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NEW ANATOMICAL
NOMENCLATURE*
Printed by John Brown,? Anchor Close, Edinburgh, J
NEW ANATOMICAL
NOMENCLATURE,
RELATING TO
THE TERMS WHICH ARE EXPRESSIVE OF
POSITION AND ASPECT
IN THE
ANIMAL SYSTEM.
By JOHN BARCLAY, M.D.
LECTURER ON ANATOMY, AND
HONORARY MEMBER OF THE ROYAL PHYSICAL SCCIETYj
EDINBURGH.
QVTi Ti^yrif ovTt coftv) iq.iy.rov, it /u.y /u.y.$y Tig.
AHMOKPAT. OIAOXO*. rNflM. XFT2.
(EfchtSurgfj t
PRINTED FOR ROSS AND BLACKWOOD, SOUTH BRIDGE STREE" AND T. N. LONGMAN AND O. REES, LONDON.
l80 2,
TO
Da THOMAS THOMSON,
V LECTURER ON CHEMISTRY, EDINBURGH.
Dear Sir,
I could not hefitate a moment about the Perfon to whom I {liquid dedicate the following EfTay. Our long and intimate friendfhip, with our frequent conventions up- on the advantages that might be derived from a New Anatomical Nomenclature, led me unavoidably to think of You. Whether the Public will approve or condemn the attempt I have made, or whether they will even deign to take notice of it, I pretend not to fay. But be that as it will, the favourable opinion of a Friend whom I highly refpect, of one fo
generally
vi Dedication.
generally known as You are, and of one fo eminently diftinguifhed for learning, fcience, and accurate obfervation, will, I can aflure You, ever be a fource of inward fatisfadion to.
My Dear Sir,
Your's very lincerely,
JOHN BARCLAY.
Edinburgh, "I April 20. 1803. J
CONTENTS.
CONTENTS,
Introduction Page i
CHAP. I. On Language and its Kinds • • * * 47
CHAP. II. On the changes of Language ......... 62
CHAP. III. Technical Language fhould be diftincT: from the Language of the People ....;... 86
CHAP. IV, Technical Language of Anatomy ...... 94
CHAP. V. On Terms relating to Pofition and Afpect 112
CHAP. VI. New Terms relating to Pofition and Af- pecl 1 19
CHAP.
V1U CONTENTS.
CHAP. VII.
The New Terms enumerated .<.».... i6l
Sect. i. By a change of Termination may- be ufed Adverbially . 165
Sect. 2. By another Change may exprefs
Connection . 16S
Sect. 3. By another Change may be made
to enter into Compoiition • . . 174
Sect. 4. Divifion of the Sanguiferous Sy- llem into two Parts, and new Names . 176
Explanation of the Plates .„.,.. 179
NEW
INTRODUCTION.
r-p
1 he chemical analyfis of the fprings, wheels, and pivots of a watch, never can explain its movements, nor its ufes; nor the chemical an- alyfis of the bones, mufcles, blood-veffels, and nerves, their functions in the animal. Many of the functions depend evidently on mechani- cal caufes, and many more originate in a caufe which feems to be neither chemical nor me- chanical.
In every living organifed ftructure, there is plainly a power that preferves, regulates, and controls the whole ; directing at firft the different procerTes in forming one part of the organs, afterwards employing the affiftance of the organs which it has formed to produce more, till at laft it completes the whole of the fyftem in fuch a manner as to fuit its future conveniences and wants. In thefe operations wre fee it obferving determinate proportions, A mag-
2 INTRODUCTION.
magnitudes, forms, numbers, &c. ; marking the times, feafons, and circumftances for every change in ftru&ure or function ; daily conti- nuing to fupply the parts in proper time and in due proportion with the vigour of life; and carefully repairing their waftes and their inju- ries, till the period fixed for their final diflblu- tion. This power, or rather this agent, phyfio- logiils have named the vital principle; though not a few are inclined to fuppofe it, to be the effecT:, rather than the caufe, of the organization. They adopt an hypothefis fimilar to theirs, who3 finding a chemift always in his laboratory, are led to imagine that it could not be he who formed the laboratory, but the laboratory, on the contrary, that formed him. At the fame time, we mould err egregioufly if we afcribed the plan of the fyftem to this vital principle. In conftru&ing the body, it acls, not like the chemift, with any defign or forefight of its own ; but, in all operations that are per- formed without either volition or confciouf- nefs, appears fubordinate to a much high- er Power — to that almighty and omnifcient
Being,
INTRODUCTION. 3
Being, who difpenfes his laws to the boundlefs univerfe, and whofe laws, except by Himfelf, can never be improved, altered, nor abrogated. As in every fpecies of living body, the indi- viduals are, bating the ufual differences of fex, all conftructed in the fame way ; and the vi- tal principle always confined in its operations to fpecific forms, ftructures, and organs, and fpecific modes of connection and arrange- ment-— it neceffarily follows, that there muft be as many vital principles, fpecifically di- ftinct, as there are fpecies of organifed ftruc- tures. The various phenomena in which they agree, and in which they differ, are to be learned in fludying their functions, manners, and habits, and in examining and compa- ring the ftructures which they produce : For, like to oxygen, hydrogen, and azot, which act fo very important. a part in the economy of Nature, they are known only from their ef- fects ; and however anxious thofe may be, who can trull only to the evidence of fenfe, to fee, handle, tafte, and fmell them, they have ne- ver yet been detected nor examined in a fepa- A 2 • rate
4 INTRODUCTION.
rate ftate, and probably never will, unlefs the belief and conviction of mankind, in this re- fpecl, appear an object of greater importance to the Author of Nature than they feem to have been hitherto.
With a knowledge of fuch different caufes operating within us, we, in all phyfiological in- vestigations, mould carefully diftinguifh between what is chemical, mechanical, and vital ; and endeavour to afcertain, by due experiment and obfervation, the part which each acts in the fyf- tem, and how they ufually oppofe, affift, and regulate one another for the general good. But to make thefe experiments and obfervations, we ftiould likewife know how to examine and accurately defcribe organifed ftructures. This information we are naturally led to ex peel from anatomy ; while, unfortunately, anatomy has not always in its power to give what we look for. A curfory glance muft demonftrate to any one, that thefe ftructures are complex and va- ried ; that much depends on pofition and di- rection, on relative fituation, connection, and afpedfc ; and that no clear or accurate defcrip-
tion
INTRODUCTION. 5
tion can poffibly be given, where a language is wanting to exprefs thefe circumftances. Such a language, it is much to be regretted, is not at prefent known in anatomy ; although the want of it has often been felt, often complain- ed of, and partial attempts frequently made to remedy the evil.
The vague ambiguity of fuch terms asfupe- rior, inferior, anterior, pojlerior, &c. has been felt and acknowledged by every perfon the lead verfant in anatomical defcription. Vicq D'A- zyr, who faw the confufion with which they were attended in comparative anatomy, had refolved to reject them as definite characleriftic expreffions ; and perhaps had he ferioufly thought of their confequences, would have re- jected them as occasional adjuncts. But with all refpect for fo great a man, he faw more clearly to point out the error than to remove it. His terms occipital, fyncipital, and fron- tal, to denote three afpects of the head, are borrowed from bones, none of which are ever confined to a fingle afped \ and his ufe of A 3 com-
6 INTRODUCTION.
compounds, in which prepoiitions, with a fenfe equivalent to our under, above, and before, enter as parts, was fcarcely more than exchanging an old error for a new. His divifion of the body into numerous regions different from thofe ex- preffed by fuperior, inferior, &c. and with the intention to get quit of thefe terms, has been equally unfuccefsful. The divifion on which they are founded is natural; and fhown, by experience, to be not only convenient and ufe- ful, but even necefTary. It was not therefore the divifion that was faulty, but the expref- fion ; and D'Azyr, notwithstanding his new arrangement, is often obliged to recur to the old, and make ufe of the language which he had condemned.
Chauffier, in his Tabular View of the Ske- leton, exprefTes pofition by a reference to the parts in vicinity or contact. Thus the two extremities of the clavicle axejlernal and aero- mial; the two of the humerus, fcapular and ulnar ; the two of the ulna, humeral and car- pal; the rows of the carpus, radial and meta- carpal; and the two extremities of the meta- carpus,
INTRODUCTION. 7
carpus, carpal and digital. When he comes, however, to the digital phalanxes, and wants the neceflary terms of diftinction, he is forced to invent for the firft, fecond, and third, or what I would call the proximal, medial, and diftal phalanxes, the terms phalange, phalangine, and phalangette. This method of expreffing pofi- tion by a reference to the parts in vicinity or contact, has long been known, though hither- to too fparingly employed. It is attended with peculiar advantages in minute defcription, and is a part of the general plan which is recom- mended in the following Effay. But though ufeful in its place, it muft be obvious that it does not fuperfede the general divilion into thofe regions denoted by the words fuperior, in- ferior, &c. We defcribe not a country by enu- merating all thofe that furround it ; we wifh to know how each part lies with refpecl to the eaft, weft, fouth, and north, and all their fub- ordinate divifions in the compafs ; and to fa-. tisfy the mind, muft alfo be informed of what is its general fituation on the globe. Although I be told that one extremity of the clavicle is A 4 Jlernal
8 INTRODUCTION.
Jlernal and the other acromial, I may Hill whir to know what is the afpecl: of thefe two with regard to the trunk, and what are the afpecls of its other four fides. More general divifions here become neceffary ; and Chauffier therefore, as well as D'Azyr, who found the neceffity of fuch divifions, is likewiie obliged to have re- courfe to the old terms fuperior, inferior, he. ; or to ufe compounds of which prepofitions e- quivalent to before, under, above, conftitute a part.
In the following EfTay I have retained the ufual divifions, and ventured only to change their nomenclature: the intelligent reader muft decide on the merits of the change propofed. The general views by which 1 was guided are explained in fome preliminary difcuflions on the nature of language and of nomenclatures, particularly the nomenclature of anatomy. And fhould what I have done be compared to a building, it may be faid that the general plan of the fabric is new, the feveral apartments more regular and uniform, more convenient, and ex- tenfively ufeful ; at the fame time that mofl
of
INTRODUCTION. 9
of the materials, and fome fubordinate parts of the work, were already prepared, and are only new-modelled and arranged, to fuit the defign and outline of the ftructure. The terms indeed which are here fuggeiled are chiefly confined to the expreflion of pofition and af- pect ; but are fo contrived as to form an inde- pendently diflincl nomenclature for general de- fcription in all the different branches of anato- my, and may be ufed while the other names continue as they are. Should they fortunate- ly meet with the approbation of the public, I (hall afterwards (how their application in de- tail ; and add, on a general and connected plan, the nomenclatures of the Bones, Muscles, Blood-vessels, Nerves, Ligaments, &c.
In the names of the Bones few changes will be introduced : there is no good or rational objection to their ufual arrangement into bones of the head, trunk, and extremities-; and tho' fome of their names might have had originally different meanings, yet as they have long ceafed to convey them, and are now entirely appropria- ted
10 INTRODUCTION.
ted to anatomy, it would anfwer no reafonable end to run back to the aeras of antiquity, and to conjure up ghofts and fpe&res from obli- vion to confound and embarrafs them in their prefent office. The depreflions and procefTes of the different bones may probably require fome kind of arrangement, as thofe of different forms and ufes are at prefent exprefled by the fame term,
In the names of the Muscles it will eafily be forefeen that more changes will be found ne- cefTary. Some are diftinguifhed by fuch epi- thets as fuperior, inferior, anterior, pofterior ; fome by the epithets oblique and flraight ; fome by the epithet ferraius or ferrate 'd ; fome by e- pithets defcriptive of their form, which, if they be ufed as arbitrary terms, and have cealed to convey any allufion, are harmlefs enough ; but if they happen to convey an allufion, or refer to characters that are found only in the human body, they naturally become a fource of am- biguity, and when limited in fenfe can feldom be extended to comparative anatomy.
Some
INTRODUCTION- II
Some names are a kind of defcriptions, pretending to explain ufes and functions, which thofe who impofed them did not un- derftand. In all cafes thefe defcriptions are extremely imperfect ; often are falfe ; and fhould we creduloufly receive them as com- plete, and proceed to reafon upon them as data, they muft always lead to erroneous conclufions. On this principle fome mufcles are named pronators and fupinators of the ra- dius; fome flexors and extenfors of the car- pus ; as if thefe were the only mufcles con- cerned in performing fuch movements. Now every anatomift certainly knows, that all the digital flexors and extenfors that arife from the humerus or fore- arm, muft like wife be flexors and extenfors of the carpus ; that the fublimis, the radial flexor, and palmaris longus, affift in pronation ; that the fupinator radii longus brings the arm to the middle pofition, be- tween pronation and fupination, and then adls as a flexor of the fore- arm ; that the bi- ceps, attached to the fcapula and radius, is
an
12 INTRODUCTION.
an extenfor of the humerus, a flexor of the ra- dius, and one of the moil powerful of its fupi- nators; while other mufcles, as the extenfor ter- tii internodii pollicis, although indirectly, occas- ionally affifts it, in that office. From the variety therefore of functions, in which mufcles attached to the bones are ufually concerned, every name impofed with a view to denote thefe functions muft either be uncommonly long, or extreme- ly imperfect, with regard to defcription ; and if any fuch be retained in anatomy, it ought to be intimated that the function implied is mere- ly the function that characterifes it, and not the only one it performs.
Of all the names that have been hitherto im- pofed on the mufcles, the beft are thofe which are made to diftinguilh them by their origin and infertion, or the attachments at their op- pofite extremities. This was certainly demon- ftrated by Window ; although the great and accurate Albinus, who had the writings of Window before him, feems to have thought fctherwife. Moft anatomifts are pleafed with
fuch
INTRODUCTION. . 13
fuch names as flylo-gloflus ■, ftylo-hyoideus, fly- lo-pharyngeus ; and have often regretted that all other mufcles were not named- and diftin- guifhed in a fimilar manner. It was to com- ply with this general wifh, and their own opi- nions upon the fubjec% that Chauflier and Du- mas have, each on thefe principles, given us a new nomenclature for the mufcels ; although, in the execution of their plan, they perhaps have not fully anfwered expectations. Unfor- tunately imagining, that a principle, if right, could not be carried too great a length, they feem to have forgotten the old, though juft, ob- fervation of the poet, that
Eft modus in rebus; funt certi denique fines, Ultra citraque nequit confiftere re6tum.
Such names are admirably calculated for muf- cles that have only a fimple origin and a fimple infertion ; but where the origins and infer- tions are numerous, the name that pretends to enumerate the whole muft often run out to the length of a fentence. It will therefore be dif- ficult to reconcile the anatomift to fuch names
as
14 INTRODUCTION.
as, Sterna- cofto-clavio-humeral, Pterigo-fyndef* mO'ftaphili-pharyngien, Sus-fpini-fcapulo-trochi- terien, Sus-optico-fpheri-fcloroticien, Occipiti- dorfo-clavi-fus-acromien #.
As names were intended to mark objects in a general way, with a view to fuperfede the tedi- oufnefs of defcription, to accelerate intercourfe, and to make our language keep pace with our ideas; any attempt to reverfe the procedure, to check the natural ardour of the mind, to retard its operations, and increafe the difficulty of lite- rary intercourfe, appears to be rather a retro- grade flep in the way of improvement. Birth, marriage, funeral, and triumph, are four words each of them denoting a group of circumftances. Now fuppofe we intended to inform our hear- ers that we had been witneffing fuch groups of ceremonies ; and that, inftead of the gene- ral
* Pe&oralis Major; the Pterigo pharyngeus, the Syndef- mo pharyngeus, the Staphyle pharyngeus, or including all under one name, Con ftrictor fuperior ; Suprafpinatus; the Rectus fuperior, or Levator oculi ; Trapezius,
INTRODUCTION". 15
ral names, we made ufe of minute and parti- cular defcriptions, the day would fail before we could inform them that we had been wit- neffing a birth, a marriage, a funeral, and a triumph.
Many names in Dumas are liable alfo to an- other objection: Beiides admitting fuch words as intus, extus, intra, extra, fus, and fous, he has often founded his names on circumftances that are peculiar to the human fpecies. Mufcles of limilar fituations and functions have not the like origins and infertions in all animals; and if we mould always vary the name with the varying circumftances on which it is founded, we (hould often imagine things to be different which in all effential points are the fame.
In many cafes a different arrangement would exhibit the origin and infertion of mufcles without the affiftance of long names. Sup- pofe that one genus of mufcles were the muf- cles attached to the humerus by infertion, it would furely be unneceifary to mention this circumftance in the name of every individual
mufcieo
i6 Introduction.
mufcle. Suppofe, again, that thefe mufcles of the humerus were fubdivided, according to their origins, into mufcles of the fpine, fternwn, clavicle, and fcapula, it would be equally un- necessary, after knowing what mufcles origi- nate in the fcapula and terminate in the hume- rus, to repeat the information in the name of each mufcle. Would it not be fufficient, after knowing where they originate and terminate, to mark them by fome individual diilindion, which would not require a very long name? nor would it be neceffary to mark every individual diftinc- tion, but the moil obvious and chara&eriftic, leaving all the reft to be noticed in the hiftory and the defcription. Thus fterno-humeral, or fterno-uumeren, could poffibly lignify no other mufcle than the pecloralis major ; although this mufcle, upon examination, would be found to originate, not only from the fternum, but ribs and clavicle ; two origins, which might be omitted at leaft in the name, as they are common to fome other mufcles inferted in the humerus, to the deltoid for inltance, which
arifes
INTRODUCTION. 17
arlfes from the clavicle, and latiffimus dorfi, part of which arifes from the ribs.
