140  Editorial  Notes  and  Comments.  {AmMi?cb;f9oo.rm; 
"  Serpentaria. — Add  A.  Nashii,  Kearney. 
'*  Spigelia. — Tropical  species  should  be  tested.  They  are  appar- 
ently very  good,  and  should  be  added.  It  will  be  hard  enough, 
even  then,  to  meet  the  demand  with  a  genuine  article. 
"  Strophanthus.— Restrict  to  5.  Komb'e. 
"  Viburnum  prunifolium. — Add  V.  Lentago. 
"  Viburnum  opulus  ought  to  be  dropped. 
"  Xanthoxylum. — I  think  Engler  is  correct,  as  to  the  Southern 
species  representing  a  different  genus." 
Medical  Nomenclature. — The  nomenclature  question  in  all  the 
sciences  and  arts  is  one  of  the  greatest  moment.  In  medicine, 
apparently,  it  is  in  a  similar  chaotic  condition.  The  terms  used 
are  at  best  only  symptomatically  descriptive,  and  it  is  conceded 
not  without  reason  that  medical  nomenclature  should  have  an 
etiological  rather  than  a  symptomatic  basis.1 
In  an  extended  communication  on  this  subject,  Dr.  A.  F.  McKen- 
zie2  considers  it  likely  that  most  new  words  of  the  future  will  be 
coined  by  medical  men  connected  with  the  great  medical  centres 
where  scientific  research  is  carried  on.  In  regard  to  the  spelling  of 
words,  which  is  closely  connected  with  the  subject  of  nomenclature, 
the  changes  proposed  by  G.  M.  Gould3  some  years  ago  have  been 
adopted  by  many  authors. 
Universal  Language  in  Medicine. — While  Latin  is  the  recog- 
nized universal  language  in  the  sciences,  it  appears  that  in  medicine 
each  nation  not  only  has  its  own  home  nomenclature,  but  has  em- 
ployed its  own  language  in  communicating  the  ideas  of  the  physicians 
to  one  another  as  well  as  to  other  nations.  Some  have  advised  the 
adoption  of  the  modern  Greek  as  being  suitable  for  a  universal  lan- 
guage in  medicine.  Dr.  A.  F.  McKenzie2  suggests  that  the  English 
language,  although  probably  greatly  altered,  may  become  the  medium 
of  exchange  of  ideas  in  medicine  as  well  as  in  commerce.  It  is  safe 
to  say  that  a  universal  language  must  be  the  result  of  natural 
growth  and  fostered  by  influences  outside  of  medicine. 
English  Abbreviations. — In  the  Formulary  of  the  Philadelphia 
Hospital,  published  on  p.  131,  of  this  Journal,  it  will  be  noted  that, 
1  Southern  California  Practitioner ;  1898,  p.  353. 
2  Dominion  Medical  Monthly ;  1899,  p.  233, 
3  Philadelphia  Medical  News,  1893,  June  17. 
