462 Mr. C. J. Monro on the Nomenclature 



Under physical science we have the subdivisions natural history, 

 physiology) and natural -philosophy. I do not say these are 

 exactly conterminous ; probably they are not all invariably used 

 in quite the same senses. Anatomy might sometimes be ad- 

 mitted into one of them, and sometimes not. But all would be, 

 at first sight, terms as general as physical science itself; and 

 physiology, which is in fact the most restricted, is in form the 

 most general of the three. Again, natural philosophy has for its 

 principal subdivision physics, a term apparently more general 

 than any we have yet met with. 



That is to say, the science of nature is divided into history of 

 nature, discourse of nature, and philosophy of nature ; and the 

 philosophy of nature is divided, let us say, into chemistry and 

 naturals. Considering that these sciences differ at least as much 

 in their objects as in their methods, and that no one would ever 

 think of dividing science into history, discourse, and philosophjr, 

 we may ask whether confusion could go further than this. 

 Something like it might be found in Blackstone; elsewhere 

 hardly. 



I shall not examine the history of these phrases. One of 

 them, however (physics), the most unmeaning as it stands, but 

 the most defensible in its origin, it is worth whde to observe, 

 because it suggests a practical lesson in the art of nomenclature 

 which may be useful if the present system is to be reformed. As 

 the word seems to exclude chemistry, I suppose it is short for 

 mathematical physics. Now this term, though clumsy, is per- 

 fectly correct if we accept the more general use of the word 

 physical-, for it suggests exactly what it denotes, that part namely 

 of physical science which can be treated mathematically. The 

 inconvenience of it is that it expresses its differentia in a word 

 five syllables long ; and now that this is dropped, we apply the 

 name of the summum genus to an infima species. The moral is 

 that an essential part of a compound term should not be ex- 

 pressed by an adjective five syllables long. 



There is scarcely a chance of the general adoption of any 

 reform deliberately suggested, especially if the suggestion comes 

 with no sort of authority ; but it is worth while at least to con- 

 sider the materials we have to dispose of. 



The words physic, physical, physiology, come from the Greek 

 representatives of a root which expresses growth. Natural comes 

 from a root which has been used for scientific purposes in Latin 

 as the equivalent of the other. But the idea of growth has been 

 applied in two ways. 



First, to things which are the subjects of generation proper — 

 plants and animals. 



Secondly, to things which are the subjects of generation in a 