The mufcles have been clafTed according to their flrata, and according to the different re- gions which they occupy for the purpofe of diffection ; they have alfo been clafTed, by Cow- per and others, according to the bones in which they are inferred; while Winflow, to fhow a more general connection, has, in regu- lar order, enumerated the bones, with their mufcular attachments, whether by origin or by infertion. This method, if the mufcles which originate and the mufcles which termi- nate in every bone had been feparately arran- ged, would have fuperfeded the neceffity of Cowper's, and would itfelf have been greatly improved, had the remaining attachments of the mufcles been exhibited according to their origin and infertion in lateral columns. To illuflrate the idea which I mean to convey, fuppofe that we took the mufcles of the hume- rus by way of example, I would form, in the firft place, three diftincT: columns, as reprefent- ed in the following Scheme.
B MUSCLES
It
INTRODUCTION-
MUSCLES OF THE HUMERUS.
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INTRODUCTION. 19
The middle column to contain all the mufcles belonging to the humerus by infertion or origin : the mufcles inferted to be placed firft, and the mufcles originating to follow next, and their names to be printed in a different character, the more readily to ftrike the eye. — The column on the left to contain the origins of the mufcles in- ferted, and the other origins which the mufcles originating may happen to poffefs beiides the humerus. — The column on the right to contain the terminations of all the mufcles that originate in the humerus partially or wholly ; and any terminations, mould there be fuch, that they chance to pofTefs in common with the hume- rus.— In all the columns the connections by ori- gin to be printed in one character, and thofe by termination to be printed in another ; but with this truth always in view, that the origin of a mufcle means nothing more than what is in general its molt fixed point; and that the part in which it terminates may, by the action of other mufcles, be occalionally made the mofl fixed of the two: thus the fcapula, for inftance, B 2 by
20 INTRODUCTION*
by reverfing the order, may fometimes b£ made to move on the humerus, and the hume- rus on the fore-arm, by the fame mufcles that made the fore- arm to move on the humerus, and the humerus on the fcapula.
A tabular view of this kind would exhibit a very general connection and mutual depen- dence of various movements, though it would not be fufficient to explain the motions of the animal fyftem. In this Eflay I have given fome idea of the numerous combinations into which the mufcles are capable of entering ; although thefe Combinations are not fo numerous as the various pofitions which they produce : For fup- pofe that the fore-arm, during its flexion, fhould defcribe, by the points of the fingers extended, the fegment of a circle, of which the elbow- joint is the centre, that fegment may be di- vided into more than a hundred thoufand parts, eaiily diftinguifhable by the naked eye : Now at each of thefe parts the flexor and extenfor^ by acting with equal degrees of force, can ar- reft the motion, and retain the arm in as many
thoufand
' / INTRODUCTION. 21
thoufand different poiitions. From this we may be able to form fome idea, though vague and general, of the immenfe variety of poiitions which a fmall number of mufcles can produce, that are capable of entering into fome millions of different combinations ; feeing that two, confined entirely to the fimple motion of flexion and extenlion, on the fame plane, can produce fo many.
The names which allude to the functions of mufcles, and thofe which diftinguifh them by origin and infertion, have, from an opinion that they were data, which, with little addi- tion, were fufficient to explain the animal mo- tions, been generally deemed of more im- portance than they really are. An accurate knowledge of their feveral attachments is cer- tainly neceffary; but as moil of the motions are in the diagonal of different forces, and per- formed by a number of mufcles at a time, to underftarid thefe motions completely, we mould know all the organs concerned, the joints and the ligaments, as well as the mufcles ; and of B 3 the
22 INTRODUCTION.
the mufcles, not only their names, their origins, and infertions, but their relative ftrength, poll- tion, and direction, and efpecially how they combine and co operate ; and if we undergo all this trouble, in order to explain the animal motions, we ought furely to know what we are in fearch of, and be able to fay what thefe mo- tions are. The firft thing then to be done is to find out the motions ; to clafs, arrange, and diftinguifh them by names, from our remarks on the living body, where they are bed obfer- ved and afcertained. The anatomift and phy- fiologift, in examining the fubject, have then to point out, in their demonstrations, how each is produced, and by what organs. The head, to make ufe of the common language, moves for- wards, backwards, to each fide, and in all the intermediate directions ; I would a&here, How thefe different motions are performed, and by what mufcles ? Let us take, for example, the mo- tion forwards; and not to confufe the defcrip- tion with too minute an inveftigation, let us fup- pofe that the fterno-rnaftoids alone perform that
motion.
INTRODUCTION, 23
motion. The fternal extremities of the clavicles, to which they are attached, muft firft be fixed by the intercoftals and abdominal mufcles; and the fcapular extremities by the mufcles of the fcapula, humerus, and thetwofubclavii. Suppofe now that the fterno-maftoids are ready to act, and to bring the head in the diagonal between their forces, What are the mufcles employed to prevent the lateral and rotatory motions of the neck ? What are the mufcles oppofed to the action of the fterno-maftoids, and to limit their effects, if it be necefiary to fix the pofition ? What are the mufcles if we ftand erect that balance the body upon thus changing the pofi- tion of the head ? and, What is the manner in which they co-operate in order to produce what is intended? Were we accuftomed to put fuch queftions frequently to ourfelves with regard to the motions and pofitions of the fyf- tem, and to ftudy their anfwers, we might foon acquire a more perfect knowledge of mufcular action than we have at prefent ; be better pre- pared to treat cafes of luxations and fractures ; B 4 and
24 INTRODUCTION.
and to place the parts in eafier attitudes after reduction. Our progrefs, too, would be great- ly facilitated by a tabular view of the principal politions and motions of the fyftem, exhibiting Under each the feveral mufcles that act- as fix- ers, motors, antagoniils, directors; and leaving the manner in which they combine to produce their diagonal or compound motions; the man- ner in which their levers are lengthened or fhortened * ; and the manner in which mem- branes, ligaments, articulations, and cartilages, by their ftrength, flrudture, elafticity, or gra- vity,
* The variation of the centre of motion between two antagonift mufcles ; the confequent change that necefTarily takes place in the relative length of their two levers ; the manner in which their mechanical power is thereby either increased or diminifhed ; and the manner in which their contra&ile power is made to undergo a fimilar change by the convexity or concavity of the joints over which they pafs to the place of their infertion — are all curious fubje&s of inquiry, and if underftood might illuftrate many interefK ing phenomena in the animal ceconomy.
INTRODUCTION. Jg
vity, confpire to limit, regulate, or antagonife them, to be explained in a feparate defcrip*- tion.
The celebrated Winflow had a general idea of fuch a plan, when he divided the motions of the fyftem into thofe of the head, trunk, &c. and under each enumerated the feveral muf- cles concerned, with their attachments. But although he knew, he has not exprefTed the neceflary connection between diflant motions in preferving the equilibrium and poiition ; nor has he divided the motions of the parts in- to different kinds, nor mown how the mufcles combine and co-operate in performing each, by producing their effects in various diago- nals.
In the Vascular System comparatively few' changes will be neceffary, with refpect either to names or arrangement. Many of the vefTels are well named from their fituation, or from the or- gans on which they are ramified ; but improperly diftinguifhed by fuch epithets asfuperior, infe- rior,
2,6 INTRODUCTION.
rior, anterior, poflerior% &c. and fometimes not diftinguifhed at all by fuch epithets as humeral and femoral, that occafionally are employed to exprefs two very different relations. Thus an artery is humeral when it runs along the courfe of the humerus, and likewife humeral when it enters the bone to fupply it with nourifh- ment.
When they are diftinguifhed by the epithet of the organ on which they are ramified, it often happens when the organ has, or has had, two names, that the name of the artery alludes to the one which is leaft in ufe, or to one that is obfolete. Thus the arteries and nerves of the diaphragm are called phrenic, containing an allufion to its old name phren. The arteries of the flomach are all gaftric, and thofe of the omentum all epiploic, referring to the names gafler and epiploon. In the fame way, a mufcle of the tongue, one of the branches of the fifth pair of nerves, and the large ar- tery, are all lingual, from an allufion to its Latin name lingua; while its other mufcles-
and
INTRODUCTION. 2J
and nerves are gloffal, from an alluiion to its Greek name glojfa.
To remove this redundancy of language, eve- ry organ mould have one name, and but one only ; and to that name the a-llufions contain- ed in the names of its mufcles, nerves, arteries, &-c. ought to refer. In determining, however, which of the names ought to be retained, fome difcretion will certainly be requifite. For my own part, I would always prefer that name which, ceteris paribus, is likely to be attended with the feweft changes in the prefent nomen- clature. Thus I would prefer glojfa to lingua, as mod of the references there are to the Greek, and exprefled in compounds of the Greek lan« guage, none of whofe parts would fo readily unite with the word lingual as they do with gloffal, a, union to which the eye and the ear have both been accuftomed : on the other hand, lingual enters into no compound ufed in ana- tomy, and the term gloffal might be fubftitu- ted for it, with few changes and no inconve- niency.
Another
28 INTRODUCTION.
Another objection to the prefent nomen- clature of the vafcular fyftem is, that ma- ny of the trunks, confidered as wholes, have no names by which they are or can be diftin- guifhed; while the feveral parts of which they are compofed are regularly defcribed as diftinct veffels. Thus we have gotten a fubclavian ar- tery, an axillary artery, and a humeral artery, all parts of the fame trunk, which has not it- felf received any name. We have alfo a com- mon iliac artery, an external iliac artery, a fe- moral artery, and a popliteal, all continuations of another trunk, which likewife, as a whole, ftill remains namelefs. This defect is the lefs excufable, as the nomenclature is already over- loaded with a number of names belonging to trifling and irregular branches ; as may be feen in Murray's defcription of the fmaller branches of the cceliac, ophthalmic, the fubclavian, in- ternal iliac, &c. In thefe defcriptions, it muft be confeffed, he has imitated Haller ; a name whofe influence muft always be great while anatomy is regarded or fludied as a fcience.
But
INTRODUCTION. »9
But Haller, though poffefled of all the learn- ing of the ancients and moderns ; though igno- rant of nothing belonging to anatomy ; though he added many difcoveries of his own; was never furpalTed, and feldom been equalled, in collecting facts, and defcribing them minute- ly— yet was little intent on their general claf- lification and arrangement ; and provided he could enumerate all that was known,*was little difpofed to eftimate the difference between re- gular and irregular appearances, or things of importance and of fmall value.
In the Nervous System flill fewer changes will be necefiary, if we retain their numerical names ; and to thefe names no forcible ob- jection has been made. They exprefs not in- deed the origin, termination, or functions of nerves ; but they mark out the place of the fe- ries in which they pafs through the holes or interftices of the different bones ; and as that feries is clear and diflindt, they are ealily found out on dhTection. A few varieties occur in the
mode
J5 INTRODUCTION.
mode of enumeration ; but they are triflingj and the inconvenience eafily removed. The qireftion here is, Whether or not fliould we begin to enumerate the cervical, dorfal, lumbar, and facral pairs, above or below the firft of the vertebrae in thefe regions ? Say above or below, and tbe bufinefs is fettled ; or let every one follow his own method, the inconveniency will not be great. The feries, taken as a whole, is regular, and we know where it commences and terminates; the only difference is about the commencement and the termination of thefe di- viiions. Dumas, in writing upon this fubject, has confounded two things that are perfectly diftincl. It is not with the nerves as it was with the mufcles, when they were diftinguifh- ed by numerical names : in that cafe there was no feries or order of fucceffion but what was arbitrary; and every anatomift, unlefs when occalionally a little affifted by the ltrata or layers, was left to begin and end the feries of his own creation wherever he pleafed. Af- ter knowing the feries in which the primary
trunks
INTRODUCTION. 31
trunks of the nerves fucceed one another, no names can be more definite than the numeri- cal, they never fail to direct the anatomift to the very fpot where the nerve is to be found ; whence he may afterwards trace it to its ori- gin, or follow its branches to their termina- tion.
I agree with this excellent phyfiologift, that names, founded upon the fuppofed functions of nerves, would be apt to miflead, and be the means of propagating error rather than fcience; but hardly can fee how the trunks of nerves could be named from their origin and termi- nations. The fpecimen he has given in the new name of the olfactory nerve, is no flatter- ing recommendation of his plan. He propofes to diflinguifh the trunk by the tzxmjlriato-na- rinal; the divifion which terminates at the ethmoidal bone by the term Jiriato-narinal-etb- moidien; and the part which is ramified on the pituitary membrane by the tevm Jlriato-narinat- pituitaire. This tirefome repetition of the name of the trunk, in the names of all the divifions
and
32 INTRODUCTION.
and branches, would not only be exceedingly cumbrous, but unneceffary. In the fyftem of Linnaeus, man belongs to the genus homo, to the order of primates, and the clafs of ma?nmalia ; but did it ever enter the mind of that naturalift to fuppofe that the genus would be better ex- prefTed by the term mammale primus homo, than by fimple homo taken by itfelf. A name is one thing, claffification another, and defcription a third. From riot making this neceffary diftinc- tion, Dumas, in trying to impofe names, is conftantly labouring at a fort of claffification and defcription ; fo that his defcriptions are often bad names, and his names more frequent- ly worfe defcriptions.
In the nervous fyftem, if the trunks retain their numerical names, the branches, like thofe of the vafcular fyftem, might be na- med from pofition, or from the organs on which they are ramified. To diftinguifti at leaft fome of the trunks by the name of their origin, and the terminations of their different branches, would fill a page ; or fuppofe that
one
introduction. 33
one termination were preferred, and the reft excluded, this new name could not poffibly convey any idea of the general diftribution and ramification more than the prefent.
To anfwer the purpofes of the medical prac- titioner, and fometimes phyfiologift, the nerves Ihould likewife be claffed in a manner different from that which is ufed by the diffe&or. The difle&or, if he follow a regular method, be- gins at their origin, and then proceeds to their ramifications, where he often finds a number of branches entering and mixing in the fame organ ; a number of branches proceeding from trunks, which are placed at a diftance with re- fped to their origin, and which, in regular anatomical defcription, are not made to follow in the order of fucceffion. On the other hand, the phyfiologift and medical pra&itioner, in treating of the fundtions or difeafes of an organ, muft begin where the anatomift ended ; and in their recollection trace the nerves from their ra- mifications back to their origin, Suppofe the tongue the fubjedl of inquiry, they will try to C recol-
34 INTRODUCTION.
recoiled, What are the nerves with which it is fupplied ? What are the other parts of the fyftem on which thefe are ramified ? What are the other connections which they form? and, What is the refult of thefe con- nections in health and difeafe ? A tabular view, therefore, of the nerves, beginning at their ori- gin, and exhibiting their branchings and an- aftomofes ; and another, commencing at the different organs, afpects, or regions, and retra- cing their connections back to their origin — would be highly ufeful to the medical practi- tioner, the phyfiologift, and comparative ana- tomift. It is true that fomething of this kind has frequently been done in books of anatomy, but not on the fame general plan that is here recommended. The nomenclator, from fuch tables, might alfo derive confiderable advan- tage ; and would fee the -danger of claflifying objects, and of founding names upon a con- tracted view of the fubjedt.
In treating of the Ligaments, fome other
divifion
• INTRODUCTION. 35
divifion feems to be neceffary befides that in- to ligaments of the hard and ligaments of the foft parts ; while a fubdivifion merely, ac- cording to the regions which they occupy, confounds together things that are different, not only in form, but in ftruclure and func- tion ; though if an arranged and general view were flrft given of the different kinds belong- ing to the bones, mufcles, and vifcera, a de- fcription of each, according to the feveral re- gions which they occupy, would then be not only natural but proper. Thus plants and ani- mals, in the fyftem of Linnaeus, are firft arran- ged by fome common properties; and then the climates, countries, or places which they in- habit, are ufually mentioned if they be known. But in treating of the general connections of the fyfcem, the viewT is imperfect, if we do not likewife confider how far, and in what man- ner, the fkin, the cellular fubftance and muf- cles, the nerves, the blood- velTels, and the ab- forbents, contribute their fhare in fupporting and forming the general union ; nor is it only C 2^ this
3& INTRODUCTION.
this fpecies of union, but every connection or relation whatever among the organs, that we ought to ftudy and carefully examine, if we mean to explain the fymptoms of difeafe, and many of the lingular phenomena of fympathy. Connection, or at leafi a degree of relation, arifes from mere fituation and attachment; from being concerned in the fame motions or the fame pofitions; from being fupplied by the fame nerves, the fame arteries, the fame veins, or the fame abforbents ; from being en- veloped in the fame membrane ; from having fomewhat of a fimilar ftru&ure, or fimilar pro- perties, with regard to external or internal a- gents ; and not unfrequently from being con- cerned in the fame functions. Thus the fkin, the internal furface of the lungs, the inteftinal canal, and the kidneys, befides performing their peculiar offices, all co-operate in difchar- girig a noxious fluid from the fyftem ; and when one of them ceafes to perform its fhare, a greater proportion of the bufinefs or labour falls upon the reft, till every one, communica- ting
INTRODUCTION. 37
ting as it were its diftrefied fituation to the parts conne&ed, and thefe to the parts con- nected with them, the alarm becomes general ; all feel and all act as if interefted in a com- mon caufe ; and all co operate in refilling the difeafe, or in their attempts to reftore health.
Thefe ideas of extended connexion ihould prevent the nomenclator from impofing names that allude to limited or partial functions ; and ihould naturally lead to this obfervation, that can hardly be too often repeated, that we want, not merely terms in anatomy, but gene- ral and connected views, a diftinct claffification and arrangement ; and that the nomenclature ought to be fo formed as beft to promote and facilitate the attainment of thefe objects. In our prefent nomenclature, to give but an in- ftance of this inaccuracy in claffification, what a llrange variety of organs, differing in form, ftructure, and ufes, is exprefled by the words ventriculus and Jinus.
