1 68 BIOLOGICAL LECTURES. 



ity of nomenclature by the arbitrary authority of an individual or 

 committee. 1 " It may be doubted if any such attempt can possibly be 

 successful. The Nomina Anatomica of His ('95a) is most impor- 

 tant for consultation ; but the adoption of its recommendations in 

 this country (Great Britain) would, in a large number of instances, 

 involve the abandonment of good names in general use for others 

 whose advantages are not obvious. 



Through its secretary the German committee declared 

 (Krause, *9i) that it intended to be " conservative in- its 

 action." Now, conservatism is notoriously difficult to define, 

 and in respect to nomenclature its degrees may equal in num- 

 ber those who have opinions upon the subject. But, while the 

 abolition of the vast majority of time-honored terms has not 

 been even hinted at in this country, I believe many anatomists 

 here and also in England have recognized earlier and more 

 fully than most of the Germans the existence of two conditions 

 (p. 152, F) that are essentially modern, viz. y (a) the enormous 

 expansion of anatomic and physiologic knowledge; (b) its 

 general diffusion among the people. 2 



Indeed, notwithstanding the declaration of conservatism 

 above mentioned, it is not easy for me to conceive that all the 

 members of the Anatomische Gesellschaft really anticipate the 

 retention of, e.g., " manubrium sterni," " corpus sterni," and 

 " processus xiphoideus " for praesternum, mesosternum, and 



1 No such attempt is known to me. The very notion savors of ecclesiasticism 

 rather than of science. At the most, individuals have set certain fashions, more 

 or less commendable and permanent, while committees have made recommenda- 

 tions which even their ow r n members may disregard when their information is- 

 increased or their views are modified. 



2 For nearly ten years, at Cornell University, the members of the general 

 classes in physiology, candidates for first degree in Arts and Sciences, and num- 

 bering from 150 to 180 in each year, have each individually examined, drawn, and 

 dissected the brain of a sheep. At the recent meeting of the American Society 

 of Naturalists, I outlined ('96) a plan for the commencement of practical studies 

 of the brain in primary schools ; this in pursuance of the conviction expressed 

 seven years ago : 



" Aside from prejudice and lack of practical direction as to removing, preserving, 

 and examining the organ, there is but one valid reason why every child of ten 

 years should not have an accurate and somewhat extended personal acquaintance 

 with the gross anatomy of the mammalian brain ; that obstacle is the enormous 

 and unmanageable accumulation of objectionable names under which the parts are 

 literally buried. W. & G. ('89), 82. 



