistently thereafter. 



§178. Whether or not the two historic facts just men- 

 tioned^ were known to Prof. His he alone can tell, and the fate 

 of other queries does not encourage an effort to ascertain. 

 Hence I am compelled to offer propositions which each reader 

 must accept, or reject, or explain in accordance with his own 

 information and judgment. 



(i). Postcava, in the form postcaval (^177), occurs fre- 

 quently in the writings of a leading English anatomist. 



(2). Those writings must be known and accessible to Prof. 

 His. Hence there is no excuse for the erroneous intimation in 

 the article. 



1 Anatointscher Anzeiger, IX, Jan. 20, 1894, and XII, 182-192, 1896. 



^ In passing it may be remarked that the retention of superior and inferior 

 as the essential elements of the designations of these great vessels constitutes 

 one of the many evidences of the non-emancipation of the German committee 

 from anthropotomic enslavement; see ^133. 



^ My non-responsibility is certain ; the responsibility of Owen is assumed 

 in the absence of evidence to the contrary. 



