Feb. 13 1890] 



NATURE 



343 



■which lengthens its genitive, lengthens its own genitive. It does 

 so in every instance ; e.g. we have KaWidpt^ with genitive 

 KuWirpixos, iiiKpoirTfpv^ with genitive fitKpoirrfpvyos. Hence, 

 in the Lepidoptera, we rightly call the family, of which 

 Micropteryx is the type, the Micropterygidce. 



Osteolepis, though not occurring in Greek writers, is not "of 

 questionable form," but as good a word as <pi\6-iTo\is and 

 ^iKSirarpts ; and just as the latter actually forms a genitive 

 ■<pi\o'7ra,TpiSos, so also oo'Te(^A67rjs would form offTeoKfrnSos, and 

 the family name would be Osteolepididic, Finally, it is to be 

 remembered that the family name is not formed from a 

 ^'possible" generic name, but from an existing one; so that 

 Osliohpus is out of the question, and indeed is only " possible " 

 because there happens to be a word kItcos from which it can be 

 derived. 



I must apologize for troubling you at this length, but my 

 fellow-workers in science are not unfrequently so hazy on the 

 subject of classical nomenclature that there is a need for the 

 setting forth of sound doctrine. E. Meyrick. 



The College, Marlborough, January 25. 



As to the facts of word-formation in Greek, Mr. Meyrick is, 

 as was indeed to be expected, quite right, and might have put 

 the case even more strongly. The short forms, like iroAvtrroytios, 

 are much rarer than those in which the full stem is found, like 

 iroKvffiisixaTos. They are, indeed, unless I mistake, found only 

 with the neuter stems in -or-, as in ^epixa{T-), <TTOfj.a(T-), (Ta)/j.a{T-), 

 i,tfm{r-), airepixair-), and appear to be a speciality of that class 

 of nouns, where they occur beside, but not to the exclusion of, 

 the full normal forms. There is no ground for thinking that a 

 <lerivative form in -lepos could be formed from the noun Xeiris, 

 \firiS-, or a derivative in -ornos from opvis, opvld-. * Osteolepus 

 and its alleged pi. *Osteolepi, may certainly be pronounced im- 

 possible on Greek analogies ; and could not even be grounded on 

 the by-form of the noun, \eiros, stem \eire{a)-, since the adjective 

 from that -os, -es stem, would necessarily end in -Xeirrjs, -Xenes. 

 As, therefore, Osteolepid- is the stem of the noun, the name of 

 the family, on Greek analogies, is necessarily Osteolepid-idce. 



But I do not myself think that it is always necessary to con- 

 form to Greek analogies ; I think that the convenience of English 

 needs is also to be considered. In Ostec/lepis, Osteo'lepi'didce, I 

 think English needs are fairly answered ; but it is not always so ; 

 ^ome formations of the kind are hardly pron)unceable, or when 

 pronounced, through shifting of accent, presence of mute letters, 

 pronunciation of c, sc, as s, and the like, do not in the least 

 suggest their meaning. 



Indeed, I think it very desirable that the Linnean and other 

 learned Societies should esiablish a Committee of Nomenclature, 

 who should consider every new name proposed, and pass or 

 reject it, after taking into consideration not merely etymological 

 correctness of formation, but what I think far more important, 

 -capability of being pronounced, distinctness from other existing 

 names, and fitness for yielding derivatives, if needed. I entirely 

 disagree with the notion that every discoverer of a genus has a 

 right to confer a name upon it which he himself has never con- 

 sidered how to pronounce. I have had occasion repeatedly to 

 ask inventors of such names, how they pronounced them, and 

 have more than once been told that they had never thought of 

 .that, only of getting the Greek form right, and that I, forsooth, 

 must settle the pronunciation ! Such men were, of course, 

 utterly unfit to confer names, however eminent as scientists. 

 Every name that does not lend itself to a distinct and easy pro- 

 nunciation, or which, when pronounced, is undistinguishable 

 from some other word spelt quite differently {e.g. words in 

 coeno-., cccno-, scetio-, seno-, &c.), ought to be rejected. Better 

 invent new words off at the ground, having no etymology, than 

 put together Greek roots in combinations unsuitable for modern 

 mouths and modern ears. Why must modern knowledge be 

 confined within the swaddling-bands of a nomenclature 2000 

 years younger ? J. A. H. Murray. 



Oxford, January 28. 



Compounds of Selenium. 



In your issue of the 23rd ult. (p. 284) you insert a paragraph 

 describing experiments by M. Chabrie on compounds of selenium. 

