June 6, 1919] 



SCIENCE 



531 



sion is unavoidable and it certainly would seem 

 advisable to restrict the term ovum to its com- 

 parative embryological significance. But this 

 restriction leaves us without a designation for 

 the whole product of conception. For this the 

 word conceptus fortunately seems to be avail- 

 able. It is not new, and does not soimd par- 

 ticularly well in the plural but we have other 

 similar words in long established usage to 

 which the latter objection applies. The term 

 conceptus has the advantage of being ap- 

 plicable throughout the entire period of gesta- 

 tion. 



It may seem that we should make use of the 

 word conception, but a recent experience illus- 

 trates some of the difficulties which we are 

 sure to encounter in adopting it. A proof- 

 reader for example, of a manuscript recently 

 published, substituted the word conception for 

 conceptus in a part of the manuscript. Be- 

 cause of delay in the mails and because of 

 other things, an opportimity was not afforded 

 to make the necessary changes before publica- 

 tion. Hence, in one sentence in which it was 

 stated that a number of conceptuses were ex- 

 amined, it now is stated that so many con- 

 ceptions were examined. The latter may im- 

 ply : (1) that a given number of fertilizations 

 were examined, (2) or that a certain number 

 of individuals in the early months of preg- 

 nancy were examined, (3) or that abortuses 

 were examined. Yet, none of these things was 

 meant. None of the American medical or non- 

 medical dictionaries accessible to me here at 

 Stanford University defined the word con- 

 ception as referring to the thing conceived, 

 except in the sense of mental conception. 

 Murray, however, does recognize the use of the 

 word in the sense of embrj-o or fetus, but 

 since this usage is rare even in English med- 

 ical literature and also foreign to us, it prob- 

 ably would be wiser not to try to revive an 

 old meaning. Moreover, such a revival would 

 not obviate the possibility of misunderstand- 

 ing. Hence, an unequivocal term such as 

 conceptus seems preferable. 



At present the word embryo frequently is 

 used to designate conceptuses in the earlier 

 months of gestation. It is used still more 



frequently to designate merely the body of the 

 developing individual during the early stages, 

 in contrast to tlie word fetus, which is applied 

 in the later months of pregnancy. Hence, we 

 have need for still another term to be used in 

 common for the embryonic disc, the embryo, 

 or the fetus. My former colleague. Dr. Adolph 

 Schultz, has kindly called my attention to the 

 word kj'ema. I was happy to learn from my 

 friend Professor Foster, that it is excellent 

 Greek and was used in the proposed sense by 

 no less than Plato' himself. It was used in 

 this sense also by ^schylus.^ Professor Foster, 

 however, suggests, that we preferably spell the 

 word cyema. This term of Plato's also has the 

 advantage of being available for comparative 

 embryology and of being adapted to meet such 

 needs as are represented by the terms cyemetric 

 and cyemology. At present, no one can know 

 what is meant when one says that there are no 

 embryonic remnants present. The addition of 

 the word cyema would largely avoid this diffi- 

 culty. It is not my purpose to suggest that 

 the long established term embryology shall be 

 abandoned or displaced, in spite of the fact 

 that the derivative embryometrics is somewhat 

 misleading. The same thing, to be sure, will 

 remain true of the term embryology as long 

 as we continue to use the term embryo in a 

 restricted sense and in contrast to fetus. In 

 these respects the derivatives of cyema would 

 be preferable, it seems to me. 



Although the word abortion is available to 

 designate the individual thing or the material 

 aborted, it has not been the custom to use it 

 in this inclusive sense. As now used, the 

 word invariably is restricted to apply to the act 

 itself. To use it in a double sense would lead 

 to some confusion. Since blood clot, pus, 

 decidua and mucosa, usually not only are in- 

 cluded with but frequently also surround the 

 entire conceptus, one could use tho word 

 abortus to designate all the material expelled 

 during abortion. It is only in this or a similar 

 way that one can avoid the use of such mis- 

 leading words as mole, and such expressions 



1 Rep. 461C. 



: Aescb. Eum. 659. 



