SCIENCE. 



133 



SCIENCE: 



A Weekly Record of Scientific 

 Progress. 



JOHN MICHELS, Editor. 



Published at 

 229 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. 

 P. O. Box 3838 



SATURDAY, MARCH 26, 1881. 



ANATOMICAL NOMENCLATURE. 

 In this and in the preceding number considerable 

 space is devoted to a somewhat elaborate discussion 

 of the general subject of Anatomical Nomenclature, 

 accompanied by practical suggestions with regard to 

 the brain. 



When we consider that, as stated by Professor 

 Wilder, the brain presents about 150 parts or regions 

 which are visible to the unaided eye, that these parts 

 are more and more frequently mentioned in connec- 

 tion with the progressive sciences of Anatomy, 

 Zoology, Physiology and Psychology, and yet that 

 many of them have received from two to a dozen, 

 more or less, ponderous names, there would seem to 

 be no question as to the desirability of some improve- 

 ment upon the existing terminology. 



The author of this article has undertaken to amend 

 the matter by selecting the shortest or otherwise most 

 appropriate one of the several names by which some 

 parts are known, or by abbreviating descriptive 

 phrases either by discarding all but the most signifi- 

 cant word, or converting qualifying adjectives into 

 prefixes, or, in a few cases, mostly of parts observed 

 by himself, by proposing new terms altogether. 



The fact is, as every original investigator is aware, 

 all scientific nomenclature is more or less provisional, 

 and must be constantly modified to suit the additions 

 to knowledge and the clearing-up of ideas. The 

 author has given a few instances of the employment 

 of new terms by modern writers, and many more might 

 have been adduced. Marsh uses " postpubis," Huxley 

 "epipubes, pylangium, synangium, intraovular 

 Foster employs— if he did not originate — "hemisec- 

 tion and aspychical ;" " orad " is used by Thacher in 

 place of cephalad, while " dorsad " occurs in recent 

 writings of Mivart, and in Huxley's latest utterance, 



the paper on " Evolution," parts of which were re- 

 printed in this journal. 



Among all the arguments in favor of some modifi- 

 cation of the existing nomenclature, the strongest — 

 to the mind of the unprej udiced layman — is, perhaps, 

 the very one which will least commend itself to the 

 professional anatomist : namely, that the ease and 

 comfort of those now living should be held of little 

 moment as compared with any advantage which the 

 change may confer upon the " vastly more numerous 

 anatomical workers of the future." 



Those who object to the strictly technical construc- 

 tion of the proposed vocabulary should try to realize 

 what would be the outcome of a total disuse of all 

 technical terms, and the substitution therefor of the 

 vernacular words which are current among the people 

 of the various countries in which anatomy is culti- 

 vated. Ancient Babylon would have a parallel in 

 modern Science, and there would result confusion, 

 misunderstanding, contention, and finally apathy and 

 ignorance. Professor Wilder has evidently prepared 

 his article in the hope of eliciting criticism from the 

 working- anatomists of all parts of the world, and not 

 with a view to the hasty praise or dissent of English- 

 speakers alone. 



The pages of " Science " are open to the fullest and 

 freest discussion of the whole subject. 



A PARTIAL REVISION OF ANATOMICAL NO- 

 MENCLATURE, WITH ESPECIAL REFER- 

 ENCE TO THAT OF THE BRAIN * 

 By Burt G. Wilder, M.D., 



Professor of Comparative Anatomy, etc., in Cornell University, and of 

 Physiology in the Medical School of Maine. 



II. 



GENERAL NAMES OF ORGANS, AND THEIR ABBRE- 

 VIATIONS. 



For ease of reference these words are arranged in the 

 alphabetical order of their abbreviations. 



A. — Area. Ar. — Arteria. Ath. — Arthron, joint, ar- 

 ticulation. B.— Bulbus. C. — Coelia ; ventricle of the 

 brain. Cd. — Condylus. Co. — Columna. Cn. — Ca- 

 nalis. Cp. — Corpus. Cm. — Corona. Cr. — Crus. Cs. 

 — Commissura. Ctl. — Cartilage Dg. — Digitus, finger or 

 thumb. Dm. — Dimidium ; half. Dt. — Dactylus ; toe, 

 digitus pedis. Dv. — Divisio. F. — Fissura. Fm. — Fo- 

 ramen. Fs. — Fossa. Fsc. — Fascia. Gl. — Glandula. 

 G. — Gyrus; convolution. L. — Lobus. Lc. — Locus. 

 Lg. — Ligamentum. LI. — Lobulus. Ln. — Linea. M. — 

 Musculus. Mb. — Membrana. Math. — Mesarthron ; seg- 

 ment. N. — Nervus. O. — Os. P. — Portio. PI. — 

 Plexus. R. — Recessus. Rg. — Regio. Rm. — Ramus. 

 Rx. — Radix ; root. S. — Sinus. Sb. — Substantia. SI. — 

 Sulcus. Sp. — Spina. Spt. — Septum. T. — Tuber. 

 Tu. — Tuberositas. Tbl. — Tuberculum. Tr. — Tractus. 

 V.— Vena. 



LIST OF NAMES OF PARTS OR FEATURES OF THE 

 BRAIN. 



This list includes between 150 and 160 names. Un- 

 less otherwise stated they apply to the brains of Man 

 and the Domestic Cat. Most of the names refer to more 



* Continued from No. 38, page 1^6, March 19, 1881. 



