Editorial. 523 



in the developmeat of a more uniform nomenclature. Much 

 remains for future revisions, even in the case of the parts enumer- 

 ated in these tables, to say nothing of future additions to the list. 

 Already a few minor changes have been widely adopted, such as 

 the substitution of dorsal and ventral for posterior and anterior. 



The naming of encephalic nuclei and fiber tracts opens new prob- 

 lems in nomenclature, which are assuming large proportions. The 

 tracts should without doubt be named from their termini, the 

 nucleus of origin preceding the terminal nucleus, much as muscles 

 are named; but to make this plan practicable we must have 

 shorter names for many cerebral structures. Thus by common 

 consent the word bulb has supplanted rhombencephalon and 

 medula oblongata as a component of names of fiber tracts con- 

 nected with this part of the brain. 



The most distinctive feature of the BNA neurological terms is the 

 consistentwayinwhichtheyhave been built up on the embryological 

 foundation laid by the researches of Professor His upon the devel- 

 opment of the human brain. While this is an element of great 

 strength, it is also an element of weakness, even from the stand- 

 point of human neurology. For the natural subdivision of the 

 human brain must be based quite as much on phylogeny as upon 

 its ontogenetic development. And when the application of the 

 terms chosen by Professor His to the lower vertebrates is attempted 

 the system breaks down in many parts. The path of the compara- 

 tive neurologist is peculiarly difficult and it is hoped that at the 

 next revision of the Basle terms the neurological list may be very 

 carefully worked over with this standpoint in mind. 



