44 The American Geologist. jnly, 18(M) 
dertake this ungrateful task arc hound to set 1 1 1 > something 
in place of what they destroy; a fresh scries of terms is 
therefore proposed, but in its construction the original has 
been altered no more than seemed absolutely necessary. 
The following table gives, in the first column, the term- 
now applied by Hyatt tO the successive ontogenetic stag 
in the second column, those which it is here proposed to sub- 
stitute; in the third column the words that may he used in 
ordinary literature, when technical Strictness is not consid- 
ered necessary. Some may think that the better known 
words of tlie third column, or their equivalents in the various 
European languages, should suffice for the purpose; hut sci- 
entific precision demands terms that do not already possess 
some more general meaning, that can he transferred with 
ease into other tongues, and that lend themselves to the for- 
mation of suitable compounds. 
Hyatt Here proposed Literary equivalents 
1. Embryologic Embryonic Embryonic 
2. Xaepionic Brephic Infantine or Larval 
3. Nealogic Neanic Adolescent 
4. Ephebolic Ephebic Adult or Mature 
5. Geratologic Gerontic Senile 
a Clinologic Catabatic Declining 
b Nostologic Hypostrophic Atavic 
Etymological Remarks on the Above Table. 
1 Embryonic. The term "Embryologic" means ••connected 
with the study of the embryo.'* Hyatt, however, did not 
wish to say "A stage connected with the study of the em- 
bryo.'" but "A stage connected with the embryo:" otherwise 
••Embryonic stage." a phrase well understood and in ordinary 
use. 
2 Brephic. The first term used by Hyatt for this stage. 
was "Silphologic," which, besides being open to the same ob- 
jection as "Embryologic," was apparently derived from a 
word that meant either a cockroach or a bookworm, neither 
ol' which have any obvious connection with the subject. It 
was in a footnote to Mr. Jackson's paper of 1888, quoted 
above, that Hyatt substituted tin term "Nepionic." Were 
this a Greek word we should hi- glad to retain it; it is. how- 
ever, only an impossible corruption of vi'/ttk^. made still 
worse by the spelling "nsepionic" which Hyatt and Beecher 
now affect. As then- is no other word connected with vijitios 
that can be readily anglicised, we have adopted the word 
