164 BIOLOGICAL LECTURES. 



of mistaking a mathematic for a urinary calculus. But when a 

 term or phrase possibly ambiguous is first introduced in a given 

 publication, and especially in the title, absolute explicitness 

 should be attained, no matter how many qualifying words may 

 be required. In the title of a paper, the term "cervical 

 follicles " is certainly ambiguous, and while " mental promi- 

 nence/' as employed by Huxley, is shown by the context to 

 designate a projection in the region of the chin, in a title it 

 might be readily misunderstood, particularly by a psychologist. 1 



Consistency. This ranks second among the desirable attri- 

 butes of all scientific writing which I have long called the five 

 C's, viz., Clearness, Consistency, Correctness, Conciseness, and 

 Completeness. The last may seldom be attained; the lack of 

 the first and second is as rarely excusable. 2 The practice of 

 the virtue of terminologic consistency is tantamount to avoid- 

 ance of the vice of pecilonymy. 



Avoidance of Pecilonomy. Whatever doubts a writer may 

 entertain as to the relative excellence, authority, or vogue of 

 two or more synonyms, and however he may shrink from com- 

 mitting himself to either one of them (p. 115), justice to his 

 readers, if not regard for their good opinion, should lead him to 

 make his selection in advance, and to adhere thereto throughout 

 a given publication. 3 



Abbreviational Methods. The following rules are recom- 

 mended : 



1 The title (" On the Fracture System of Joints, with Remarks on Certain Great 

 Fractures ") of a paper just received (Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist. Proceedings, XXVII) 

 might at first sight seem to concern the surgeon quite as much as the geologist. 



2 While never really justifiable, obscurity of style may result from conditions 

 more or less difficult to avoid; let us assume that no scientific writer would delib- 

 erately formulate the doctrine credited by Jules Janin to Balzac. When asked the 

 meaning of a passage the novelist is reported to have replied: " Ceci pour le bour- 

 geois," and to have explained that an unintelligible sentence or phrase now and 

 then had a good effect on the " general reader," who, if the sense were always too 

 obvious, might flatter himself that he was equal to the writer and on a level with 

 his thoughts. 



3 As stated on p. 120, the principle and method were adopted by me in 1880. At 

 that time Henle's works were not known to me. But in 1884 I was so impressed 

 with his systematic employment of a single set of names that the first step in the 

 collaboration toward Foster's Medical Dictionary (p. 121) consisted in photograph- 

 ing the " Index " of his " Nervenlehre " and distributing copies for discussion. 



