12 INTRODUCTION. 



cellent one ; it is a new garment which will fit Science well, if that capricious and fantastic 

 and old-fashioned dressing lady can only be induced to try it on. 



"Always very truly yours, 



"OLIVEB WENDELL HOLMES." 



See also Appendix, 1443. 



That Terminology is worthy of attention, is indicated also by the care 

 bestowed upon the language of modern Chemistry and Mathematics, and by 

 the following Aphorisms : 



24. " Questions of Definition are of the very highest importance in 

 Philosophy, and they need to be watched accordingly." Duke of Argyll, 1. 



"In all sciences, Nomenclature is an object of importance; and each 

 term should convey to the student a definite meaning." Dunglison, A, 

 Preface. 



" Every art is full of conceptions, which are peculiar to itself ; and, as 

 the use of language is to convey our conceptions to one another, language 

 must supply signs for those conceptions." Huxley, C, 14. 



"Everything in Science ought to be real, ingenuous and open ; every 

 expression that indicates duplicity, or equivocation, reservation, wavering or 

 inconsistency, is a reproach to it." Barclay, A., 89. 



" There is a necessity for perfect definiteness of language in all truly 

 Scientific work." P. G. Tait, 1. 



" Technical terms are the tools of thought." * 



" Only an inferior hand persists in toiling with a clumsy instrument, 

 when a better one lies within his reach. * * * A single substantive term 

 is a better instrument of thought than a paraphrase." Owen, A, I, pp. 

 xii, xiv. 



"As morphology deals with forms and relations of position, it demands 

 a careful selection of terms and a methodical nomenclature." Goodsir, A, 

 II, 83. 



" To designate the locations of organs by the relation of animals to the 

 surface of the earth is as far from philosophical as it would be to define the 

 position of a house or of a tree by reference to the planet Jupiter." Wilder, 

 9, 122. 



The progress of Comparative Anatomy has been hindered by the use of 

 anthropotomical terms and methods. 



" There is not one person in a hundred who can describe the commonest 

 occurrence with even an approach to accuracy." Huxley, C. 



"The test of the accuracy and completeness of a description is, not that 

 it may assist, but that it cannot mislead." Wilder, 9, 123. 



Errors of personal equation are diminished by the use of exact terms. 



* Perhaps some of our readers can supply the source of this aphorism. 