Partial attempts to amend this nomencla-
ture? and with a view to particular objects,
C 3 have,
3B INTRODUCTION.
have, inflead of improving it, been only the means of loadening it with fynonymes that were, already by far too numerous. Every intentional change in a language ought to be made with caution and care, and on general principles that regard the whole : thefe principles ihould likewife be fully ex- plained to the public, that they may be able to judge of their importance: " for however de- lirabie it might be, fays Degerando, to pofTefs a language perfectly methodical, it would be an event exceedingly deplorable if, under eve- ry frivolous pretext, we were to be infefted v with the reftlefs mania of making nomencla- tures. If every profelfor, for inftance, in his lectures, or every author in his writings, mould, on flight occanons, think himfelf intitled to in- troduce a new language of his own creation ; from fuch a mixture of different idioms, the confequence would be, that, inftead of having a methodical language, wTe at laft mould have no language at all. The diffulion of know- ledge, from being accelerated, would be retard- ed
INTRODUCTION. 39
ed or entirely interrupted ; difputes would originate on every fide ; and the literary world foon become a prey to all the confufion of dif- trefsful anarchy*."
I am fully fenfible, and will readily ac- knowledge, that no changes in our prefent nomenclature ought to be made without weighty and important reafons; and that thefe changes fhould never be extended beyond what are its errors and defe&s. It were to be wifhed that even the mod weighty and impor- tant reafons had influence fufficient to remove thefe : for the fame Degerando, who faw that Reafon was often vanquifhed in its contefts with Prejudice, proceeds to obferve — " That whatever the merits of a language may be, if it once has received the fan&ion of time and the fuffrages of mankind, the philofopher will find it no eafy matter to change or improve it. He may, if he choofe, demonftrate its faults G 4 and
* Des Signes et de l'Art de Penfer confideres dans leur Rapports rautuels. 3d Vol. p. 196.
4<D INTRODUCTION.
and its imperfections ; but if he prefume to of- fer to the world the model of another, though more regular and fyftematic, there is no quar- ter from which he has not to expedt, oppoli- tion. He will have, in this daring and hardy attempt, to combat at once the prejudices of the vulgar and pretenfions of the learned. The former will bring in a phalanx againft him ; all thofe ftrong and facred regards that are due to old and eftablifhed cuftoms ; cufloms flip- ported by the conduct of thoufands who have gone before him, and the tacit approbation of illuftrious names who are univerfally held in efteem and high veneration. The leaf! reflec- tion is fufficient to convince us, that their re- collections and their ideas mud reft upon names ; and although erroneoufly, they will aimoft unavoidably, draw the conclufion, that it is impoffible to change the one without like- wife changing the other, and throwing the whole into diforder.
" The learned, on the contrary, will diflike a reform that may appear to confer on its author a fort of dominion over the fcience. They will
grant,
INTRODUCTION. 41
grant, perhaps, that the language propofed is preferable to that already in ufe ; but before they adopt it, they will require a demonftra- tive proof that it is likewife the bed poffible. We ought not, they will fay, to reject a lan- guage already eftablifhed, unlefs we be aflured that the one which is to be fubftituted for it is liable to no fort of objection; or that it will in future preclude the neceflity of new innova- tions. If it Ihould happen to proceed on a fyftem, and that fyftem in any refpecl owe its fupport to difputed facts or contefted opinions, the oppofition will be ftill more violent. Thofe who find their opinions overlooked, or the de- cifion given againft them, will naturally be difpofed to reprobate the whole, and watch opportunities to treat it with invectives. Even former habits with the learned themfelves, if they yield at all, will yield with reluctance ; for there is evidently in the nature of man a ftrong predilection for all thofe means which he has found inflrumentally ufeful in promo- ting his fchemes : and we find the learned, as
well
42 INTRODUCTION.
well as the vulgar, attached to the words which they have long been accuftomed to ufe, and very often in proportion to the labour which they have beftowed on their acquifition.
" Nor are thefe the only fources of difficulty which a new nomenclature has to overcome, or of difappointments which it has to look for. Be they learned or unlearned, the indifferent will treat it with coldnefs and neglect ; the in- decifive will doubt and hefitate, and withhold their opinion till its fate be determined : and although it fhould anfwer the purpofes intend- ed, the invidious will naturally feel hurt at feeing others attaining their object at a lefs expence than they did themfelves ; for in their eftimation, fcience, like a diamond, fhould de- rive its value from its rarity, its price, and the difficulty of procuring it; add to this, that the timid and defponding will, without the trouble of making the diftinction, exprefs a diftrufl in all innovations, and the indolent fee nothing in fuch an improvement but the grievous trouble of learning new terms ; while the man of
words
INTRODUCTION. 43
words will be indignant at the thoughts of a language whofe clearnefs and precifion may check the flow of his loofe declamations, or be the means of detecting his ignorance."
From fuch a concourfe of difpofitions, interefts, and habits, all combining to oppofe the introduc- tion of a new nomenclature, Degerando thinks that its own merit will have little influence in recommending it to notice and attention; and therefore imagines that nothing almoft but the magical power of a celebrated name ; a name infpiring confidence and awe, and whofe very found can filence the paflions, gain prejudices over to its fide, and lead the judgment as it were in chains, will ever be fufficient to fecure to it any thing like a general reception among thofe of the profeflion. But though I muft confefs my high refpect for fuch an authority, I am far, however, from being of opinion that men are fo much the dupes of envy, prejudice, and meannefs, as this author feems to infinuate. — I know well the numerous difficulties which the great difcovery of the circulation had to
encounter ;
44 INTRODUCTION.
encounter \ and what oppofition was for fonie time made to the doctrine of abforbents. But the difference between thefe important difco- veries and a new nomenclature is immenfe. Thefe difcoveries were not forefeen ; the want of them was not felt nor complained of; men were fatisfied with what they knew of the courfe of the blood ; and abforption by the veins was an opinion which they confider- ed as almoft capable of demonftratibn. — A new nomenclature is not to be claffed with thefe important and brilliant difcoveries. In com- parifon with them, it ranks low in the regiflers of Fame. As a work of mere patience and induftry, it afpires to no luftre or eclat, it proinifes no immortality to its author, nor fe- cures to his name any enviable marks of di- ftin£tion ; it is nothing more than what anato- mifts have long wifhed for, a defideratum which they have often attempted to fupply by partial amendments ; and if a whole or com- plete fyftem be ftill wanting, it is probably be- eaufe no anatomift of rank or eminence would
fub.
INTRODUCTION. 45
fubmit to a talk where the drudgery was fo great and the profpect of reputation fo fmall. — This nomenclature is not to be compared with that of Lavoifier ; it eftablifhes no aera in fcience, it announces no great revolution, nor is form- ed with a view to perpetuate any illuftrious difcoveries. — To compare a fmall thing with a great, it bears a much nearer refemblance to the claffification and arrangements of Linnaeus; which though they have greatly facilitated the improvement of every branch of natural hif- tory, yet imply fo little of that enviable cha- racter of genius, that thofe who have impro- ved and enlarged his fyftem, have feemingly thought it no facrifice of their own reputation to allow their large and numerous additions to pafs with the public under his name. But fmall as that credit may be which is attached to a work of mere labour and induftry, the claims of a new anatomical nomenclature can- not be great, even in this view. It cannot pre- tend to inftrucl: the learned, or to give them new ideas of the animal ftru&ure; its in- fluence
0
46 INTRODUCTION,
fluence extends to what mud appear only a fpeck in the map of fcience ; and yet even there, if it fhould facilitate the progrefs of ftu- dy, and remove only a part of the rubbifh that obftruct-s the journey, the author will coniider his object, as attained*
NEW
NEW
ANATOMICAL NOMENCLATURE.
PART I.
Relating to the Terms intended to exprefs Posi- tion and Aspect, in the Animal Syjlem.
CHAP. I.
ON LANGUAGE AND ITS KINDS.
1 he technical terms of an art or fcience are what is meant by a nomenclature. The no- menclature peculiar to anatomy forms the fub- jedfc of the following treatife ; where the merits of that nomenclature are examined, fome im- portant changes propofed, and fome of the ge- neral principles of language previoufly confi-
dered,
48 NEW ANATOMICAL
dered, with a view to illuftrate fome of the reafons on which the propofed changes are founded.
In its primary fenfe, language is a word fy- nonymous with Jpeecb; in a general fenfe, any fpecies of ligns employed as expreffions of our thoughts or fenfations, in the glowing imagery of poetic figure, it is any phenomena prefented by Nature, fpeaking as it were to intelligent minds, and fuggefting ideas which they had not before.
Every language employed by man is one or other of two kinds — it is either natural or ar- tifical. We call it natural, when its figns and meanings are phyfically connected ; when we perceive the force of it by inftinct, and under- ftand it without explanation : We call it arti- ficial, when its figns and meanings have no- thing of this phylical relation ; when the two are conne&ed by fome accidental affociation? or by fome affbciation founded on previous agreement and contract. '
Man, if he chofe, might have five langua- ges.
NOMENCLATURE. 49
ges, correfponding in number to the five fen- fes ; although there be few perhaps who have thought of making a language out of fmells and taftes.
Smells and taftes indicate feveral important properties in animal, mineral, and vegetable fubftances ; and more of fuch properties might, doubtlefs, be difcovered, wrere the fenfes to which thefe figns are addrefTed more gene- rally or ftudioufly cultivated. But both fenfes being rather paflive in the exercife of their functions, the figns addrefTed to them are very little under our management ; and thofe impref- lions which they happen to make on the fentient organs are fo various in various perfons]; fo faint, fo permanent, or fo powerful, that they rather deter than invite curiolity to make the attempt. They are fometimes fo violent as even to affect the ftructure of their organs; and generally raife fo flrong prepoffeflions for or againft them, that the fenfes, under the ftrong influence of afTocia- tion, are forced reluctantly to contract habits by D which
5© LANGUAGE ANB
which the primary impreffions are blunted, and objects made to give pleafure or difguft which formerly excited an oppofite feeling. The fenfes, too, from being contiguous, are in dan- ger of having their impreffions confounded, particularly when the objects prefented exhi- bit both an odour and tafte. For thefe reafons, odours and taftes, however fufceptible of com- bination and variety, and however expreffive of certain diftinctions, have feldom been em- ployed as the vehicles of thought; and the two fenfes, by which they are perceived, feldom cultivated for any noble or valuable purpofe.
The figns of touch, though few in number, and likewife imperfect, have attracted more general attention. At Mecca, and fome other places of the Eaft, merchants employ them as a medium of intercourfe ; thrufting their hands into one another's ileeves, and by means of the ringers converfing together beyond the poffibility of being feen or heard. The deaf employ them by laying their hands on the lips
of
ITS KINDS. 51
of their friends, feeling what is meant, and then returning an anfvver to the touch inftead of the eye, when they wifh to hold converfation in the dark. The cafes, however, are extreme- ly rare where they can be ufed with any ad- vantage : when thofe who converfe are remo- ved to the diftance of a few feet, they become ufelefs ; they, befides, are fo few, fo indiftincl, fo complex, and fo difficultly learned, that mankind, even in the clofeft intercourfe, fel- dom refort to them, unlefs when impelled by the ftrong motives of intereft or neceflity.
The vifible iigns have a much ftronger claim to our notice ; they are of a more elevated na- ture; are more numerous, diftindt, and varied; and, independent of their elegance and beauty, are better calculated to exprefs the modifica- tions of fentiment. They furpafs all others in conveying intelligence to a diftance ; and, ow- ing to the fenfe by which they are difcerned, their entering in groups produces no confu- fion in perception. The eye, w7hich receives them, marks inftantaneoufly the boundaries of D 2 the
5 2 LANGUAGE AND
the whole ; affigns to each its relative iitua- tion, its colour, its form, and its proportion ; performing its office with lingular difpatch, and in general with accuracy.
If vifible figns be not therefore commonly ufed as a language, the fault is not in the organs of vifion ; like thofe of fmell, tafle, and of touch, they are not fufficiently fubjecled to our power; we cannot collect, tranfport, nor appropriate them at pleafure ; we cannot imitate them with- out much labour and ftudy ; and even when the power of imitation is acquired, we cannot fe- parate, combine, and vary the number, the colour, the form* and proportions of their dif- ferent pictures, readily and with eafe. — Gef- tures, indeed, are natural expreffions, but fa- tiguing and tirefome ; depend too much on feeling, on fancy, or the art of mimickry ; and would be, even in a Rofcius or Garrick, too few in number, and too little fufceptible of that variety which is requifite in language.— Ano- ther objection to vifible ligns is, that aim oft all of them, with the exception of thofe that
are
ITS KINDS. 53
are luminous, are imperceptible in the dark, and can only be ufeful during the day, or when artificial light is employed. For thefe reafons vifible figns have been alfo rejecled as a me- dium of intercourfe in the more ordinary oc- currences of life ; fo that of the five fpecies of figns, the audible only have been received in- to general ufe.
As phyfical caufes, audible figns never pro- duce, like odours and taftes, pain, naufea, or vo- miting ; and feldom are fo loud as to injure the organs to which they are addreffed. They are not confined, like the tangible figns, to imme- diate contact; and are not, like the vifible, de- pendent on light ; at the fame time no figns are more numerous, difiincl:, and varied, or fo much under management. We poffefs even a fyftem of organs conftrudied intentionally upon their account ; a fyftem which imitates, cre- ates, combines, feparates, lengthens, fhortens, raifes, lowers, and varies them at pleafure ; a fyftem which, through nervous communica- tions, is made fublervient, and in fome meafure D 3 obedient,
54 IANGUAGE AND
obedient, to the ear ; and a fyftem, therefore, which is prompt to furnim it, not only with the objects of its perception, but to furnifh them likewife of any kind, and in any order, arrange- ment, or variety that fuits its tafte. Nay, what is more, the hands and the feet, which under its directions produce founds in rythmus and mea- fure, would, in cafes of neceflity, prove no im- perfect: inftruments of its language ; but very feldom has it occafion for their affiftance. Its vocal organs are fully adequate for every kind of audible expreffion ; while the power it has of thus procuring founds at its pleafure, does not prevent it from deriving much curious in- formation from the founds emitted by various objects difperfed throughout Nature. By thefe it is often able to diftinguiih the fpecies of an animal, its paffions, and its feelings ; by thefe it often diilinguillies likewife the mineral and vegetable ; and by attending to their nicer fhades and varieties of tone, minute differen- ces, that depend on lingular and abflrufe pro- perties. We then need not wonder that the
ear.
ITS KINDS. 55
car, poffeffing fuch fuperior advantages, fhould form a language more copious, varied, and ex- tenfive, than any addreffed to the other fenfes.
Even written language is the language of the ear ; none of its figns are directly and im- mediately the figns of our ideas, but the figns of founds, to which our ideas are linked and affociated. And here, might I venture on a bold figure, I would almofl fay that written languages are nothing more than the fhadows of the vocal ; for while vocal languages are in that ftate which we call living, their written languages are obferved to follow them flep by flep % to afTume their varying and Proteus forms; and whether ftationary, progreffive, or retrograde, to undergo correfponding changes. Even the written language of China, which did originally, and does flill, in a few cafes, anfwer the purpofes of a pictured language, is, upon the whole, more frequently employed as a fymbol of fpeech : for allowing it to poffefs no fewer than 80,000 different characters, yet that number would be very inefficient to ex- D 4 prefs
56 LANGUAGE AND
prefs all the varieties of historical occurrence^ with the circumftances of time, place, and per- fons ; and would dill lefs be fitted to record the tranfient millions of fleeting generations, as they pafs in fucceffion from the cradle to the grave. Let us only conlider, Where could each period of time, each lake, river, and mountain, and each individual of the human fpecies, find a diftind and appropriate picture among 80,000, or even * 80,000 ? The truth is, each picture Hands for a word ; and the fame picture, like the fame name, may anfwer a million. Nor need we here have recourfe to hypothecs ; we are pofitively allured that thefe charac- ters have gradually become the fymbols of founds ; that occafionally they are ufed like let- ters and fy llables in fpelling words*; that they are made to exprefs rhimes, and are read audibly, juft as the written characters of Eu- rope ; with this difference, that, retaining fomething of their ancient privilege as pictu- red
* Vide Theophili Sigefridi Bayeri, Mufeum Sinicums iPetrepoli editum, 1730. Vol. I. p. 116.
ITS KINDS. 57
red characters, many of them, under a different name, continue to indicate the fame thing in China and Japan.
Some, in tracing the progrefs of writing from pictures to letters, and endeavouring anxi- oufly to fill up the gap, have, after labouring, and labouring in vain, fuppofed, that the lad mufl have been the difcovery of Divine Infpi- ration. This ancient fable of the Egyptians has milled numbers in their refearches. If we look at the pictured records of Mexico*, or afk how fome of the native Americans write their fubfcriptions, we fhall foon be convinced that mod of their pictures reprefented founds ; that the picture of the flower, the plant, and the ani- mal, flood for its name; and-that if a man bore the name of the flower, the plant, or the animal, the picture of the object whofe name he bore was made to reprefent him in writing, but di- ftinguifhed by fome particular mark, to fhow that it was not to be read literally. If he bore the name of two or three objects, all their
pictures
* See Clavigero's Hiftory of Mexico.
58 LANGUAGE AKD
pictures were joined together, and a word com- pofed as of fo many fyllables. A fimilar prac- tice is followed in China ; a great part of their primary words are monofyllabic. All of thefe fyllables have pictures, or rather what were originally pictures; and when you mean to write a word of fo many fyllables, you have only to write the pictures of the fyllables of which it is compofed. Some of thefe fyllables approach near to the elementary founds of our alphabets ; fo that words are fpelt and written in China by the mutilated fragments of the ancient pictures, nearly as we write and fpell them in Europe by means of fyllabic charac- ters and letters.
