1866.] Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 171 



mistry ; and in Zoology we use such terras even as fish, reptile, and insect 

 in a more special sense than in ordinary language. These, however, and 

 a large number of words constantly in use in vernacular languages, are 

 generally translated in European languages, and the same will doubt- 

 less be the case to a great extent, when scientific books are written or 

 translated in the Indian vernaculars. But these words are expressly 

 excluded by the terms of the resolution. 



Babu Rajendralala Mitra's argument that chemistry, without its 

 systematic nomenclature, would relapse into the confusion and mys- 

 ticism of Alchemy, affords a salient proof of how much he has 

 misunderstood the real state of the case. In answer to this, it is suffi- 

 cient to say that the chemical systematic nomenclature only applies to 

 a small part of the science, the inorganic branch ; but he will scarcely 

 assert that organic chemistry is not as much a science of law, and 

 weight and quantity, as the inorganic branch. Science, as I have said, is 

 characterized by its precision of idea and rigorous definition, and 

 whether the etymology of the words it employs to denote ideas and 

 things, have a vaguely descriptive etymology or not, is a matter of quite 

 secondary importance, so long as the things are well known and the ideas 

 are clearly conceived and accurately reasoned upon. I think then, that in 

 popular vernacular teaching, where scientific exactness is not aimed 

 at, and cannot be attained, the less technology is employed, the better ; 

 and the fewer the Greek, Latin or Sanscrit terms introduced, the 

 better probably for teachers and pupils. When new objects previ- 

 ously known only to science become familiar to the people, experience 

 shews that they have no difficulty in learning the names, however 

 unfamiliar their etymology may be. Rhinoceros, Hippopotamus, 

 Astronomy, Astrology, Geography, Aniline, Paraffine, Iodine, and a 

 host of other terms originally esoteric, are now familiarly used by 

 thousands who have no idea of their etymology, and by classes to 

 whom they were originally as strange and unfamiliar as they would 

 now be to the mass of the people of India. But, for science, techno- 

 logy is indispensible, and as the students of science must have re- 

 course to works in other languages than their own, it is a great 

 advantage to them, (I speak from my own experience) to have to learn 

 the vernacular vocabularies only, and to find in those languages the 

 same terms, (written, if not pronounced the same,) as are already familiar 



