56 



present had tried them for controlling the Cottony Maple scale. No 

 one present appeared to have had any experience in using these 

 washes for controlling this insect. 



AFTERNOON SESSION DECEMBER 30, 1903. 



The meeting was called to order by Mr. Fletcher, and Mr. Osborn 

 presented a paper entitled — 



A SUGGESTION IN NOMENCLATURE. 



By Herbert Osborn, Columbus, Ohio. 



I presume every member of this Association has had occasion once, 

 if not many times, to lament the fact that he is obliged by force of 

 custom and for certainty of precision to burden his publication with 

 two sets of names (in some cases possibly more), and I think we would 

 hail with delight some plan which would enable us to designate cer- 

 tainly any particular insect by a single name or term that would be 

 at once recognized by the unscientific reader as well as the trained 

 biologist. 



Our chemical friends seem to have succeeded better than we have, 

 in some respects at least, for they have been able to put into common 

 use terms which are scientifically exact and distinctive. These have 

 become a part of everyday language, and hence many substances can 

 be discussed in economic literature or in general assemblies without 

 the appearance of pedantry on the one hand or the sacrifice of pre- 

 cision on the other. Such examples as calcium carbid or the common 

 names of sulphur, carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, etc., are sufficient to 

 indicate the one term for both popular and scientific use. 



We should begin to appreciate that it is not the purpose of modern 

 education to conceal knowledge in a mummy shroud of technical terms 

 for the benefit of the few, but to use every possible means to make 

 this knowledge accessible to the many. 



There is much in the structure and life history of insects that is 

 necessarily coinrjlex, but I believe one of the most serious hindrances 

 to a more general acquaintance with insect life lies in the complexity 

 and confusion and uncertainty connected with the terms we use in 

 trying to make sure as to the particular thing with which we are 

 dealing. 



We must admit that this uncertainty does not all rest with our pop- 

 ular constituency, for upheavals, revisions, shif tings, and turnings in 

 generic and specific names in any group of insects in an effort to 

 reach a " stable" nomenclature are such that only a specialist in any 

 limited group of insects can possibly be sure as to the latest revised 

 combination for many of the common insects. The economic ento- 

 mologist whose duties compel him to deal with insects of many orders 