The firft ffcep therefore in picture or icono- graphical writing was to make the figure ftand for the name of what it reprefented ; the fe- cond, to felecl: thofe names which were mono- fyllabic, and out of their pi&ures to compofe words \ the third, to mark and recollect thofe names which approached near to elementary founds, and out of their piclures to form fyl- lables.
• Ail
ITS KINDS. 59
All thefe fteps, doubtlefs, required much time, and a great deal of labour : But nations live for feveral centuries gradually improving; and as every nation, in the leaft civilized, en- deavours to preferve written records of fome kind or other*, the regular ftudy, the fteady perfeverance, and united efforts of feveral thou- fands for fucceffive generations in the bufinefs of ftate or affairs of commerce, muft have done much in improving an art that was capable of improvement ; while lucky accidents occafion- ally occurring, and the fortunate thoughts of inventive geniufes, muft at times have rapidly accelerated its progrefs until it arrived at fome- thing like perfection. Indeed it is almoft im- poffible to conceive how pictured figures, iig- nificant of founds, could have been prevent- ed, in the hands of an ingenious and induf-
trious
* Notwithftanding the tenets of the Druids, and their prohibition with regard to writing, Caefar informs us, that the Greek letters were in certain cafes ufed by the Gauls ef particijjar provinces.
60 LANGUAGE AND
trious people, from ending gradually in fome alphabet, literal or fyllabic.
Thofe who are fond of traditionary ftories, who ranfack the fabulous records of antiquity to find out the inventors of love, of food, and of clothing, and who have difcovered that beafts and birds were among the contrivers of our arts and manufactures, will not be pleafed to find that writing mould thus have a kind of natural origin. Even fpeech itfelf, though the Author of Nature has generoufly befiwed organs for the purpofe, given us a ilrong incli- nation to ufe them, and an ear to liften to the founds which they utter, would never, in their opinion, have exifted unlefs for fome particular revelation ; for it does not follow in their way of reafoning, that although a man may chance to have gotten a brain and a flomach, hands and feet, and a number of fenfes, he therefore mould know, without being told, what are their natural and appropriate functions.
If writing, they will fay, be a human inven- tion, how comes it that all alphabets feem to be
derived
ITS KINDS. 6l
derived from a common origin ? Should not each nation, on that hypothefis, have formed a di- ftinct alphabet for itfelf ? It certainly mould, and would actually have done fo, had it tried the ex- periment, and not been anticipated in the dif- covery by one more enlightened and early civi- lized. But granting that each had invented an alphabet, and feveral nations lay claim to the honour, the elementary founds of their characters would have been very nearly the fame ; and to an antiquarian or etymologift might appear to have fprung from a com- mon fource : for it is very feldom confidered that ten or a dozen radically diftinct elemen- tary founds conftitute all the fyllables of lan- guage ; that theie fyllables are neceflarily li- mited to a few hundreds ; and, excluding va- rieties, are found to be the fame in every Dic- tionary of whatever country. The general re- femblances arife from caufes that are unavoid- able ; but too often claffed with thofe that are arbitrary, to favour the ideas of learned an- tiquarians and etymologifts in tracing the ori* gin of nations, languages, and cuitoms.
CHAP,
62 THE CHANGES
CHAP. II. ON THE CHANGES OF LANGUAGE.
.Having fhown the clofe and intimate connec- tion between a fpoken and a written language, and mentioned that both are fubjed to changes, it becomes a fort of neceffary precaution, in pro- pofing terms for a nomenclature, to inquire in- to the caufes of fuch changes, and to prevent as much as poffible their operation upon the terms of which we make choice. That fuch changes are daily, infennbly, and gradually taking place, is a fact too generally acknow- ledged to require proof ; and writers of tafle, who value themfelves upon the beauty and ele- gance of their diction, mull often reflect, with painful apprehenlion, on the inftability and tranfient nature of the perifhing founds with whiqh their literary fame is connected. But
how-
OF LANGUAGE. 63
however great their apprehenfions may be, the effects which they dread cannot be prevented.
New climes, produce, employments, mull neceflarily fuggeft new ideas \ of new ideas, the neceflary confequence is new words, or the old taken in a new fenfe ; of new words, or a new fenfe, another confequence is, a new phra- feology ; in a new phrafeology, caprice and fafhion, the pride of innovation, the deiire of improvement, colloquial inaccuracies, with other caufes ; fuch as the varieties which commerce, conqueft, and intercourfe with fo- reigners bring in their train — muft all affect the liability of language, and vary the action of the vocal organs.
Yet, independent of all thefe caufes, lan- guage, befides, has the feeds of change in its very nature; each individual has a voice of his own, and a manner of fpeaking that di- ilinguifties him from others ; and this diffe- rence would be Hill more confpicuous, were it not for the influence of imitation. This imi- tation, where all are aiming at the fame orU
ginal,
64 THE CHANGES
ginal, preferves a fort of general refemblance in the varied language of the individuals of the fame nation. But where each has not ac- cefs to the general ftandard, and where mod are obliged to take copies for their model, the language feparates, almoft irrefiftibly, into dif- ferent diale&s ; and each province, or each group into which the feveral inhabitants are clafTed, acquires a tone, accent, and manner peculiar to itfelf : or fhould the province be- come independent, and all its connection with the nation be dhTolved, its dialect haftens to aiTume the form of a different language. So ftrong is this tendency to change, that in ma- ny provinces of no great extent their dialects are fub divided into dialects; each diftric~t, vil- lage, and hamlet, fecluded from a regular and frequent intercourfe, exhibits fome peculiari- ties of fpeech ; and would feemingly in time, if intercourfe were ftopt, acquire a diftinct lan- guage of its own.
What can be the caufe of all thefe changes, where nothing appears to induce them from
without?
OF LANGUAGE. 65
without? If any choofe to inveftigate the mat- ter, he will find it in the number, the varied ilru&ure, the diverfified functions, and com- plex movements of the organs employed to pro- duce and articulate the human voice.
It is well known that the more complex any piece of machinery is, whether the work of na- ture or of art, the more it is expofed to varied action, deviation, and error. Apply this ob- fervation to the vocal mufcles, and in one fenfe their number is not great \ but if we confider the various combinations of which they are ca- pable, and the varied effects which they pro- duce, their lingular powers mull appear afto- nithing to thofe not acquainted with their compound action. Of this action the ordinary- books written on the fubject fcarcely afford any idea. They feem to imply, that a mufcle only acts by itfelf, in conjunction with its fel- low, or againft an antagonift : And the young anatomift, after fludying for months, and fome- times for years, one of the moft curious pieces of mechanifm to be found in Nature, and after E fondly
66
THE CHANGES
fondly nattering himfelf that he knows every thing interefting or ufeful in the animal fyftem, is feldom able to explain fatisfactorily a lingle movement of his own body, or of any of its limbs.
Suppofe that A, B are two muf- cies forming a pair, he is told that A and B perform each a feparate movement, and that AB acling to- gether perform a third* This is nearly all that he learns concern- ing the functions of a mufcle and its fellow ; but this is a very im- perfeft idea of the part which they generally act in the fyftem. If another mufcle, as C, had been added, the number of movements would have been feven ; and a fourth mufcle, as D, would have raifed the number to fifteen. Thus every additional muf- cle, befides giving a feparate movement, may double the number of all the preceding when- ever the part to which they are attached is ca- pable
|
I |
A |
|
2 |
B |
|
3 |
Ba |
|
4 |
C |
|
5 |
Ca |
|
6 |
Cb |
|
7 |
Cab |
|
8 |
D |
|
9 |
Da |
|
IO |
Db |
|
n |
Dab |
|
12 |
Dc |
|
13 |
D c a |
|
*4 |
Deb |
|
*5 |
Dcab |
OF LANGUAGE. 67
pable of moving in every direction. — Where indeed it is limited t» the two motions of flexion and extenfion, it can vary only the force and the velocity; — but, again, where a number of moveable parts conftitutes an organ deilined to fome particular function, and where this function is varied and modified by every change in the relative iituation of the moveable parts, it mud be evident that the number of changes producible on the organ muft equal at leaft the number of mufcles and all the combinations in- to which they can enter.
E2 The
68 THE CHANGES
The following Table will Jhow the fpecific and diftindl Movements which, independent of Va- rieties, are producible by any number of Muf- cles,from i to 50.
1 1
2 ... • 3
3 7
4 • *5
5 3i
6 63
7 I27
8 255
9 5"
10 1023
11 2047
12 4095
13 8l9I
14 l63%3
15 32767
16 65535
17 i3*°7l
18 262143
19 524287
20 1048575
21 2097151
22 ... 4r943°3
23 8388607
24 16777215
25 3355443*
OF LANGUAGE. 69
Table continued.
26 67108863
27 134217727
28 268435455
29 536870911
30 1073741823
31 .. . . . .2147483647
32 4294967-95
33 8589934591
34 ••• 17179869183
35 • • • 34359738367
36" 687i9476735
37 13743895347*
38 274877906943
39 549755813887
40 1099511627775
41 2199023255551
42 43980465 1 1 103
43 8796093022207
44 i7592*86o444i5
45 35i84372°8883i
46 7°368744* 77663
47 i40737488355327
48 281474976710655
49 562949953421311
50 1 125899906842623
E 3 On
70 tKZ (fHANGES
On thefe principles, which can hardly be denied, let us here try to form fome idea of the number of changes of which the organs of voice are fufceptible. The mufcles proper to the five cartilages of the larynx, fuppofing the tranfverfe and oblique arytenoid to eonftitute but one, are feven pairs*. Now fourteen muf- cles, that can act feparately or in pairs, in combination with the whole, or with any two or more of the reft, are capable of pro- ducing 16,383 different movements; not reck- oning as changes the various degrees of force and velocity, nor the infinitely varied order of fucceffion by which they may occa- fionally be brought into action. The num- ber appears almoft incredible ; but to leffen the furprife, it muft be recollected that I fpeak not here of the powers pofTefTed by any indi- vidual,
* Cricothyroideus, Cricoarytenoideus pofticus, Cricoary- tenoideus lateralis, Thyreoarytenoideus, Arytenoideus ob* liquus, Arytenoideus tranfverfus, Thyreoepiglottideus, A- rytenoepiglottideus.
OF LANGUAGE* J I
vidual, which will depend on habits and cir- cumftances, but of the powers of the vocal organs, confidered in the abftract, free from all the influence of cuftom, equally indifferent, and equally difpofed to ad in any order of fucceffion, in any combination, and with any degree of force and velocity of which their original powers were fufceptible.
If the powers I have mentioned appear afto- nifhing, and able to account for many thou- fands of thofe varieties obferved among the voices of the human fpecies, I have further to add, that the mufcles alluded to are only the proper mufcles of the larynx, or the mufcles reftridted in their attachments to its five carti- lages. Thefe are but a few of the mufcles of voice. In fpeaking we ufe a great many more* Fifteen pairs* of different mufcles, attached to E4 the
* Sternohyoidei, Omohyoidei, Sternothyroidei, Thyro- hyoidei, Stylohyoids, Mylohyoidei, Geniohyoldei, Digaf- trics, Geniohyogloffi, Stylopharyngei, Palatopharyngei,
Crico-
72 THE CHANGES
the cartilages, or os hyoides, and acting as agents, antagonifts, or directors, are conftantly employed in preferving the cartilages of the larynx fteady, in regulating the place of their fituation, or moving them as occafion requires, upwards and downwards, backwards and for- wards, and in every way, directly and oblique- ly, according to the courfe of the mufcular fi- bres, or in the diagonal between different forces. Thefe mufcles, independent of the former, are fufceptible of 1,073,741,823 different combi- nations \ and co-operating with the feven pairs of the larynx, of 17,592,186,044,415, exclu- sive of the changes which muft arife from the different degrees of force and velocity, and the infinitely varied order of fucceflion in which they may be brought into action.
But thefe are not all that co-operate with the larynx, either in forming or changing the voice : the diaphragm, the abdominal mufcles,
the
Cricopharyngel, Thyropharypgei, Syndefmopharyngei, My- lopharyngei.
OF LANGUAGE. 73
the intercoftals, and all that directly or indi- rectly act on the air, or on the parts to which the chondral and hyoidal mufcles are attached, contribute their fliare. The os hyoides could not be raifed unlefs the inferior maxillary bone were previoufly fixed by the temporals, mafTe- ters, and internal pterygoids; and a fimilar af- fiftance is likewife furnifhed by feveral other auxiliary mufcles that fix the head, fternum, and fcapula ; to thefe we muft add fome pairs belonging to the pharynx and ifthmus fauci- um, and fome alfo belonging to the tongue ; which, combining with others, give to that or- gan an inconceivable variety of movement ; and fo quickly that, in rapid utterance, they change its ftate three thoufand times in the fpace of a minute^.
Yet all thefe mufcles, whether they affift to infpire or expire, to enlarge or diminim the cavity of the pharynx, to fliorten, lengthen, to
relax
* Haller articulated 1500 letters in a minute, which ne- cefiarily required 1500 contractions and as many relaxation* of the lingual mufcles.
74 THE CHANGES
relax or render tenfe the trachea, to change or fix the fituation of the larynx, to alter the relative pofition of its cartilages, to enlarge or diminifh the aperture of the glottis, to give the necefTary tenlion to its ligaments, or arti- culate the voice as it paiTes through the mouth — can neither feparately, nor in combination, produce an audible impulfe on the air with- out a certain degree of elafticity and vibratory motion of the trachea, laryngeal cartilages, and glottal ligaments. Now this elafticity, though it partly depend on the action of the mufcles, yet it partly depends, at the fame time, as we learn from catarrh, on the ftate of the membranes and glandular fecretions, and partly, too, as we alfo learn, from fome other cafes on the ftate of the larynx and of the. tra- chea ; and fuppofe thefe, as well as the muf- cles, were perfectly fitted to perform their functions, and to produce the audible impulfe, yet this impulfe is apt to be varied by the ftate of the nofe, fauces, and palate, as we learn from feveral of their morbid affections. Pro- bably, too, by the fize and form of the frontal
fphe-
OF LANGUAGE. J5
fphenoidal and maxillary antres ; and mod certainly by the fecretion, or rather abforption of the feminal fluid, as we may fee in the con- fequences of caftration.
Another fource of this fpecies of variety is the ear, which fuperintends and dire&s the whole of the vocal fyftem, and without which the voice would be conftantly harih and unhar- monious, as may be obferved in the fpeech of the deaf. To the ear we muft add the feveral pafiions, each of which lays claim to peculiar tones and cadences and to modes of utterance, differing widely in loudnefs and rapidity, and in many other fpecific varieties not eafily de- fcribed.
If we turn our attention to the manner in which the voice is articulated, we mail find Hill more fources of variety ; we (hall find that, befides the tongue, the pendulous ve- lum of the palate, the palate itfelf, the alveo- lar procefTes, the teeth, and the lips, are all concerned in the pronunciation of words; and if we examine the human lips, compare them with thofe of inferior animals, obferve
their
j6 THE CHANGES
their free and extenfive motion, with their nu- merous mufcles *, capable of entering into 524,287 different combinations, we can hardly avoid being of opinion that the human lips, befides being calculated to anfwer a variety of other purpofes, were alfo intended by the Au- thor of Nature to be organs of fpeech.
I have no doubt that here the reader's fur- prife will recur at this immenfe variety of power in the vocal organs ; and more particu- larly when he reflects that the number of pofi- tions which they produce is infinitely greater than that of their movements f. But however great his wonder may be, he will furely recol- lect that thefe combinations are not deduced from fpeculative opinions, but by fair calcula- tion from fads that are acknowledged ; and that having no intention whatever to excite any
thing
* Levator anguli oris, Levator labii fuperloris, Depref- for labii fuperioris, DeprefTor labii inferioris, DeprefTor an- guli oris, Levator labii inferioris, Zygomaticus major, Zy- maticus minor, Buccinator, Orbicularis.
f See Introduction, p. 20, 21.
OF LANGUAGE. 77
thing like marvelling aftonifhment, I have pur- pofely omitted the incalculable varieties that neceffarily refult from the degrees of force and velocity, and the infinitely varied order of fuc- ceffion in which the mufcles may be brought into action. He may affert, and afiert with juftice, that no individual of the human fpecies can throw his mufcles into one thoufandth part of the combinations of which I have fuppofed them fufceptible. But he mould remember at the fame time, that this reafoning, as has been acknowledged, was never intended to fhow what are the effects of mufcles in par- ticular perfons, but to fhow their capacity and original powers ; and from what an exhaufl- lefs fund of variety in tone and voice they are able to furnifh each individual of the countlefs millions of fucceflive generations with charac- teriflic marks of diflinction.
Perhaps even in the fingle individual the combinations of the vocal mufcles are more nu- merous, and more obvious than is generally be- lieved. Who, from theory, would have ven- tured
78 THE CHANGES
tured to predict, what now is a well authenti- cated fact, that the deaf, by attention, may learn to fpeak, and diftinguifh all the words of a language by their vifible changes in the or- gans of voice ? Who that has felt the varied and powerful exprefiions of the eyes, would have imagined that fuch a number could have been produced by a few mufcles ? and, Who has not wondered, and wondered again, at the va- ried appearances of all the paflions, and of all their fhades, in the countenance of a Garrick ? And yet all thefe inftances muil fall fhort of conveying even the mod diftant idea of the powers I allude to.
To form any thing like an adequate notion of the lingular contrivance of the mufcular fvftem, and of the movements of which it is capable, we mud not confine our examinations to what is exhibited in two or three prrticular perfons ; we muft recollect that all the mufcles are living powers ; that in early life they are apt to contract habits with facility, and after- wards to retain them with fuch inveteracy as
to
OF LANGUAGE. 79
to be incapable of any exertion inconfiftent with thofe in which the previous habits had been formed. We fee this daily exemplified in the ufes of the right and left arm ; and may often obferve, that thofe who have long been accuftomed to one language find it difficult, and fometimes impoflible, to articulate proper- ly the founds of another. In thefe cafes we fee the mufcles inactive from difufe, or fetter- ed under the conllraints of habit ; the habit, too, of particular fituations. In fuch circum- ftances, it is impoflible they can furnifh a cri- terion of what had been their primary powers. To form a juft eftimate of thefe, we muft look back to the more early periods of life, view them in every diverfity of fhade, in every per- fon, in every fituation, conftitution, and cli- mate ; we fhall then find that whatever thefe be in the adult, they were very different at the commencement of life's career.
