Fkbruary :J2, 1895.] 



SCIENCE. 



209 



Among his publications are memoirs on 

 ' Omaha Sociokigy,' ' Osage Traditions,' ' a 

 study of Siouan cults,' ' Omaha dwellings, 

 furniture and implements,' printed in the 

 annual reports of the Bureau of American 

 Ethnology ; ' Omaha, and Ponca lettei-s,' a 

 bulletin of the same bureau ; and the ' Dhe- 

 giha language.' forming Volume YI. of the 

 Contributions to North American Ethnol- 

 ogy. In addition he edited a Dakota-Eng- 

 lish dictionary, and a volume on Dakota 

 grammar, texts and ethnography, by the 

 late Rev. S. R. Riggs, published in two 

 volumes of the last named series. Numer- 

 ous minor articles were published in ditfer- 

 ent anthropologic journals. Mr. Dorsey 

 was Vice-President of Section H of the A. A. 

 A. S. in 1893, and at the time of his death 

 was Vice-President of the American Folk- 

 lore Society. In the absence of the Presi- 

 dent of this Society he presided over the 

 annual meeting in Wasliing-ton during the 

 Christmas holidays, this being his last pub- 

 lic work in science. W J M 



DISCUSSION. 

 ON INDISCRIMINATE ' TAKING.' 



In many of the text-books which have of 

 late appeared, and even in articles by some 

 of the most renowned chemists, the verb ' to 

 tiike ' is frequently used in a way that is 

 very annoying to teachers who are endeav- 

 oring to train students in brevity and ex- 

 actness of expression. Pages could be filled 

 with examples of bad style and verbo- 

 sity that ill-accord with the clearness and 

 brevity that are desirable, and that are 

 supposed to' chara<'terize scientific litera- 

 ture. A few quotations from recent text- 

 books will suffice to illustrate this particu- 

 lar case — that of indiscriminate 'taking.' 



" Take a cylindrical porous jar, such as 

 is used in a galvanic battery, close the open 

 end, etc." 



It were better to saj', " close the end of a 

 cylindrical porous jar, such as is used, etc." 



Another example : " Take two flasks and 

 connect them." 



Better — " Connect two flasks," etc. 



Another : " The method of experimenting 

 adopted by Graham was to take a bottle or 

 jar with a neck contracted somewhat and 

 fill it to within half an inch of the top with 

 the solution of the salt to be investigated." 



Better — " The method . . . was to fill a 

 bottle or jar with a somewhat contracted 

 neck to within half an inch," etc. 



Another : " If we take an iron tube closed 

 at one end and connected at the other with 

 a Sprengel pump and exhaust it com- 

 pletely." 



This awkward form of diction often ex- 

 cites mirth in the class-room, as it gives 

 unusual opportunities for double meanings. 



" Take a pound of sugar and an equal 

 weight of sulfuric acid." This would be a 

 severe dose, even for a trained scientist. 



The following is from a recent text-book : 

 " Take a lump of chalk or sandstone, some 

 very dry sand, a glass of water and a glass 

 of treacle." 



This might do for a bill of fare in a 

 Chinese restaurant, but it is out of place in 

 a scientific book. 



" Take some white arsenic." — " Take a 

 sedlitz powder," — are the singular directions 

 which j)reface two experiments in a book 

 recently published by the Society for Pro- 

 motion of Christian Knowledge in London. 



If editors and teachers will paj- more at- 

 tention to this awkward use of the word 

 ' take ' they will incur the gratitude of a 

 patiently suffering public. 



Peter T. Austen. 



Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn. 



SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE. 

 Tlie Life, of Tlichard Oiven. By his grandson, 

 the Rev. Richard Owen, M. A. With 

 the scientific i)ortions revised by C. 

 Davies Suerborn. Also an essay on 

 Owen's position in anatomical science. 



