112 Journal of Comparative Neurology. 



in the appropriate department. It is felt that the purposes of 

 this publication will be served best by issuing the matter as 

 promptly as possible after its receipt and, accordingly, the pub- 

 lisher will not feel limited to the strictly quarterly form but will 

 issue fascicles at such times as may seem best in the interests of 

 all concerned. 



REPORT ON NEURONYMY BY THE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN 

 ANATOMISTS. 



It is much to be regretted that the results of the various 

 attempts to secure harmonious and consistent usage in the terms 

 employed in anatomy and especially neurology have resulted in 

 emphasizing personal differences and producing very unscientific 

 bitterness. It does not increase the attractiveness of a field whose 

 inherent difficulties are only too obvious to discover that its lan- 

 guage is broken up into dialects the use of any one of which 

 brands one at once with some " eponymic " adjective of re- 

 proach. These remarks are suggested by the appearance of an 

 elaborate report from the Association of American Anatomists 

 accompanied by a caustic minority report involving personal 

 criminations and complaints. The results of the questionaire 

 recently reported in this Journal are such as to indicate that 

 the system of Professor Wilder is not " repulsive generally to 

 educated men " and such a statement in the organ of a society 

 of national importance betrays an amount of heat without light 

 not calculated, to say the least, to avert the danger that Amer- 

 ican anatomy should fall into "disgrace." It may be expected 

 that the result of the discussion will be to cause many bewild- 

 ered writers to adopt in toto the only consistent and complete 

 system at present at command while others will react against 

 every idea of reform and thus the breach may become impassi- 

 ble, and for this result we shall have thank the committee of the 

 Association of American Anatomists. For ourselves, we can 

 only advise patience and a careful weighing of the claims of 

 each term apart from any question of source and associations, 

 with reference solely to the interests of our science. Too many 

 problems of first class importance are pressing for solution to 

 permit the student to fritter away time in nomenclature discus- 

 sions. C. L. HERRICK. 