All children acquire the tones, accents, and articulations of thofe countries in which they are educated \ an evident proof that, prior to
the
8o THE CHANGES
the formation of habits, the vocal mufcles may be brought to act in any one of the numerous millions of combinations that have ever been adopted by any tribe, family, or nation of the human race, and be made to acquire the habit of pronouncing with readinefs and eafe any one of the almofl infinite variety of languages that have been, that are, or that ever Ihall be, on the face of the globe. Even this wonder- ful diverfity of power is daily prefented to our dbfervation ; for when we coniider that the mufcular fyftem is, with the exception of a very few trifling varieties, nearly the fame in all individuals, having the number, form, ftru&ure, fituation, direction, and attachment of its mufcles in every inflance, regular and uniform — we muft certainly conclude that, un- like to any thing we have ever feen, it has the power of diverfifying its actions in a moll ex- traordinary and uncommon manner; and whdn we fee it exhibit the flrongly marked and pe- culiar differences in the features of the coun- tenance, in the voice, the gait, and the hand- writing
OF LANGUAGE. 8 I
writing of each individual in the countlefs mil- lions of paffing generations; when we fee it the organ in all their different fpecies of exer- cife, and every exercife like their tone of voice marked by iome difcriminating character ; in fhort, when we fee the number, variety, the ftrength, the velocity, and continuance of its motions, in fome of the more remarkable cafes of running, leaping, dancing, riding, fencing, wreftling, vaulting, tumbling, balancing the body, and performing feats of legerdemain — in the name of wonder, what mull we think! We muft furely think, with the credulous and vulgar, that it is affifted by the power of magic ; or, with the more enlightened and coniiderate, that it pofTefTes powers and re- fources, of which, after all our iludy and in- quiry, we are frill ignorant.
With refpect to characleriftic diftin&ions, I have mentioned feveral fources of variety in the tone and articulation of voice, befides mufcles; but fuppofe that mufcles, acling as motors, fix- ers, antagonifts, or directors, were the only F fource,
$2 THE CHANGES
fource, and that thefe mufcles were 50 inrtiim- ber* although I have enumerated 63, exclu^ five of others which might have been named,, thefe 50 mufcles are capable of entering into 1,125,899,906,842,623 combinations, and the numerous effects of thefe combinations may be infinitely diverfified by the various degrees of force and velocity, and the orders of fuccefiion in which they are formed — is it likely, then, that, amidft this countlefs and almoft inconcei- vable variety, any two individuals fhould of- ten, or naturally, adopt exactly the fame com- bination, bring their mufcles to act: in the fame order of fucceffion, or employ them with the fame force and velocity in uttering found or articulating words ? I mould think not. Even that mimicry of the tone and voice, which ex- tends only to the general outlines or promi- nent characters, is very rare, and would feldom deceive an ordinary ear, if prfcviouily warned or allowed time to make the comparifon and to difcriminate. The mufcles of the hand are but kw in number; and yet what immenfe
difficulty
OF LANGUAGE. 83
diff^cu'ty and labour does it cod many to coun- terfeit the hand-writing of another.
It feems to be owing to the conftant opera- tion of fuch caufes, whofe influence can nei- ther be checked nor prevented, that no acci- dent ever has occurred, no art ever been difco- vered, to preferve the (lability of vocal lan- guage, to calm the forebodings of literary ge- niufes, and remove the apprehenlions that their laboured eloquence in a few centuries mud re- quire an interpreter, and the beauties of their diction pafs unnoticed without a commentator. In our own country claffical flandards have been eftablifhed, their excellency acknowled- ged, their elegance defined, a variety of ex- preffion copioufly fupplied, dictionaries com- piled, fenfes determined, pronunciation afcer- tained, but without hopes or aprofpect of fuc- cefs. No nation at this day can fpeak the lan- guage of its diftant anceftry; and the language of Offian, were it norw extant, we have reafon to believe would be as different from the mo- dern Gaelic as the Gaelic from the Welch, or £ 2 either
84 THE CHANGES
either of the two from the parent Celtic. The languages of the Bible, Bedas, and Koran, are all dead, though millions were concerned in their prefervation, and employed officially to keep them alive *.
* The preternatural interpofition of Heaven therefore to divide language into different dialects, does not appear to have ever been neceffary ; and the pafTage of Scripture where that fact feems to be afferted, I mould rather imagine is mifunderflood.
Delighted with the beauty of the plains of Shinar, man- kind there, as the Scripture informs us, had projected a fcheme of building a capital, and preventing their difperfion. Nor had this thought originated with one ; all were equally- enamoured of the fancy, and bent on the defign ; every one was fpurring another, faying go to, let us make bricks, let us burn them thoroughly. As the object was popular, and the zeal univerfal, all of them fpoke of it achadim dalrim, mia phone*, eifdem verbis, in the fame words; in (hort, at the time the whole earth, or the men that were in it, had but Jape achat, cheilos enf, unum os, or but one voice concerning the matter. And yet as nothing was then fo
oppofite
* Dsn3i D*inx, fit* taw. f nrtK nair, xuKo* £¥-
OF LANGUAGE. 85
gppofite to Heaven's intention as their living together ; as luxury on the one hand, and oppreffion on the other ; as fedentary labour and debauched lives would all have been the confequence of an opulent city ; and as all thefe events, had they taken place, with their firm refolution not to be difperfed, would have been dangerous in a high degree to a rapid population — the Almighty, in his wifdom, faw it expedient to reprobate their conduct, and frufirate their in- tentions. With this view he defcended from heaven — he threw confufion into all their counfels ; in fcriptural phrafe, he confounded their language ; or, ufing its metaphor, to fow diffenfion, peleg fefunim*, he divided their tongues.
* OSlrcb ab£, Pf. lv. 9. he divided their opinions ; for, to fpeak with the na "iriN, or the one mouth, is to be of the fame opinion or fenti- ments, or, as our tranflators choofe to exprefs it, of one accord. See Join. ix.%.
F 3 CHAP.
86 TECHNICAL LAN GUAGE
CHAP. III.
TECHNICAL LANGUAGE SHOULD BE DISTINCT FPvOM THE LANGUAGE OF THE PEOPLE.
X rom the preceding obfervations upon lan- guage, the following inferences may naturally be drawn : That the language of fcience, if meant to be either permanent or general, mould be diftin6r. from the language of the country ;— that it mould not be entrufted to the manage- ment of the ear, whofe tafte is variable ; nor its fate committed to the organs of voice, which, varied and irregular in their own actions, are at all times under its influence ; — that it mould be a language primarily or principally addref- fed to the eye, which has, not like the ear, the fame power of new-modelling and chan- ging its objects ; — and mould be a language
con-
SHOULD BE DISTINCT, &C. 8/
conftrucled on purpofe, or a written language, whofe vocal archetype is already dead, and no longer capable of creating difturbance or in- novation : — in (hort, a language as much as pof- lible placed beyond the vortex of fafhion and the reach of change ; where the (trained ana- logies of fimile and metaphor, or other forced and unnatural applications, have little chance of rendering it vague.
Some have imagined that a written lan- guage, conftructed on purpofe, would be pre- ferable to any of our dead languages \ but in what refpedt is not ealily demonstrated. In all languages where fciences are treated, it is ac- knowledged that there are, or ought to be, two kinds of terms, perfectly diitinct: ; one a- dapted to general ufe,|and the other divided in- to many fpecies peculiarly appropriated to the purpofes of fcience. The part adapted to ge- neral ufe cannot poflibly have a reference to any particular fpecies of fcience, as every fci- ence mult have a feparate language of its own; nor can it have a reference to the fciences at F 4 large,
88 TECHNICAL LANGUAGE
large, and therefore mud be equally indiffe- rent to all of them. It is true indeed, if a general language, artificially conftrucled, were generally adopted, and generally underftood, it might fave the trouble and prevent the er- rors arifing from tranflation ; but not more fo than a dead language, generally adopted with a fimilar view. At the fame time, nei- ther one nor the other would compenfate for the eafe with which we write in our own language ; nor for the precilion, clearnefs, and readinefs with which we perceive the force of its expreffion. It is therefore fufficient in every fcience that its technical terms mould be kept diftind from the language which is fpo- ken ; that all its terms fhould have a certain and determinate meaning, fhould remain unalter- ed in every tranflation, and mould be the fame in every country where the fcience is either known or cultivated. With refpecl to the origin of fuch terms, it will be indifferent whe- ther they be mere upftarts of yefterday, or li- neal defcendants from the ancient families of
Pagan
SHOULD BE DISTINCT, &C. §9
Pagan antiquity; only if defcended in that way, they muft not fhine by a borrowed light, they muft ftand or fall by their own merit ; and mould they be now in a different capa- city from what they were formerly, their ori- ginal confequence mould entirely bea forgot- ten. Every thing in fcience ought to be real, ingenuous, and open ; and every expref- lion that indicates duplicity or equivocation, refervation, wavering, or inconfiftency, is a re- proach to it.
The Greek and Latin, the two dead langua- ges moft generally known, particularly in Eu- rope, furniih moft of the terms of our prefent nomenclatures. The only inconvenience of thefe terms is that, often being ufed in a fecon- dary fenfe, which has a faint or diftant analo- gy to the original, they are very apt to convey double meanings ; and thus create a confufion of ideas in thofe acquainted with their prima- ry import. All, however, are not of this de- fcription. Many of them now have the fame effecl as arbitrary names ; and as for the reft,
wLen
90 TECHNICAL LANGUAGE
when fome time accuftomed to their fecondary meaning, we gradually forget that they ever had another.
In choofing terms, the tafte, doubtlefs, may be confulted ; though on no pretext mould it be allowed to direct the judgment, and de- cide on matters of convenience and utility. In the choice and invention of new words, fo far as refpects the length and the found, let it difplay its whole ingenuity ; but where a no- menclature is already eftablifhed, it ought to give place to a higher authority. In anatomy, for inftanee, it has no right from either its na- tural or acquired feelings to determine the quef- tions, What are the terms that ought to be re- jected ? or, Whether thofe which we mean to retain ought to be derived all from the Greek, all from the Latin, or partly from both ? It is one thing to form a new fyftem of laws for an infant colony, and another to make a general reform in an ancient government.
If the words of only one of the languages were to be retained, we indeed might produce
a
SHOULD BE DISTINCT, &C. pf
a fort of uniformity to pleafe the grammarian ; but what is that to the anatomift ? Will the dictates of reafon or of common fenfe ever in- duce him to facrifice his convenience and in- tereft for fuch an object ? and if he did, what idea muft be formed of the mind that would leave ferious and important fludies to amufe itfelf in gazing at the fhadows of antiquated words ? for nothing befides the mere fhadows of ancient vocables are in general to be ex- pected among the terms of our nomenclatures. They may have fomething of a learned found, but they cannot poilibly retain much of a claf- ilcal fenfe, when applied to objects of which the ancients were entirely ignorant.
The Greek and Latin are both fan&ioned in our prefent nomenclature : to difpoffefs one of them entirely, would necefTarily cccafion the introduction of many new terms and the rejec- tion of many old ones. Suppofefor a moment that the change has taken place, and the ques- tion put, What improvements have we added to fcience, or what advantages have we acqui- red
92 TECHNICAL LANGUAGE
red by it ? Why the pleafure, and nothing but the pleafure, of feeing the terms of our nomen- clature all derived from the fame language. Our tafte may be gratified, and we probably may feel fomething like his fatisfadtion who, regardlefs of the other qualities of his fervants, is anxious only to have them all from the fame country. His favourite object, fuch as it is, may be one that he would not eafily renounce ; but can it be the object of a wife man ? And when he has got it, is it his reafon or his hu- mour that is gratified ?
This fpecies of motive, and I know no better for adhering flrictly to one of the lan- guages of our prefent nomenclature, can have little influence on a cool reflecting philofophic mind. He who confiders the fluctuating na- ture of vocal language, will not pay a high de- ference to words, either on account of the age or the country in which they have flourifhed ; and he who is eager in the purfuits of fcience, will feldom enquire whether they have come from Athens or Rome : he will cheerfully wel- come
SHOULD BE DISTINCT, &C. 93
come the natives of both, provided that, by their united affiflance, he is brought more fafely or more expeditioufly to the end of his journey. I fhould therefore be inclined, not- withftanding the opprobrium attached by fome to certain connections and intermarriages among harmlefs vocables, not to reject the co-operation of the two languages in any form, where ex- perience mows it to be convenient, ufeful, or neceflary.
CHAP,
94 TECHNICAL LANGUAGE
CHAP. IV.
THE TECHNICAL LANGUAGE OF ANATOMY, HOW TO BE IMPROVED.
Jl rom the above preliminary difcuffions upon languages in general and nomenclatures, we proceed now to the more immediate fubjedl of the Effay, the Nomenclature of Anatomy. In this nomenclature we mean to propofe fome alteration? ; but as every alteration is not an improvement, it becomes a fair and reafonable queftion, What is to be their nature and ob- ject, ai:d what advantages are likely to arife from the execution of fuch a defign ?
On the cooler! and mod impartial inquiry, it appears that many of the prefent terms con- vey falfe or erroneous ideas; — -that many are fuperfluous, and of the fuperfluous many fuper-
numerarv :
or an at o mt, &c. i 95
numerary ;i — that many allude to antiquated names, which are but feldom or no longer ufed ;— that many have a vague indeterminate meaning, and are cohfequently ufed in various fenfes \ — and that feveral parts have received names, while thofe wholes of which they are parts have received none. From this view it has been fuppofed, that we-re the falfehoods and errors corrected, the fuperfluities retrench- ed, the troublefome and unneceflary allufions dropt, the ambiguities removed, and the feve- ral deficiencies properly fupplied, the nomen- clature would not only be improved, but the ftudy of anatomy greatly facilitated.
As confufed expreffion is too often a natural confequence of confufed ideas, fo ambiguities, in the language of fcience, may often be tra- ced to the want of a clear and diftinct arrange- ment. And mould it afterwards be found that feveral vague terms in anatomy derive their origin from this fource, a new and improved claffification, where the circumflances require it, will alfo, it is thought, be attended with advantage.
$5 TECHNICAL LANGUAGE
It was certainly the clear arrangement of Linnaeus, comparatively fpeaking, that ena- bled him to give fuch precifion to his Ian* guage ; and that precifion has greatly contri- buted to promote the fcience, as being a fure and unerring guide to the different objects which it prefented ; objects which, in confe- quence of his arrangement, have received a de- finite and fixed ftation, where the ftudious in- quirer may readily find it. For this purpofe Linnaeus arranged them into different groups, which he called claffes ; fubdividing thefe claffes into orders, the orders into genera, and the genera into fpecies ; always taking care that thefe belonging to the fame clafs fhould have one or more properties in common, thofe belonging to the fame order two or more, thofe of the fame genus three or more, and thofe of the fame fpecies four or more. To each of thefe groups, which were comparatively few in number, he gave names, annexing a fhort defcription of the characters by which they were diftinguifhed. It was by adopting a fi-
milar
OF ANATOMY, &C 97
milar methoctthat Lavoifier improved the fci- ence of chemiftry ; and therefore it is furely an error to fuppofe that thefe two celebrated men confined themfelves merely to changes upon language. Their merits were of a fuperior kind. A change of nomenclature, had that been all, would, by introducing a new fet of terms, have only retarded the progrefs of fci- ence. Their ciaffification was that which ad- vanced it : it collected the fcattered materials together, exhibited the wThole in a ftate of con- nection, brought them within the fphere of our vifion, and placed them at once under the eye in a proper light ; while their nomencla- tures ferved as mediums through w7hich they were feen more clearly and distinctly ; or ra- ther were a kind of fymbolical pictures, repre- fenting to the mind the ftate of the fciences, with the changes or improvements that had been introduced.
From viewing the rapid progrefs of chemiftry
that followed immediately on the change of its
language, fome have been led to confider the two
G as
98 TECHNICAL LANGUAGE
as caufe and effect: ; overlooking thofe impor- tant difcoveries to which the fcience was prin- cipally indebted for its advancement, and even miftaking the merits of Lavoiiier in thofe la- bours for which he is celebrated. The genius of this illuftrious perfon was attracted chiefly by the great and the fublime : he felt little pleafure in partial remarks, or in noting mi- nutely the infulated phenomena that take place in the dark corners of a laboratory. As his mind led him to general obfervations, and to be delighted with extenlive views, it embraced in its wide comprehenfive grafp a variety of objects, faw at a glance their agreements and difcordancies, arranged them in a clear and luminous order, and thence drew concluiions that fhot light through every department of chemical fcience hidden or remote.
From what he had obferved, he believed that empyreal or vital air was the caufe of acidity in all bodies, and he named it oxygen ; he faw that oxygen entered into various com- pounds with metals, and gave to thefe com- pounds
OF ANATOMY, &C. 99
potinds the title of oxides. Directing his atten- tion to the acids which it forms, he found them more numerous than had been fuppofed ; di- flinguifhed each by a certain change on the name of the fubftanCe from which it was ob- tained \ faw many of them widely diffufed over Nature, and everywhere entering into various compounds with the feveral metals, alkalies, and earths— to thefe compounds he gave no general or common name denoting a elafs, like the word oxide ; but according to the acid which they contained, arranged them into ful- phats, nitrats, muriats, and fo on. In thefe labours his claffification and fublime difcove- ries were of more real eonfequence to chemif* try than his nomenclature ; and yet his no- menclature was not without its merits : It i
ferved to communicate the grand ideas which he had formed ; and expreiTed them with a clearnefs, concifenefs, and flmplicity, that had not till then been witnefTed in the fcience : it was happy particularly in the names of com- pounds, as fulphat, carbonat, or muriat of fo- G 2 da;
XOO TECHNICAL LANGUAGE
da \ denoting at once the nature of the fab- fiances of which they were compofed : and even went farther, attempting occaiionally, as in the words oxygen and hydrogen, to convey a defcription in the appellations of fimple fub- ftances.
