October 16, 1903.] 



SCIENCE. 



501 



nounce ' we produce all the plays of Shake- 

 speare,' wholly omitting to mention the names 

 of the actors! 



Within the last few days I have learned 

 that Mr. Geo. B. King, janitor of the court- 

 liouse at Lawrence, Mass., for seventeen years, 

 has been reduced to the position of assistant 

 janitor. Over him has been put a political 

 favorite. Mr. King is poorly educated, and 

 is surrounded by persons who do not believe 

 in scientific- janitors; yet he has been able to 

 discover many new Coceidffi in Massachusetts, 

 and his writings on this group are known to 

 entomologists all over the world. Thus does 

 the man come to the front, though everything 

 is against him. Yet it is not always so, and 

 for every one having inborn talent who suc- 

 ceeds, no doubt many fail. Mr. King will 

 have to give up all his work in science, if the 

 new conditions are not altered. 



It is to the credit and glory of our univer- 

 sities that they can help men to success; can 

 give the conditions which make success in 

 science possible and easy — given the men. 

 But after all, the men are everything. 



T. D. A. COCKERELL. 



CowjRADo Springs, Colorado. 



.\RCTIC NOMENCL.\TURE. 



To THE Editor of Science: The president 

 of the Royal Geographical Society, Sir Cle- 

 ments R. Markham, in the Geographical 

 Journal for July, 1903, Vol. XXII., page 7, 

 note, says : " The land which is divided from 

 Greenland by Smith Sound forms a long 

 island, and as many as seven names have been 

 given to various parts of it^l. North Lincoln, 

 2. Ellesmere Land, 3. King Oscar Land, 4. 

 Schley Land, 5. Arthur Land, li. GrinncU 

 Land, 7. Grant Land. It is a geographical 

 necessity that, for purposes of description, 

 there should be a name for the whole island. 

 It was first discovered by Bafiin in 1616, and 

 first named Ellesmere by luglefiold in 18i>3. 

 Its name .should, therefore, be Ellesmere Ls- 

 land." A map on page 57 of the same volume 

 shows ' Ellesmere Island ' and omits ' Grinnell 

 Land ' and ' Grant Land.' 



It seems desirable to call the attention of 

 American scientists and geographers to this 



curious proposition, which, without the slight- 

 est notice to American geographers, eliminates 

 the American names given to the most impor- 

 tant discoveries by Americans in the Arctic, 

 and minimizes as much as possible any recog- 

 nition of the work of Kane, Hayes, Hall, 

 Greelj' and Peary. 



Enwi>f Swift Balch. 



PlIlI.ADELPniA, 



October G, 1903. 



GONIONEMUS VERSUS ' OO.VIONEMA.' 



Dr. Murbach (Science, September 18, 1903, 

 373) has forgotten to add to his letter the 

 following — Moral : when proposing a new name 

 give its derivation. F. A. B. 



SHORTER ARTICLES. 



NEW HORTICULTURAL AND AGRICULTURAL TERMS. 



The extension of horticultural and agricul- 

 tural knowledge and the extensive literature 

 that is appearing on such topics render it 

 necessary that new words and expressions be 

 coined in many places to give more exact 

 expression to our thoughts. The writer is 

 very much opposed to the wholesale introduc- 

 tion of new terms, as they seldom find use 

 outside of an individual writer's papers. In 

 some eases, however, it is absolutely necessary. 

 Terms for scientific usage are ordinarily de- 

 rived from Greek or Latin and are seldom 

 fitted for the general use of the masses of the 

 people. Words that we expect to be generally 

 used, the writer believes, should, regardless 

 of derivation, be short, euphonious, phonet- 

 ically spelled, easily pronounced and different 

 from any other word in ordinary use, so that 

 it will not suggest any other meaning than the 

 one desired. If no word fulfilling these re- 

 quirements and having the proper significa- 

 tion can be derived from classical sources, the 

 writer strongly favors the policy of inventing 

 a short and convenient term with no meaning 

 other than that given it and without reference 

 to derivation classical or otherwise. By using 

 this policy, short euphonious terms can be 

 secured. Why concede to the Greeks and 

 Latins the sole right of coining words and 

 burden ourselves with inadequate, poorly- 



