PRINCIPLES ARRIVED AT AS WORK PROCEEDED 7 



foramen meningeum medium), and other examples might be given. But only 

 when compromise appeared to be unavoidable did the Commission consent 

 to depart from the principles mentioned. 



There was much difference of opinion regarding the retention of personal 

 names. Some desired to continue their use; others wished to abolish them al- 

 together. Much can be said on each side. The arguments pro and con have 

 been marshalled by His. On the one hand (i) historical injustice is frequently 

 done, the name borne by a part being not that of its real discoverer but of some 

 later worker; (2) the personal names employed may vary in different countries, 

 Lieberkiihn's glands in Germany being Galeati's in Italy, Vater's corpuscles in 

 the one country being those of Pacini in the other; (3) in the literature of the 

 specialties personal names are often used in great excess, names of no importance 

 figuring in the bibliography; and (4) no systematic plan seems to have been 

 followed in adopting personal names; thus, even from among the immortals, 

 the names of Eustachius and Malpighi have in more than one instance been 

 chosen for' anatomical structures, while the names of Vesalius and Harvey 

 do not appear at all. On the other hand it is argued that (i) the per- 

 sonal names are usually good mnemotechnic material, a student easily 

 retaining the names of Poupart's, Gimbernat's and Colles's ligaments and 

 having the impulse to find out what each signifies; whereas, his interest 

 is much less for a ligamentum inguinale, a ligamentum lacunare, or a 

 ligamentum inguinale reflexum; (2) a certain feeling of piety should restrain 

 us from sacrificing, to a principle arbitrarily established, terms which for cen- 

 turies have been found good and useful; and (3) it is to the student's advantgae 

 in his first session in the medical school to become familiar with the names of 

 Falloppia, Eustachius, Malpighi, etc., for through them his historical sense may be 

 awakened; and it is, perhaps, matter of secondary importance whether or not the 

 names are always rightly used, this being a function of the history of anatomy 

 rather than of anatomical terminology. The Commission compromised by 

 giving each part an objective name and putting widely used personal names in 

 brackets. Though this makes the terms less simple, it has the advantage of 

 leaving to time the final decision. The personal names are all put in the genitive 

 case, following the precedent set by the Zoological Commission on terminology. 

 Thus Poupart's ligament becomes Lig. inguinale [Pouparti]. In time it will 

 be known whether it is to be called ultimately the inguinal ligament or by Pou- 

 part's name. 



Another matter which the Commission had to decide concerned the anatom- 

 ical terms used in the medical specialties, e. g., in neurology, ophthalmology, 

 otology, and laryngology. In recent years clinicians have been reworking the 

 anatomy of their special domains quite independently of the anatomical labora- 

 tories. An examination of the literature of the specialties reveals an anatom- 

 ical terminology and description which varies markedly from the language and 

 presentation of the ordinary anatomical text-books. The Commission soon 

 convinced itself that the creation of this special language was due to the insuffi- 

 ciency of the anatomies of the schools ; it was its duty, therefore, to accept the terms 

 introduced by the specialists or to supply better ones. While the average medi- 

 cal student cannot, in his course in anatomy, be expected to master completely 

 the anatomical terms of all the medical specialties, still, as far as his training 

 goes in that direction, he has the right to demand that it shall be correct and 

 modern. For completeness' sake, therefore, the Commission has included a full 

 list of the names of macroscopic structures in the special organs, being led to do 

 so by the repeated assurance of distinguished specialists that they were ready to 

 accept the nomenclature of the anatomists as soon as it covered their needs. 