The defcriptive terms in this nomenclature have been much admired, and many have wim- ed that the like were introduced into fome of the other languages of fcience. With a view to this improvement, many of the prefent terms of anatomy have been condemned for not ex* preffing fome quality or circumftance of the objects which they fignify, and others, /con- taining a kind of mort definition or defcrip- tion, been fubftituted for them. As it may be both withed and expected that the new terms brought into anatomy were all of this fort, a previous inquiry into their nature, ufes, and peculiar advantages, will not be im- proper* The French have lately adopted fuch terms in their modern calendar : The words nivofe, pluviofe, and thermidor, are intended to
ihow
OF ANATOMY, &C. IOI
fhow the fpecies of weather which prevails at certain periods of the year. Let us fee the im- provement : The weather being variable even in France, and the rain and fnow not hap- pening to fall always at the time foretold in the calendar, thefe terms become fo many ly- ing predictions ; and in countries where the feafons and climate are different, are an abfurd unintelligible jargon. But what are the defcrip- tive terms in anatomy ? Not a great deal bet- ter. Many of thefe, as fphenoides, ethmoides, aftragalus, cuboides, which are founded on vague and remote analogies, fcarcely convey the moft diftant idea of the forms which they were meant to exprefs ;— many which contain alluiions to functions, and feem to communicate fomething of importance, deceive thoufands of the indo- lent and credulous, who trull to their lame and imperfect information ; — -fome, again, as levator fcapula and fupinator radii longiu, arc almoft unavoidable fources of error, from di- rectly iniinuating what is not true ; — and fome, as it were taking advantage of a partial and Q 3 err©-
102 TECHNICAL LANGUAGE
erroneous claffification, pretend to inform us of what belongs to this or that function, ex*» eluding, by a kind of fecret refervation, fome of the principal organs employed i this is evident in our diftin&ion and arrangement of mufcles into flexors, extenfors, pronators, and fupinators.— But by no means the leaft nume- rous clafs are thofe which allude to frivolous circumftances ; fome of which, like fella tur- cica, and the word hippocampus, feem intended to illuflrate the things which we fee, and which we may handle, by comparing them to objects which we either have not feen or have feldom an opportunity of obferving. Much difcernment, therefore, and caution are highly requisite in the ufe and application of fuch terms ; for wherever their defcriptions are fri- volous or vague, or wherever they are falfes whether founded on ignorance, error, or hy- pothefis, they can hardly fail, if ufed in their primary and original fenfe, to be hurtful to fcience : nay, even when true and accurately juft, they cannot be admitted unlefs when con- cife; for be their defcriptive powers what they
will.
OF ANATOMY, &C. IO3
will, they become ridiculous when they run out to the length of fentences.
Are all fuch terms, then, to be rejected from the language of anatomy ? and ought there to be a complete revolution in its nomenclature ? To anfwer thefe queftions, it may be obferved, that no where perhaps is prudence more necef- fary than in our attempts to innovate on ha- bits and eftablifhed cuftoms. — Thofe terms may furely be retained which are juft and accurate, and not too long ; — thofe which affift us in dif- criminating objects;—- and thofe likewife, how- ever abfurd their original allufions, that, in courfe of time, have laid afide their primary fenfe, and begun to be ufed as arbitrary names. With refpecl to the lait, the bufy genealogift may fometimes be tracing them to what they have been ; and mould he not find them ho- nourably connected, may endeavour to raife prejudices againft them ; but few who are deep- ly interefled in fcience will pay much atten- tion to his furmifes. A genius for minute and accurate inveftigation is highly commendable, G 4 and
104 TECHNICAL LANGUAGE
and has frequently led to fublime fpeculations ; but wherever it gets into a wrong path, and allows itfelf to be occupied with trifles, it be- comes contemptible.
The learned philologift indeed may chace A panting fyllable through time and fpace 5 Start it at home, and hunt it in the dark To Gaul, to Greece, and into Noah's ark * :
But if his object be not of importance,
The folemn trifler, with his boafted fkill, Toils much, and is a folemn trifler ftillf .
The words inkhorn, pofthorn, candle/lick, have all been retained in a fenfe different from the original ; but fince they have dropt that ori- ginal meaning, they are found as expreffive, and as feldom the caufes of niiftake, as any other words in the Englifh language. Even in chemiflry, the words oxygen, hydrogen, azot, are now ufed as arbitrary terms, and only with a few fugged an idea of Lavoilier's hypothe- cs.
Nor
* Cowper's Retirement. f Cowper's Charity*
Or ANATOMY, &€. I©5
Nor is it perhaps difficult to explain how many words, from being defcriptive, fhould thus become arbitrary. Suppofe that five dif- ferent perfons faw each a different fet of expe- riments on one of the gafes whofe name was unknown, and that each mould afterwards ex- plain to the reft what he had feen ; it would be impoffible for them to know that they all were defcribing but different phenomena of the fame gas.
Suppofe, again, that during the experiments each had been told that the gas was oxy- gen, the word oxygen would have with each a different meaning ; and mould it be after- wards pronounced in their prefence, would ferve as a fignal of general rendezvous for all their ideas on the nature of the gas. Upon hear- ing the word oxygen pronounced, each would recal and marfhal in his memory his quota of phenomena ; every quota would differ from another, but every one of them would belong to oxygen ; and they now would perceive, up- on each relating what he had feen, that the properties and phenomena of this fubftance
were
IC6 TECHNICAL LANGUAGE
were more numerous than what any of them had previoufly imagined.
Suppofe farther, that all its various pro- perties and phenomena are known to the five, and that each now were deli red to men- tion a few of the moil obvious and chara&e- riftic, it is probable that each, if any room were left for fele&ion, would mention thofe which had made the deepeft and moft lively impreffion on his own mind; an impreffion which evidently would depend upon taile, fan- cy, and judgment, and a variety of other cir- cumftances, not ealily enumerated. Allowing, however, the fele&ion to be made, and that each were required to give to the gas a de- fcriptive name alluding to the property which he conceived the moft obvious and chara&e- riftic, every name would differ from another, all would be limited in their fignification, and each pointing out a particular property exclu- five of others ; none of them would, while in that capacity, ferve as a fignal of general ren- dezvous for our ideas on the fubjecl of oxygen.
A
OF ANATOMY, &C. IO7
A defcriptive name is therefore inferior, in certain cafes, to an arbitrary name. The for- mer recals particular ideas, the latter makes no diftin&ion whatever, but fummons every idea on the fubject ; and when they are all collected together, arranged, and examined, prefents us with a general view of the whole. From this it appears that the arbitrary name is the fymbol of a clafs, genus, or fpecies, which every one defines or defcribes accord- ing to the notions which he has collected from among the individuals ; and that the defcriptive is the fymbol only of a certain character belonging to this clafs, genus, or fpecies, which, when it difcriminates con- cifely and accurately, is convenient and ufe- ful, but otherwife obtrudes the author's con- ceit, folicits our attention to fome particular fancy or whim, and prefumes to recommend it as the guide or the object of our refearches.
If oxygen, hydrogen, and azot, exhibit a variety of different characters befides thofe implied in their names, every man, as well
as
I©8 TECHNICAL LANGUAGE
as Lavoifier, will feel he has a right to fix on his own marks of diftin&ion, and will na- turally prefer his own to another's : fo that fuch words muft at lad be ufed in an arbitrary fenfe, or be laid afide; for no man in a matter of in- difference will fubmit to the tyranny of being unneceffarily reftridted in his choice. A de- fcriptive word is fomewhat like a picture: Now if a picture be meant for a likenefs, it mould either exhibit every character of the original, or at lead thofe that are unavoidably obvious to all ; for different pecfons will diflinguifh an object by different marks and different por- tions, and thofe will never difcover the refenj- blance who fee not the features by which they were wont to know the original; though others, accuftomed to know it by the traits which the painter has copied, may be furprifed at their want of penetration, and pronounce the figure an admirable likenefs.
Indeed Lavoifier has not extended his de- scriptive language through the whole nomen- clature ; he has confined it to thofe fubftan-
ces
Or ANATOMY, &C IO9
ces that in his time were but newly difcovered, and to that part of chemical fcience where he found it necefTary, for the fake of arrangement. Exclufive of a few of the fimple fubftances, he has confined it to the combinations of oxygen with metals, and the combinations of acids with rnetals, alkalies, and earths. His partiality for thefe acids, the caufe of whofe diftinguifhing property he found to be oxygen, has made him divide the lafl combinations into fulphats, ni- trats, muriats, and fo on, as if the acids were fo many fpecies or modifications of the different metals, alkalies, and earths. Thus under calx, which fignifies lime, we find the divifions to be fulphats, nitrats, muriats, acetats, &c. ; in- Head of calx vitriolata, nitrata, muriata, ace- tata ; the more fimple and natural divifions of the ingenious ever memorable Bergman. Yet Lavoifier's method has alfo its advantages ; and at this time of day, where no real inconvenien- cy is felt, any alteration could only proceed from mifguided ignorance, or a fpecies of ma- nia for nomenclaturing.
Linnaeus,
110 ' TECHNICAL LANGUAGE
Linnaeus, as well as Lavoifier, adopted a new claflifieation ; and the clufters or groups into which he has divided natural objects were^ fo far at leaft as arrangement is concerned, entirely a work of his own creation* Thefe neceiTarily required new names ; and thefe names are fome- times defcriptive, expreffing the characters by which the clufters or groups are diftinguifhed 5 at the fame time he gave new names to the in- dividual objects which had none ; fixed upon one particular name where there were many 5 rejected thofe which had double meanings 5 reftricted the fenfe of thofe which were vague 5 and in fhort employed every precaution to a- void whatever in the nature of language tend- ed to miflead, retard, or obftruct the ftudious mind in the progrefs of knowledge. Thro' the whole of this tedious and arduous talk he was other wife employed than in the puerile fhift* ing of names with a view to improvement. To change one name for another was rather the bufinefs of a tranflator thanaphilofopher; and he feems not fo much to have aimed at chan- ging
OF ANATOMY, &C. Ill
ging the language of fcience, as at rendering it clear, concife, and accurate, by his lucid and correct mode of arrangement.
If we therefore imitate him and Lavoifier, a new fet of terms in the language of anatomy will neither be our fole nor our principal ob- ject; we muft likewife attend to that kind of claffification which is belt fuited to the nature of the fcience, and is bed calculated to give clearnefs, precifion, and effect, to its nomen- clature. Belides, as we often muft have re- courfe to comparative anatomy to iliuftrate ma- ny of the human functions, we ought to con- trive many, at leaft, of the general terms in fuch a way as to apply equally to man and the lower animals, from whom thefe illuftrations are borrowed.
CHAP.
112 TERMS RELATING TO
CHAP. IV,
OK THE TERMS RELATING TO POSITION AND ASPECT.
JuLaving feen how much the effential merits of every nomenclature muft depend on the pre- vious arrangement of its objects, it may here be obferved, for the fake of order, that the ani- mal fy (terns, for which we principally intend this nomenclature, are compofed of a great variety of organs, differing in appearance, flructare, and function ; that thefe organs conftitute fo many fubordinate fyftems, arranged under the va- rious names of Bones, Mufcles, Arteries, Veins, Lymphatics, Nerves, Organs of Refpiration, Digeftion, Generation, Senfe, 8cc. ; that fub- fervient to thefe are different kinds of connect- ing fubftances which act as ligaments ; diffe- rent
POSITION AND ASPECT. II3
rent kinds of fecreting organs, which are call- ed Glands ; different kinds of membranous webs which envelope them ; and a common cover- ing of different layers, called the Integuments, which furrounds the whole.
As in a fyftem fo complex and varied, an accu- rate knowledge of fituation and pofkion mull ever be a matter of the firft importance, anato- mifts have long been in the practice of confider- ing every organ as poffeffing eight different af- rjecls, which point in as many different direc- tions ; upwards, downwards, backwards, for- .wards, outwards, inwards, to the right, and to the left; while the epithets ufually employed to diftinguifh them zvefuperior, inferior, pojlerior^ anterior, external, internal, right, and left. Now as one or other of thefe terms happens to occur in almoft every anatomical defcription, it is pro- per that they mould be weighed and exami- ned before we proceed to the names and ar- rangements of fubordinate fyftems.
Thefe terms, and m oft others which have a
reference to the different afpec~ts, are in every
H writer
214 TERMS RELATING TO
writer borrowed from the common language of the country, where they are ufed in a vague fenfe both in their literal and figurative accep- tation. From the various directions, lituations, and pofitions to which they are applied, not being accurately clafYed and defined, they are carelefsly transferred, on the flighted analogy, from one to another, with fcarcely any fort of difcrimination. They may indeed be occafion- ally defined ; but, in general, what iignifies a definition? No definition can eafily break the ilrong aifociation between them and their ideas ; an aifociation which has been gradually forming for years, and which continues to be fupported daily by the public fancftion. Their ambiguous meaning will be conftantly recurring whenever they are uttered ; and while that recurs, or is apt to recur, we may venture to fay that they cannot with propriety be retained in anatomy. On this fingle objection alone they ought to be rejected ; but unfortunately there are others which are lefs furmoun table, and which will appear on a more particular inveftigation,
SUPERIOR
POSITION AND ASPECT. Xlg
Superior and Inferior.
These terms, in their primary fenfe, con- tain an allufion to the fituation of different ob- jects, as they ftand with refpect to the heavens and the earth ; and that they may regularly carry this allufion to the fame parts in the lan- guage of anatomy, the body is fuppofed always to remain in the fame pofition. The parties lar pofition which anatomifts have chofen is the erect ; but this pofition being rather un- natural for the lower animals, we call in the affiftance of fancy* and in fpite of the fenfes fet them bolt upright on the point of their tail, or their hind legs ; or, difregarding the primary fenfe of fuperior and inferior, we ap- ply them, without any reference to afpect, to parts that correfpond in form, ufe, or fyflematic connection*
H 2 Anterior
Il6 TERMS RELATING T6
Anterior and Posterior,
Like thelaft, fuppofe the ereft pofition, and denote the parts before and behind. In the lower animals^ when allowed to remain in their - natural attitude, they fignify the parts below and above ; and thus ufed as a fort of arbitrary terms, exprefs correfponding parts of the fyf- tem.
External and Internal
Are more vague than the preceding. The parts of generation are external or internal with refpecl: to the general furface of the body.
The parts of an organ are external or inter- nal with refpecl: to the furface of the organ itfelf. :
The angles of the eye are external and in- ternal with refpecl; to the lateral parts of the face and the middle fuperficial line that divides them.
The
POSITION AND ASPECT. II7
The parts of the leg are external and inter- nal with refpect to its furface, or with refpect. to the nearnefs and diftance of the line that paffes through the axis of the body. Thus all parts of the leg are external if fuperficial; and all parts likewife external, however deep, if they happen to be fituated in what we exprefs by the outer fide.
While the arm is in a (late of extenfion, and parallel to the trunk, the fide next the trunk is internal ; but as the radius rolls on its axis, it becomes a queftion, which is the fide next to the trunk? The thumb, the palm, and the little fin- ger, may in fucceffion all afiume thatfituation. Accordingly thofe who defcribe the hand in a (late of pronation, make the thumb internal ; thofe who defcribe it in a Rate of fupination, make the finger external ; while Albinus, preferring the middle pofition, makes the palm internal. Thus each of thefe words in the upper extre- mity, adding the fenfe fuperficial and deep, have no lefs than four different meanings; and three of thefe extended to the bones, mufcles, H 3 blood-
Il8 TERMS RELATING TO'
blood-veffels, and nerves. And as if the eon* fufion were ftill incomplete, Innes, in defcri* bing the interoffei, takes one of the fenfes, where he fpeaks of their origin ; and another, where he talks of their infertion.
Right and Left
Can never be applied with any propriety to parts of the extremities. As the right fide of the one leg or arm correfponds in form, ftruc- ture, and functions to what is the left fide of the other ; they are therefore applied to the extremities only as wholes, and to parts of the vifcera in the great venters, where they fome- times attempt to denote fituation with little fuccefs, particularly when applied to the car* diac ventricles, finufes, and auricles.
CHAP.
POSITION AND ASPECT. MQ
CHAP. VI.
NEW TERMS RELATING TO POSITION AND ASPECT.
1 he numerous miftakes that daily refult from the ambiguity and frequent occurrence of thefe terms, is furely a reproach to our nomencla- ture ; and few will deny that they ought to be rejected if better ones could be fubftituted for them. With all fubmiffion to the judgment of others, I fhall mention fome which are cer- tainly more determinate in meaning, and not more difficult in their application ; and as the Trunk and Extremities feem to require different kinds, I mail begin with thofe for :the trunk,
H 4 Terms
120 new terms relating to
Terms for the different Aspects of the Trunk.
Anatomists know that in defcribing the vertebral column, we call the bone which is neareft to the head the Atlas, and the mafs of vertebras at the oppoiite extremity the Sa- crum. In fyrlematic connection thefe occupy correfponding regions in all animals in which they are found. Inftead of the words Superior and Inferior, I would therefore propofe At- lantal and Sacral.
The bread and the back exprefs likewife correfponding regions in all animals ; and there- fore, inftead of Anterior and Pofierior, we might adopt Sternal and Dorsal.
