570 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. IX. No. 225. 



ous correspondents in reply to the query, 

 free from all critical or proselytic tenor, as 

 to whether a given term was used inten- 

 tionally or by inadvertence. 



XVI. That there is ' imminent danger of the 

 formation of a peculiar anatomic vocabulary 

 in America such as seriously to impede scientific 

 intercourse with other countries.'' — The unsub- 

 stantiality of the grounds of this misappre- 

 hension may be recognized in the impartial 

 discussion by the brothers Herriek a year 

 ago.* They conclude that there is no rea- 

 son for serious alarm on this score. 



XVII. That the fundamental principles and 

 characteristic features of the simplified nomencla- 

 ture can he attributed to any individual in such 

 degree as to warrant calling it by his name. — In 

 correcting this misapprehension no false 

 modesty shall lead me to belittle what I 

 have done. On the contrary, to the ' Sum- 

 mary of my terminologic progress,' already 

 published in ' Neural Terms,' etc. (pp. 

 227-237), there shall be added here two 

 items overlooked when that was printed : 



1. That the defects of encephalic ter- 

 minology had been recognized by me as 

 early as 1873 may be seen from the follow- 

 ing paragraph in a popular lecture on ' The 

 brain and the present scientific aspects of 

 phrenology,' delivered January 21st, before 

 the ' American Institute,' and reported in 

 the New York Tribune of January 22d and 

 in the ' Tribune Extra,' No. 3 : 



"As it these natural hindrances were not enough, 

 the old anatomists fenced in the parts of the brain 

 with the most fanciful and prodigious titles. Cere- 

 brum is well enough ; the cerebellum, being only one- 

 eighth as large, has a longer name, while medulla ob- 

 longata, hippocampus minor, inbercula quadrigemina, 

 processus e cerebello ad lestes, and iter e tertio ad ventricu- 

 lum quarium represent such insignificant parts of the 

 brain as to suggest a suspicion that the nomenclature 

 was established upon no other principle than that of 

 in inverse ratio between the size of an organ and the 

 length of its title. At any rate, these fearful names 



">^"' Inquiries regarding tendencies current in neu- 

 rological literature ;' Jour. Comp. Neurology, VII., 

 I(i2-168, December, 1897. 



are stumbling-blocks to the student and an almost 

 perfect hindrance to popular knowledge of the brain ; 

 no doubt this pleases the ghosts of the old anatom- 

 ical fathers, and is equally agreeable to many of the 

 present day, both in and out of the profession, with 

 whom Latin is a synonym for learning, and ponder- 

 osity of words for profundity of wis'dom." 



2. My actual efforts toward the simplifica- 

 tion of the nomenclature of the brain com- 

 menced in 1880, in the preparation of a 

 paper read before the American Association 

 for the Advancement of Science on the 28th 

 of August. The paper was never written 

 out in full, and apparently no abstract was 

 furnished for publication in the Proceeding's. 

 Somewhat inadequate and erroneous re- 

 ports were printed in the Boston Daily Ad- 

 vertiser of August 30th, and in the New 

 York Medical Record of September ISth. But 

 here is a duplicate of the abstract furnished 

 in advance to the Secretary of the Associa- 

 tion, and I venture to read it as a contribu- 

 tion to the history of the subject now before 

 us: 



"partial revision of the nobienclature of 

 the brain. 



"A- Introductory: The progress of anatomy is im- 

 peded by the defects of nomenclature. These defects 

 have been admitted by several anatomists, and a few 

 have endeavored to remedy them. As stated by Pye- 

 Smith, ' the nomenclature of the brain stands more in 

 need of revision than that of any other part.' 



" B. Nature of the Defects : (1) General. In com- 

 mon with that of the rest of the body, the nomencla- 

 ture of the brain lacks precision as to the position 

 and direction of parts. (2) In particular the number 

 of synonyms is very large. Most writers employ some 

 names which are vernacular or merely descriptive. 

 Most technical names are compound ; many of the 

 single ones are inconveniently long, and some of them 

 are indecent. 



"C. Special Obstacles to a Reform : (1) The difficulty 

 of ascertaining the priority of terms. (2) The ten- 

 dency of each nation to adopt purely vernacular 

 terms which have been proposed or incidentally em- 

 ployed by eminent anatomists of that nation. 



"D. Principles Forming the Basis of this Berision : 

 (1) Technical terms are the tools of thought, and 

 the best workman uses the best tools. (2) Terms of 

 classical origin are to be preferred. (3) Priority of 



