112 Staten Island Association of Arts and Sciences 



tors to the Proceedings in regard to individual preferences in 

 the, spelling of local place names, but it has been deemed advis- 

 able by the committee that some rule or rules should be adopted 

 for a uniform system or code of place nomenclature in the publi- 

 cations of the Association, and in this connection the following 

 resolution is herewith submitted : 



Resolved, That the Board of Trustees be requested to instruct 

 the publication committee to preserve, as far as possible, the 

 origin and meaning of local place names in the spelling of the 

 same, wherever any such names may appear in any of the publi- 

 cations of the Association, and to adopt a uniform code of nomen- 

 clature for all such names in all papers submitted for publication. 



i[NoTE. This resolution, we hope, is not to be interpreted so as to place 

 the Association on record as opposed to progress. Radical changes in 

 place names are undesirable and should not be resorted to unless they are 

 unavoidable. Such changes should be opposed by the Association. But 

 when a slight change is made in a geographic name so as to make it some- 

 what shorter or simpler, especially when such a change is made by an 

 authoritative national body and does not destroy the historical origin of 

 the name ; then we should not hesitate but fall in line with the rest of 

 mankind in the onward march of progress. 



When the United States Geographic Board decided to drop the super- 

 fluous apostrophe in geographic names, this was a forward step in the 

 proper direction, even though some inconsistencies may have been over- 

 looked. The historical origin of a name is not lost by the omission of the 

 apostrophe. Neither does it detract from the honor of the person for 

 whom a place is named to use his name as a direct modifier instead of 

 using it as a modifier in the possessive case. 



We may as well insist on writing Dongan's Hills ins^^ead of Dongan 

 Hills, Pitt's Burgh instead of Pittsburg, John's Son instead of Johnson, or 

 Hudson's Bay instead of Hudson Bay, as to insist on writing Prince's 

 Bay instead of Prince Bay. The name Prince's Bay may imply that the 

 bay was named in honor of the family name Prince, or that it was at 

 one time owned by Prince; but it may also mean that the bay was named 

 in honor of a prince, or that it was once owned' by a prince. Likewise, the 

 name Prince Bay may mean, either that the bay was named in honor of 

 the family name Prince or that it was named in honor of a prince. The 

 one form of the name or the other does not settle the mooted question 

 whether the bay was named for royalty or for an ordinary citizen by the 

 name of Prince. (See Proc. Nat. Sci. Assoc. Sfaten I. 8: 88. 1903.) — 

 Ph. D., chairman of the publication committee.] 



