July 30, 1909] 



SCIENCE 



149 



Now there are a few works in this category 

 which might be brought before our legislature 

 (International Committee) to which I should 

 be willing to give the power to say arbitrarily, 

 " This book or the names in it shall not (or 

 shall) be considered in nomenclature," on peti- 

 tion as to books of this category. I am not 

 sure that much good would result, for the 

 application of the code has been made in so 

 many instances that the dubitable names are 

 already more familiar to the younger men 

 than those they replace. Still the main point 

 is to gain stability and have the question 

 settled definitely one way or the other; so I 

 have for some time favored giving to the in- 

 ternational committee the despotic power I 

 have indicated in addition to those they al- 

 ready possess. 



In regard to the particular instance referred 

 to by Mr. Balch, it is sufficient to say that the 

 question is already settled definitely by the 

 code, where Mr. Jukes-Brown will find the 

 answer when he becomes familiar with that 

 body of laws. His uncertainty reminds one 

 of the lady lawyer who, finding herself puzzled 

 in the course of an argument, appealed to 

 the late Chief Justice Wylie, who was hear- 

 ing the case, as to what course she should 

 pursue, and was dryly advised to consult a 

 good lawyer. 



One other question has recently been raised 

 in Science about which a word may be proper 

 here. That is about the use of personal spe- 

 cific names. The objection to them comes 

 chiefly from those who have not yet fully ap- 

 preciated the axiom that " a name is a name 

 and not a definition." They have become 

 commoner because the Latin adjectives in 

 genera of many species are largely already in 

 use, and a personal name is much less likely 

 to prove a synonym. Further than that it is 

 a mere question of personal taste. 



Wm. H. Dall 



June 28, 1909 



THE COMP.\RATm; ENROLMENT OF STUDENTS OF 

 ENGINEERING 



To THE Editor of Science: The communi- 

 cation by Mr. Tombo in the issue of Science 

 for June 4 is interesting as showing the in- 



crease or decrease in registration at the par- 

 ticular institutions mentioned, but it is hardly 

 fair to draw conclusions for the entire coun- 

 try unless the engineering students at all in- 

 stitutions are included. 



For instance, the total increase of 1.15 per 

 cent, is changed by one third of its value if 

 the University of Pennsylvania be included in 

 the count. The enrolment at that institution 

 for 1907-8 was 748; for 1908-9 it was 811; 

 the increase is 63 or 8.4 per cent. As the 

 school in question has the finest engineering 

 building in the country and the most modern 

 equipment and as its increase was only ex- 

 ceeded by two schools in the published list, it 

 is not clear why it was omitted in the count. 



It is to be noted also that only one school 

 south of the Ohio Eiver is considered. The 

 total might be substantially changed by in- 

 cluding that half of the country. 



It is hardly fair, too, to infer a general 

 trend from figures for a year following a 

 period of financial and industrial depression. 



M. G. Lloyd 



The omission of the University of Pennsyl- 

 vania in the table was entirely due to inad- 

 vertence. This institution was on the list 

 originally prepared by me, and either my 

 letter to them or their report to me must have 

 gone astray in the mails, and in preparing the 

 final table I failed to note the omission. The 

 enrolment of the engineering schools of the 

 University of Pennsylvania for 1907-8 was 

 748, for 1908-9 it was 811, thus showing an 

 increase of 64 students or of 8.4 per cent. 

 In size, therefore, the school of this institution 

 would rank eighth among the schools con- 

 tained in the table. There was no intention 

 to draw conclusions for the entire country, but 

 I see no objection to inferring a general trend 

 from figures giving the enrolment of two 

 dozen representative institutions. So far as 

 the southern schools are concerned they are, 

 speaking broadly, not as important as those 

 included in the table, and furthermore, al- 

 tliough efforts were made to secure the figures 

 of the most important of these schools, it 