When External and Internal fignify what is fuperficial and deep, we might, in their place, employ the words Dermal and Central, de- noting what points to the fkin and what to the centre : or if we happen to be fpeaking of an or- gan, Peripheral and Gen tral ; the term Peri- pheral
POSITION AND ASPECT. 121
pheral being derived from the Greek word that fignifies " circumference."
When they lignify the fide and middle of a furface, fuppofe a plane, to pafs along the mid- dle of the neck, the mediaftinum, and linea alba, and to dividing the neck and the trunk into fimilar halves from the fternum to the dorfum, and let this plane be denominated Mesion ; Lateral and Mesial will in fuch a cafe con- vey the meaning of external and internal; and in many other cafes, as we mall afterwards fee by examples, be extremely ufeful in exprefiing both fituation and direction.
The peculiar meanings of External and In- ternal, as they are applied to the extremities, will be better referred to their proper place.
As for the lateral parts of the trunk, Right and Left might (till denote thefe ; although, for the reafons already affigned in the general, obfervations, Dextral and Sinistral might perhaps be preferable ; or mould there be no occafion fcr diftinction, as may fometimes hap- pen, the word Lateral may ferve for both.
It
122 NEW TERMS RELATING TO
It has already been noticed, that it is chief- ly in defcribing the heart they are apt to con- vey an ambiguous meaning, and occafion trou- ble to the anatomifl ; for what are called the right and left ventricles are ftriclly fpeaking neither right nor left ; and thofe who have chofen to call them rather anterior and pojle- rior have employed terms equally vague; and more erroneous if they be extended to compa- rative anatomy. To avoid the inaccuracies which muft therefore arife from the ufe of fuch language, it mould be remarked, that the vaf- cular fyftem in all the nobler fpecies of animals may be divided into two parts, each confifting of veins and arteries. The one for conveying blood from the lungs to the fyftem at large, and the other for conveying it again from the fyftem back to the lungs. Let the veifels which convey it from the lungs to the fyftem be call- ed the Systemic, and thofe which convey it from the fyftem to the lungs be named the Pulmonic, and all ambiguity will be avoided. Thus the pulmonary veins, the left finus, au- ricle,
POSITION AND ASPECT. I23
ricle, and ventricle, with the aorta and all its branches, will bejyjiemicj while the bron- chial veins, the veins of the head, heart, trunk, and extremities, the right finus, auricle, and ventricle, with the pulmonary artery and all its branches, will be diftinguifhed by the epi^ thet pulmonic ; and if it be neceffary to mark their fituation with refpect to the trunk, or to one another in this or that fpecies of animal, the terms already ufed for the trunk, as atten- tat, facral, Jlernal, dorfal, dermal, central, dex- iral^Jlnijlral, lateral, and mefial, may conveni- ently be ufed for that purpofe.
Befides removing much ambiguity, another advantage that naturally arifes from this change in the nomenclature is, that inftead of being obliged to enumerate the vefTels in which the purpk and in which the vermilion blood is contained, we may fay at once that the purple is contained in all the pulmonic vefTels, and the vermilion in all the fyflemic, whether veins or arteries \ that thofe animals which have but pne auricle and ventricle have no vena pulmo- nic
124 NEW TERMS RELATING TO
nic fyftem, or veins which carry blood to their lungs 5 that their pulmonary veffels, in fome meafure, correfpond in function to our bron- chials ; and that their blood, undergoing a change from the action of the air, is entirely confined to fyftemic yeins.
Terms for the Aspects of the Extremities.
In defcribing the two kinds of extremities, we may naturally diftinguifh them by epithets borrowed from the regions of the trunk with which they are connected, calling the Superior, Atlantal, and the Inferior^ Sacral extre- mities.
In mentioning the ends of thefe extremi- ties, or the ends of the bones of which they are compofed, we may, with a reference to the courfe or direction of the extremity, denomi- nate the end which is neareft to the trunk the Proximal end, and that which is farthefl from it the Distal. Thefe lad terms may be
ufed
POSITION AND ASPECT. |2j
ufed as common in defcribing both kinds of ex- tremities, and in diftinguifhing the ends of the coccyx and its different vertebrae. The other terms mull be appropriate if they are to be borrowed from the names of the parts which conftitute the two fpecies, of organs.
Terms for the Atlantal Extremities.
In thefe extremities we may ufe the terms Radial and Ulnar to fignify the two lateral parts, and with little hefitation ; as thefe terms have already been adopted by the accurate Win- flow and other anatomifts of great eminence.
To the other two fides we may give the epi- thets Anconal and Thenal : The word anconal containing an allufion to that projecting point of the elbow which the ancient Athenians and modern anatomifls have called olecranon; but which other Greeks denominated an- con, the name from which we derive the epi- thet belonging to the mufcles called anconei.
The
126 ' NEW TERMS RELATING TO
The word thenal is taken from thenar, the Greek name for the palm of the hand : but here we transfer the word thenar to fig- nify the flexure or fide of the elbow oppofed to the ancon ; allowing the word void to remain, and ft ill to fignify that part on the thenal fide which is called the palm.
The afpects therefore of each atlantal extre- mity, and of all its parts from the fcapuia downwards, will be Proximal and Distal, Dermal, Central, Ulnar, and Radial, Anconal and Thenal ; while the fcapuia, - from its clofe and intimate connection, will have its afpe6ts better exprelfed by the terms for the trunk.
Terms for the Sacral Extremities,
Those parts in the facral extremities which correfpond in their general form, iituation, and function, with the ulna, radius^ thenar, and ancon of the other extremities, are the tibia,
fibula,
POSITION AND ASPECT. tVf
fibula, poples, and rotula ; and therefore, if we here preferve the analogy, the eight afpects of the facral extremities will be Proximal and Distal, Dermal, Central, Tibial, Fi- bular, Popliteal and Rotular ; allow- ing the word planta to remain, as we did vola, to exprefs the fole on the popliteal fide of the foot ; and the large lateral bones of the pelvis to borrow their terms, as does the fcapula, from the afpe&s of the trunk.
That the whole of thefe terms may be as generally ufeful as poffible, they are meant to extend in their application as far as thofe for which they are fubftituted. Thus, forinitance, in the Atlantal extremity, the humerus, and every bone to the points of the fingers, is fup- pofed to have a proximal and di/lal, a peri- pheral and central, an ulnar and radial, a the- nal and anconal afpect ; while the relative fitu- ation of every nerve, mufcle, and artery, is to be exprefTed by fome one or other of thefe epi- thets. To illuilrate my meaning by an exam- ple, I {hall take the interoffei mufcles, which
are
128 NEW TERMS RELATING TO
are nothing more than the adductors and ab- ductors of the fingers. Albinus calls thofe which appear on both fides of the hand the external, and thofe which appear on the palms only, the internal. Innes retains the diftinction of Albinus with refpect to the origin of thefe mufcles ; but when he fpeaks of their infertion, ufes the words external and internal in a diffe- rent fenfe to denote the lateral parts of the fin- gers. If the terms here propofed were adopt- ed, thefe mufcles, with refpect to their origins, would be all either anconal or thenal, and with refpecl to their infertion radial or ulnar. Thus I would fay, in fpeaking of their origins, that the two belonging to the forefinger are thenal; the two belonging to the middle finger, anco- nal; thofe belonging to the ring finger and little finger, alternately, thenal and anconal ; the fewo thenal inferted into the radial, and the two anconal into the ulnar fides of thefe fin- gers. I have only to add, that the happy ef- fects refulting from the parrial ufe of fuch de- finite terms in Murray's Defcription of the Ar- teries,
POSITION AND ASPECT. I2<>
teries, muft make every one who is truly and ferioufly interefled in anatomy extremely anxi- ous to fee them more generally employed.
The objections ftarted againft thefe terms, if there be any, will, I conceive, be probably fomewhat of the following nature.
The words atlantal, facral, and Jlernal, al* lude to parts that are not to be found in thofe animals which have no vertebrae; and, befides* the allufion is not confined to the part itfelf, but extended to a fort of imaginary plane that is fuppofed to be in their vicinity. The an- fwer is, that the parts occupy correfponding regions in all animals in which they are found ; ihow where the planes are to be drawn \ and that, infiead of multiplying terms, and forming new and diftincl: nomenclatures for all the diftincl clafles of animals, it was thought better, where no ambiguity was to be dreaded, to give to the epithets borrowed from thefe parts a fort of general and arbitrary fenfe, and transfer them, by analogy, to all the corre- I fponding
I3O NEW TERMS RELATING TO
fponding regions of the fyftem in every fpecies.
The objection ariling to the anfwer itfelf, that thefe terms, taken in a general and arbitrary fenfe, can no longer allude to the parts from which they are borrowed, is eafily removed by caufing a change in the termination, to fhow when they allude to the part, and when to the afpecl.
Similar objections may likewife be made to the words ulnar, radial, tibial, fibular, rotular, and popliteal; and a fimilar anfwer may alfo be given : though this may be further faid in their favour, that they have been adopted by other anatomifts, particularly Chauflier ; and if their ufe here be extended, it was to avoid the unneceffary multiplication of terms, and to preferve, as much as poffible, fimplicity, unity, and concifenefs of arrangement, by limiting the number of general afpedts to which the fubordinate ones are referred.
The meaning of the words anconal and the~ nal is likewife different from their primary meaning \ but the language from which they
are
POSITION AND ASPECT. I3I
ar*i borrowed is dead, and the primary mean- ing will have little chance of being fuggeiled, along with that in which they are employed, to denote two afpe&s of the arm.
From the rotatory motions of the radius, and its varying pofitions with regard to the ulna in various cafes, it may be difficult, in certain places, to diftinguifh the afpecls when they happen to run in a fpiral courfe ; but though this difficulty may often occur, it may always be removed by afcertaining the different af- pe&s at the joint of the elbow, when the ra- dius is placed, or fuppofed to be placed, in a Hate of fupination. From that point their fpi- ral courfe may ealily be followed in oppofite di- rections both along the humerus and fore arm.
Proximal and dijlal are chofen in preference to proximate and diftant, as being no parts of colloquial language ; and likewife for the fake of their termination, as all the other words de- noting pojition terminate either in a I or ar.
Central is a word borrowed indeed from col- loquial language; but here can occafion no am- I 2 biguity,
132 NEW TERMS RELATING TO
biguity, it being underftood in the fame lati^ tude with the other terms.
As for the terms peripheral, mejial, and der- mal, thefe, or words of a fimilar import, were abfolutely neceffary : but whether or not more agreeable founds might have been gotten to ex- prefs their fenfes, was a fubject on which I have not bellowed very much inquiry.
Having now £ttn the defects of the terms denoting pofition in the trunk and extremities, and tried to remedy them, let us next fee whe- ther or not there be any defects in their ex- preffion when applied to the head. In the hu- man fpecies the word fuperior, in its primary fenfe, will allude to a part of the frontal bone, and that part of the parietals which lies near the fagittal future. It will likewife allude to iimilar parts in the meep and ox, and fome other quadrupeds ; but were thefe quadrupeds to alfume the erect pofture, the parts that are fuperior would be pofterior : and were man to affume the pofture of the quadruped, the parts
that
POSITION AND ASPECT. 133
that arefuperior would become anterior. Su- perior therefore, in thefe cafes, denotes always, to a certain extent, fimilar parts, when the at- titudes of the two fpecies are different; and diffimilar parts, when they are the fame. In- ferior, on the contrary, fimilar parts, when the attitudes are the fame; and diffimilar parts, when they are different : For, in the natural and ordinary pofture of flanding or walking, Inferior alludes to the bafis of the cranium in the human fpecies, but to the mouth and lips of thefe quadrupeds; yet both terms would fignify a ftill greater variety were they farther extended to birds, fifhes, reptiles, and infeds. Anterior and po/Ierior, at the fame time, if thus extended, would be equally vague ; while ex- ternal and internal would be almoft an endlefs fource of ambiguity. But the force of this rea- foning will appear more evident from the fol- lowing Statement, where the terms are ufed in their primary fenfe, and applied to each fpecies in its common attitude of moving or ftanding,
I 3 Superior.
134 njew terms relating to
Superior.
In man, part of the frontal and parietal bones.
In fheep and oxen, part of the frontal, parie- tal, and occipital bones.
In dogs and horfes, part of the parietal and occipital bones.
In frogs, ferpents, and various fifhes, all the ^ of the cranium and face which com pofe the plane oppofite to the bafe.
Inferior.
In man, the bafe of the lower maxillary bone, and the bones forming the bafe of the cra- nium.
In fheep and oxen, the middle part of the maxillary curves.
In dogs and horfes, the fame.
In frogs, ferpents, and in various filhes, the bafe of .the lower maxillary bone, and the
bones
Position and aspect. 135
bones forming the bafe of the crani-
um.
Anterior.
In man, the eyes, the middle part of the max- illary curves, and the bones of the face, op- pofed to the riling part of the occiput.
In oxen and fheep, the bones of the face, op- pofed to the bafe of the cranium and head.
In dogs and horfes, the fame.
In frogs, ferpents, and in various fifties, the middle part of the maxillary curves.
Posterior,
In man, part of the parietal and occipital bones.
In fheep, oxen, and mofl quadrupeds, exclu- ding the amphibia, the bafe of the cranium.
In frogs, ferpents, and in various fifties, the occiput,
1 4 External
I36 NEW TERMS RELATING TO
External and Internal
Are as faulty when applied in fome of their fenfes to the regions of the head as they are in other parts of the fyftem. What mean- ing, for inftance, can we affix to the exter- nal and internal angle of the eye where the eye is round, where it is lateral, where it is vertical, or where the line palling from one angle to the other runs not tranfverfely, but longitudinally with refpect to the head ?
^From this ftatement it mud be evident that the prefent terms for denoting Jituati on will be attended with as much confufion in defcribing the head as any other part of the fyftem ; and that other terms ought to be employed, if we either wifh to avoid ambiguity, or make ufe of general and precife language. At the fame time, it will readily be granted, that if the terms already propofed for the trunk or extre- mities could, with any propriety, be extended
to
POSITION AND ASPECT. 137
to the head, new terms would not only be un- necessary, but abfurdly fuperfluous. But while anxious to avoid an improper multiplication of terms, we mud recollect that two or three words, having each a definite and precife mean- ing* are not fo troublefome and dangerous in fcience as one word with two or three meanings that are different ; for every word employed to exprefs two or three objects fpecifically dif- ferent, muft neceflarily introduce a fort of con- fulion into our ideas ; tend to miflead us in the paths of inquiry ; and unlefs we are guard- ed, conduct us at lail into the regions of igno- rance and error. Forewarned, therefore, of the evils which arife from fuch redundan- cies in fenfe or expreffion, let us inquire whe- ther any of the terms already fuggefled can be extended to the parts of the head. In doing this, it is needlefs to obferve that thofe containing particular allufions to parts of the extremities muft be ill adapted to exprefs thofe of the cranium and face ; and that, if we con- fider the pofition of the head in different ani- mals,
I38 NEW TERMS RELATING TO
mals, we muft inftantly perceive that Jiernal, dorfal, atlantal, and facral, can do no more than mark the relative lituation of parts, or the different politions of the head and trunk with reipect to one another. But as even this may be an object of fome importance ; as it may introduce into our defcriptions a greater degree of clearnefs and precifion ; and lead to con- clulions in phyfiology that may be both inte- refting and ufeful — I fhall here mow the man- ner in which the application of fuch terms may be extended ; and fliall take firft, in the way of -illuftration,
Atlantal and Sacral.
In applying thefe terms to the head, let us call the line which follows the direction of the vertebral column from the facrum to the atlas the Vertebral Line ; and fuppofe it conti- nued perpendicular to the plane of the foramen magnum till it fall on fome bone of tire cranium
or
POSITION AND ASPECT. I yj
or face. Let this bone, whatever it be, in that cafe be called the atlantal ; we fhall find, on inquiry, that the parietal bones will be atlan* tal in one fpecies, the frontal in another, and fome different bone in a third \ that the angle formed between this bone and the vertebral line will vary confiderably in different animals \ and that when the line happens to fall on the fame bone, it will often fall on a different part in a different fpecies. In man, for inflance, it will fall on the fagittal, a little behind the co- ronal future ; in all other animals it will fall more towards the face. In the ape, it will fall on the frontal bone, a little before the coronal future ; in the dog and horfe, as far down as the orbitary ridge \ in the mole, the rat, and fome other quadrupeds, it will flrike on fome part of the nofe ; in frogs and ferpents, will defcend as low as the maxillary curves ; and in fome animals may pafs obliquely from above downwards through the bafis of the head.
If the term facral be applied to the head, it mufl always denote that fide which is oppofed
to
140 NEW TERMS RELATING TO
to the atlantal, and may eafily be found from obferving the place of the foramen magnum, which in all cafes muft be necefiarily facral. The fituation of the facral fide will therefore vary with the foramen, which in human fculls is found in the bafe \ but as we defcend thro' quadrupeds and birds, proceeds backwards, till in ferpents and flfhes we find it at that part of tHe head which is oppofite to the mouth or middle part of the maxillary curves. In fhort, it recedes more and more backwards, towards the one extremity of the head, as the vertebral line comes more and more forwards towards the other. From this fixed and mutual rela- tion we may, from knowing the atlantal point, afcertain in fome meafure the fituation of the foramen ; obtain fome idea of the form of the head, of its relative pofition with regard to the trunk, of the moil: ufual pofture of the animal in motion; and a variety of other circum- fiances that neceifarily depend upon thefe diflinclions,
Sternal
position and aspect. i4i
Sternal and Dorsal.
These terms, when applied to the head, will fignify parts in the fame plane, in planes paral- lel, or nearly parallel to the fternum and dor- fum ; and mould the fternum and dorfum be parallel, thefe planes will always be fternal which are on the fternal fide, and thofe dorfal which are on the dorfal fide of the vertebral line.
