150 . BIOLOGICAL LECTURES. 



In recent times the precedents are partly direct and partly 

 indirect. Among the former are postabdomen, postact, postary- 

 tenoid, postf actor, postftirca, postpubis, postscaptda. In all of 

 these post has the force of an adjective, not of a preposition. 



Indirect precedents are cases in which other prepositions 

 have the force of adjectives in composition. Such are pre- 

 adaptation, precentor, preexistence, preformation, presternum ; 

 also subgenus, subflavor, subf actor, submaster, subtitle^ 



Since, however, the German committee sanction none of the 

 anatomic terms in the foregoing lists, and avoid the use of 

 praesternum by retaining manubrium sterni, they would prob- 

 ably decline to regard them as adequate justifications for post- 

 cava. But can they consistently condemn it or any similar 

 terms ? Let us see. 



Professor His, the German committee, and the Anatomische 

 Gesellschaft, after several years' deliberation, and apparently 

 without any disagreement, have adopted and recommended the 

 names metencephalon and prosencephalon for certain segments 

 of the brain. Now meta and pros are the English forms of the 

 Greek /-tera and TT/X)?. These are both prepositions. Like post 

 and prae they are also adverbs. The terms into which they 

 enter have no reference to a third part " behind " which or 

 "before" which the metencephal and prosencephal are situ- 

 ated. The German translation of prosencephalon is Vorderhirn, 

 and the English, forebrain, both signifying the first or most 

 cephalic member of the series of coordinate encephalic seg- 

 ments. With slight modifications the foregoing remarks apply 

 equally to a third name adopted by the German committee, 

 diencephalon, the preposition 8ta having the force of an adjec- 

 tive. 



I am unable to recognize any distinction, logical or etymo- 

 logical, between the metencephalon and prosencephalon which 

 the Germans commend and the postcava and praecava which 

 Professor His condemns. The irregular terms for which he is 

 in part responsible may be few; but his virtuous denunciation 



1 Among analogous Greek words the following has been furnished me by my 

 friend, L. L. Forman, instructor in Greek at Cornell University : 7J7>o0i/Xa, an 

 .advance guard. 