 While fully acknowledging the value of his work on the phenyl 

 ilerivatives of selenium, I think it right to state that much of 

 M. Chabrie's investigation has been anticipated by Mr. F. P. 



Evans and myself as long ago as 1884 ; and that several of his 

 assertions are incomplete and incorrect. The tetrachloride, 

 SeCl4, as we then showed, exists in vapour as such between 

 180° and 200° ; with rise of temperature it dissociates, but even 

 at 360°, dissociation is incomplete. In our paper ( Trans. 

 Chem. Soc, 45, 62) the progress of the dissociation is followed. 



We do not agree with M. Chabrie's suggestion that the pro- 

 ducts of dissociation are the other chloride, SejCIj, and chlorine, 

 for the very good reason that ScoCig itself is an extremely un- 

 stable body. Instead of, as he asserts, having a constant boiling- 

 point at 360°, it begins to boil at 145" ; and temperature rises 

 to 173°, while a mixture of SegClj and SeCl4 distils over, 

 leaving a residue of selenium. The vapour-density of Se.^Cl.j 

 was found by us apparently normal ; but this is caused in reality 

 by the fact that it also dissociates completely on vaporization 

 into selenium and chlorine without change of volume, according 

 to the equation SejClj = Se™ + CIg. 



A revision of the experimental work of previous investigators 

 is obviously to be desired ; but it should be undertaken as a 

 revision, else inaccurate conclusions may be drawn from incom- 

 plete work, as they have been in this case. 



Perhaps I may be allowed to take this opportunity of inquiring 

 by what reaction selenophenol, CfiHjSeH, is produced from the 

 red oil, Se2(CgH5)3CgH4Cl, out of which it is said to deposit on 

 standing? William Ramsay. 



University College, Gower Street, February 3. 



Royal Victoria Hall and Morley Memorial College. 



I have only just read the article on Polytechnics for London 

 in your number for January 16 (p. 242). I hope it is not too 

 late to offer a few words of comment on it. Nothing is said of 

 that part of the Commissioners' scheme which applies to the 

 Royal Victoria Hall and Morley Memorial College, probably 

 because the amount intended for them is comparatively small — 

 ;^6ooo down for structural alterations, and ;^iooo a year to be 

 divided between Hall and College. But it derives an import- 

 ance beyond what is due to the amount of the grant, from the 

 fact that it is no castle in the air, hut a going concern, and had 

 begun its useful life long before the Commissioners had planned 

 their scheme. Moreover, many of your strictures do not apply 

 to this particular part of it. You say there will be, under the 

 new scheme, " no People's Palaces — only Young People's Insti- 

 tutes " You object to limitation of age, and to smoking being 

 forbidden, and you conclude by urging most truly that "life 

 should come first, then buildings," for life develops from within. 



May I therefore, in as few words as possible, give an account 

 of the history and present position of the Hall and College, 

 with the object of showing that the truths you urge have been 

 already laid to heart ? 



The Hall (formerly the "Old Vic." Theatre) was opened 9 

 years ago as a temperance music hall, to compete with the de- 

 grading attractions of ordinary music halls, about which there 

 was less stir in those days than now. At first we had variety 

 entertainments every night, but before long the experiment was 

 tried of introducing something better on certain nights. There 

 is no need to enter into the ups and downs through which 

 experience was gained ; suffice it to say that we still have 

 "variety" pure and simple on Saturdays, when our gallery 

 boys, as well as well as their elders, enjoy themselves to their 

 hearts' content, to the number of 1800 or so; and a modification 

 of this kind of entertainment takes place before a much smaller 

 audience on Mondays and Wednesdays. But on Tuesdays (as 

 your readers know from the occasional notes which appear in 

 your paper) we have popular illustrated lectures from many of our 

 leadinij scientific men, who continually express their gratification 

 at the appreciative attention of the audience. On Thursdays we 

 have ballad and operatic concerts, at which (interspersed among 

 operatic selections) tableaux, representing scenes from operas, 

 are given. And on Fridays there are temperance entertainments. 



All this will be left unchanged by the new scheme ; and is 

 not this something very like a " Palace of Delight " ? Smoking 

 is and will be freely carried on (except in certain parts of the 

 house on concert nights), and anyone, without distinction of 

 age, can come in by payments ranging from twopence on Thurs- 

 days and Saturdays, and from a penny other nights. 



But this is not all. A little more than four years ago, classes 

 were started in the unused dressing-rooms at the back of the 

 stage, in response to a demand for more systematic instruction 

 from some of those who had attended the lectures. The first 