In the human fpecies the whole face bound- ed by the chin, the hairy fcalp, and the two lateral parts of the head, will be fternal. 1 — In fheep and oxen, when the head is in the ufual pofition, with the bafe feemingly at right angles to the vertebral line, the maxillary curves only will be fternal. — But in ferpents and frogs, the bails of the cranium will be found fternal, while the maxillary curves will become atlantal.
In the human fpecies, the word dorfal will denote the rifing part of the occipital bone and pofterior part of the two parietals. — In
fheep
142 NEW TERMS RELATING TO
flieep and oxen, not only a part of the occipi- tal bone, but the upper part of the parietal arch, thro' its whole extent, from behind for- wards, including a part of the frontal bone. — In ferpents and frogs, not only the upper part of the cranium, but likewife moft of the bones of the face, which are not on the fides or ba- lls of the head.
It feems to be therefore a general law, that the parts of the head which are atlantal and flernal in man mould, in defcending through the lower animals, gradually approach more and more to the dorfal fituation, and the parts which are facral more and more to that which is fternal. From knowing therefore the parts of the head which are fternal and dorfal, we will be led to nearly the fame general conclu- fionsthat we drew from the points atlantal and facral; w7e will learn the relative polition of the head with regard to the trunk, the fitua- tion of the foramen, the uiual attitude of the animal in motion, the form of the cranium, and how far it deviates from die human fTiape. We
may
POSITION AND ASPECT. I43
may alfo acquire, in this way, fome general idea of the nervous fyftem, The proportion between the diameters of the cranium and fo- ramen magnum is ufually connected with the fhape of the head and the fituation of the fo- ramen : from knowing therefore the fhape and fituation, we may form fome idea of the relative proportion of the two diameters ; and from knowing the proportion of the two dia- meters, we may know the proportion between the brain and the fpinai marrow; and as the fa- gacity and vital energy feems to be regulated by this proportion, we hence may form pretty- accurate conjectures with refpecl to the de- gree of the intellectual functions, the tena- cioufnefs of life, and power of reproduction poffefied by the animal.
But altho' the extenfion of thefe terms may be highly ufeful in many phyfiological deduc- tions, they are not adapted to the feparate ana- tomical defcription of the head. In the cafe of a defcription, the bead, which eoniifts of two parts, the cranium and face, neceliarily re- quires
144 N£w TERMS RELATING TO
quires terms of its own, as well as the trunk and the extremities ; and thefe terms might be borrowed from the bones, if it were pof~ fible in that way to make them precife. But, unfortunately, in the cranium there are no bones, not even the ethmoidal, entirely confi- ned to one of its afpe&s ; and the bones of the face vary fo much in their form, proportion, and general appearance in different animals, that they are equally unfit for our purpofe. We mud therefore endeavour to contrive names for defcribing the afpects of the cranium and face, that contain no allufion to the fituation of particular parts.
Taking the head as a whole, thefe afpecls mould be eight in number ; but fuppofing the falx a mejial plane, dividing it into two fi- milar halves, they will amount to nine ; and by dividing it into cranium and face, a tenth may be necefiary. But as dermal \ central, dex- tral, Jiniftral, and mejial, are equally applica- ble to the head and trunk, we only require five that are new : two for the bafe and crown of
the
POSITION AND ASPECT. 1 45
the head, two for the hind and fore part of the cranium, and one for the face.
The bafe and crown of the head, which are oppoiite, may be called the Basilar and Co- ronal afpects.
Between thefe tw7o and the lateral afpects there is a projecting part of the cranium be- hind, which the Romans called occiput, and the Greeks inion. The Greek word is prefer- able to the Latin, as it does not convey any al- lufion to the occipital bone, which is found in two different afpects, the bajilar, and that which may now be called Inial.
In the oppoiite extremity of the cranium* where the nafal bones are found connected with the os frontis, there is a part w,hich fome anatomifls who have written in Latin have called glabella. This particular afpect of the cranium, the afpect which is always oppofed to the inion, may be named Glabellar.
The part of the face which is placed at the
greateit diftance from the inion, following the
courfe of a ftraight line, is in fome animals a
part of the inferior, in others a part of the fu-
K. perior
I46 NEW TERMS RELATING TO
perior maxillary bone, or in birds, of the mandibles which correfpond to them, this diftant part of the face, whatever that happens to be, may be called the Antinion.
So that the ten afpecls of the head will be the Dermal, Central, and Mesial, the Dex- tral and Sinistral, the Coronal and Ba- silar, the Inial, Antinial, and the Glabel- lar.
Of the laft feven, if lines be drawn between every two of the oppofite afpects, they will conftitute the four following diameters : The Dextro-sinistral, theCoRONO-BASiLAR, the Inio-glabellar, and the Inantinial*. The two former may be taken at different places of the cranium, towards the glabella, where it has in general the lead depth and the lean: breadth, and towards the inion, where the depth and breadth are ufually greateft ; the firft behind the temporal procefTes of the os frontis ; and the other oppofite to the prominent parts of the pa- rietals, or of the parietal, as in fheep, oxen,
&c.
# Inantimal, a contraction for Jnio-antinial.
POSITION AND ASPECT. I47
&c. where the fagittal future is found only in the os frontis, and where one bone fupplies the place of the two parietals. In this way we mall have two dext'ro-jinijlral and two corono- hajilar diameters.
The meafurement of thefe feveral diameters will mew the limits of varying proportion in the heads and craniums* of the fame fpecies; and when applied to comparative anatomy, will difcovera number of fpecific differences as we defcend in the fcale of being. The inio- glabel- lar, the two corono-bajilar, and the two dextro- finijlral, or tranfverfe diameters, will, in general^ be found to have a lefs proportion to the inanti- nial than they have in man. The inantinial ap- pears therefore to have fome connection with the facial angle, which gradually diminifhes as the inantinial diameter increafes. Should any of my readers require an explanation of this an- gle, it is formed by two lines, one drawn from the middle of the meatus audit orius externus K 2 to
* An Englifh plural inftead of crania, as the fingular is partly naturalized.
I48 NEW TERMS RELATING TO
to the inferior part of the noitril, and another called the facial line, drawn from the fame part of the noftril to the fuperciliary ridge of the os frontis. In fome of the Grecian an- tiques, this is an angle of 100 degrees, and in fome negroes an angle of 70. When beyond 100, the face is monftrous; when below 70, it is that of a brute. Even when 100, the face is unnatural ; and it is very feldom indeed that we ever find it fo high as 90.
In the Grecian antiques, the maxillary bones, with the depth and firmnefs of maturer years, re- tain the fhortnefs peculiar to youth ; and are ne- ver lengthened fo as to hold a quantity of teeth of the number and dimenfions that are ufually found in the jaws of an adult. The brow there- fore projects beyond the face, and the nofe de- fcends in a ftraight line. In reafoning coolly, the form would ftrike us at once as abfurd, and as an unjuftifiable deviation from nature; but the fenfes and paffions get interefted, and we feel pleafed with the genius of the artift who, thus combining with tafte and judgment whatever is comely and beautiful in youth, with what is
noble
POSITION AND ASPECT, I49
noble and dignified in age, infenfibly produces an agreeable impreflion. Although the fea- tures be rather extraordinary, we feel pleafed with the general appearance, in the fame man- ner, as we like to fee what is not very common ; a fteady and prudent manlinefs in a child, and a certain degree of fprightly vivacity in an old man. But ihould it be aiked, Why a fimilar projection of the face mould be lefs agreeable than that of the forehead ? the anfwer is ob- vious : The projection of the forehead, to the extent in which it is carried in the Grecian an- tiques, only furpafles our flandard of excel- lence ; and fo always imprefTes us with an idea of a more than ufual dignity in the counte- nance. The projection of the face, on the other hand, is rather below our ideal flandard ; neceffarily lengthens the inantinial diameter ; and produces an appearance that is very near- ly approximate to the brutes. The aflbciation of our ideas, it mufl be allowed, has alfo its in- fluence. Many of the Simiae, though beau- tiful in themfelves, become exceedingly ug- ly and difgufting when viewed as men, or as K 3 ^ intended
150 NEW TERMS RELATING TO
intended imitations of our fpecies ; while the longer face and the more receding forehead of the greyhound are deemed elegant, becaufe he is tried by a ftandard of his own, and no comparifon fecretly instituted between him and man.
The facial line does not therefore fhow what is beautiful and deformed in nature ; but mere- ly afcertains the inclination of the face to that line which is drawn from the ear to the infe- rior part of the noftril. In Camper's figures, this line is always fuppofed to be horizontal, and drawn from the middle part of the orifice of the meatus auditorius externus. Did Camper forefee that this line might change its pofition while the form of the head continued the fame? In the young fkeleton, where the bony meatus is entirely wanting, and where the line muft confequently be drawn from the middle of the ring to which the membrana tympani is attach- ed, will its direction be found the fame, with regard to the face, as in the adult ? Certainly not. The membrana tympani, or bottom of the external meatus, is more forward, inward,
and
POSITION AND ASPECT. 151
and downward, than the orifice where it is joined to the concha ; and therefore the di- rection of this line, with regard to the head, muft vary with the changes and relative fitua- tion of the meatus; a fituation which is known to be different in different animals. In the cat, for inflance, it enters horizontally; is more ba- filar than the zygomatic arch ; and its bajilar margin, if we now may venture to ufe that lan- guage, is more bafilar than the bafe itfelf, or advances farther in the bafilar direction.
In the babyrouffa, the meatus is long ; runs from the tympanum in the coronal, lateral, and inial directions; or rifes upwards, outwards, and backwards, fuppofing the erect poflure of the animal, and the bafe of the head at right angles to the vertebral column. In this animal the external orifice of the meatus is more coronal than the zygoma, or more towards the crown of the head. If in thefe two inflances, there- fore, we were, in the manner of Camper, to draw the horizontal line from the middle of the orifice of the meatus, we mould draw it from different points of the head, or from K 4 points
152 ®EW TERMS RELATING TO
points that do not correfpond in relative fitua- tion.
The other point to which it is drawn is likewife variable with refped to polition. In man and quadrupeds it is found near the max- illary curve. In birds it is fometimes at one extremity of the maxilla, fometimes at the other, and fometimes in the middle. In ceta- ceous animals, the fpirucula, or breathing holes, run in a direction obliquely from the bafe to- wards the corona, and terminate in the face near the glabellar part of the cranium. The angle formed by the facial line and the hori- zontal, in fuch cafes, would, in fome inftan- ces, be larger than the human t For thefe reafons, if we wifh to afcertain the fhape of the head in any refpect, it would be more accurate, inftead of this auri-nafal line, to draw a bajilar, or even two bajilar lines ; one running along the bafllar fide of the palatine plate of the upper maxilla, and another along the bafe of the lower maxilla, and both produ- ced, till they meet the facial line. With this line? which is likewife produced, they will
form
POSITION AND ASPECT, 153
form two angles ; one, the baji-facial of the fu- perior or coronal; and the other, the baji-fa- cial of the inferior or bqfilar maxilla.
Where the line drawn on the palatine plate is interrupted by the alveolar procefs, a line may be drawn from the dermal fide on the fup- pofed continuation of the palatine plane.
Where the palatine plate is convex or con- cave, the line is fuppofed to be drawn on a plane that pafTes through its inial and antinial extre- mities; and in the other maxilla, if thebafilar lide be convex or concave, it is fuppofed to be drawn on a plane that proceeds from the angles to the bajilar or lower fide of the curvature.
As the palatine plate is either parallel, or nearly parallel to the plane of the mouth, the angle formed by that plane and the facial line may alfo be taken, and diftinguifhed from the others by the name of the ori-facial angle ; nay, as this angle may always be eafi- ly and accurately taken in the living body, it may oftener be ufeful in afcertaining, analogi- cally, the inclination of the face and the form of the head than the other two.
Should
154 NEW TERMS RELATING TO
Should the queftion be put, What advan- tages are we to expect in compenfation fot all this trouble ? the anfwer is, That a Hea- dy attention to thefe lines, diameters, and angles, muft lead to more clear and precife ideas than we hitherto have had upon the comparative anatomy of the head ; and if ever a language peculiarly fitted to exprefs thefe ideas were generally adopted, no anato- mift, no phyfiologift, or phyfiognomift, would prefume to indulge in vague declamation ; or venture, with any reafon, to complain, from affectation of myftery, or of fomething new, that he wanted terms to exprefs his thoughts and his lingular obfervations.
It is true that every object in nature will ex- hibit a number of difcriminating characters if accurately examined, and every one may have marks of his own by which he diftinguifhes them ; but if every one mould defcribe an object only by marks peculiar to himfelf, we fhould ne- ver difcover that the object, was the fame ; but rather conclude, that the objects were as diffe- rent
POSITION AND ASPECT. I 55
rent as the defcriptions. In this way, no one could poflibly underfland the defcriptions of another ; and one might defcribe an object as new which had been defcribed an hundred times before. It is therefore neceffary to at- tend to marks of a certain kind, particularly thofe by which an object is claflified and ar- ranged. After acquainting us with thefe cha- racters, we come to know the genus and fpe- cies to which it belongs ; and then an author may enumerate as many characters as he choo- fes, for now we begin to underfland the fub- ject of which he is treating. It was thus by directing the attention of mankind to certain characters, that Linnaeus taught naturalifts all to fpeak in the fame language, and to be intel- ligible to one another ; and it is by adopting a limilar method that we ever can expect, on rational principles, to improve our knowledge in general anatomy. It is therefore to be ho- ped that were anatomifts, in defcribing the heads of different animals, always to give us the proportions and magnitudes of certain lines,
diameters.
I5# NEW TERMS RELATING TO
diameters, and angles, we fhould very foon ac- quire more general, and precife information upon that fubjecl: than we now poffefs.
As an accurate knowledge of relative por- tion is likewife of the greateft importance in anatomy, we mould never negledt, where it is poffible, to mention the fituation and afped: of every part that is worthy of notice. A careful attention to thefe circumflances will gradually fecure to us more accuracy, with regard to de- fcriptions in furgery, phyiic, zoology, and an- atomy ; will render our knowledge of the ufes and functions more perfect ; and will therefore give more than an ordinary degree of clearnefs and precilion to our phyiiological reafonings and conclufions.
The terms here fuggefted for the head con- taining no allufion to the bones, and being fome- what different in principle from feveral of thofe which have been fuggefted for the trunk and ex- tremities, I fhall illuftrate the mode of applying them by a few examples. Let us take, for in-
fiance*
POSITION AND ASPECT. 157
fiance, the parietal bone of the human fpecies. It has two fides, one convex and the other con- cave ; which, in point of afpecl, are dermal and central. In point of fituation, coronal and late- ral. It has four margins, which, in point of fi- tuation, are likewife found coronal and lateral; but, in point of afpecl:, glabellar, mejial, inial, and bajilar. It has alfo four angles, each an- gle lying between two of the different mar- gins ; and which therefore may be named the glabello-mejial, glabello- bajilar, the inio-mejial, and the inio-bajilar.
Examining this bone in the deer and fheep, where we fee no divifion by fagittal future, its two furfaces are convex and concave ; and in point of afpecl, dermal and central, as they are in man. In point of fituation, they are fome- what different, being inial and lateral ; and with refpect to the different afpecls of its four margins, two are antinial, one coronal, and a fourth bajilar.
Take the frontal bone of the human fubjed as another illuRration. Its two furfaces are
dermal
I58 NEW TERMS RELATING TO
dermal and central ; their fituations coronal, bajilar, lateral, glabellar ; the afpect. of its margins, where connected with the fphenoi- dal bone and glabellar part of the ethmoi- dal, is inial ; where connected with the late- ral part of the ethmoidal bone, mejial ; where it joins the malar bone, lateral ; and where it meets the nafal and maxillary bones, bajilar.
The eye will ferve for our lad illuftration. In the human fubject its fituation is glabellar. The afpect of the pupil, as in all animals, pe- ripheral or dermal; but where the nerve enters, it is inial, or, more ftrictly fpeaking, inio-mejial. The other afpects are coronal, bajilar, lateral, and mejial.
In thofe animals where the eyes are in the lateral parts of the head, the pupil is dermal, the entrance of the nerve mejial ; the other afpects coronal, bajilar, inial, antiniaL
Where the fituation of the eye is coronal, the pupil is dermal, the entrance of the nerve bajilar ; the other afpe&s inial, antinial, late- ral, and mejiah
Such
POSITION AND ASPECT. I 59
Such language, it will eafily be feen, is chiefly neceffary in comparative anatomy, where we foon learn that the lingular variety which we difco- ver in the actions, habits, and functions of ani- mals is principally owing to certain changes or modifications in the intimate ftru&ure, in the relative magnitude, fituation, and afpects of the different organs ; and where we perceive, that the Author of Nature has by thefe changes varied the fame general fabric innumerable ways ; given it a thoufand different inftindts, appetites, and paffions ; adapted it to every element and climate, and to endlefs diverfities with refpect. to food and the modes pf life.
As the means by which He has produced thefe effects cannot be thought unworthy of inquiry, a language calculated to exprefs the circum- ftances on which they depend, muft furely be defireable to every perfon the leaf! interefled in zoological invefligations. In mere changes of afpecl and pofition, the naturalifl muft obferve a number of important and fpecific differences ; the phyfiologifl muft fee correfpcndent and
neceffary
l6o NEW TERMS RELATING TO
neceflary changes on the functions ; and the natural theologift, in iuch changes, cannot fail to remark, with peculiar fatisfaclion, the admirable difplays of that boundlefs power, wifdom, and forefight, by which the great Sovereign of the Univerfe has peopled the air, the water, and the earth, with innumerable myriads of animated beings ; varied the fame general ftruclure fo as to fuit every poffible circumftance ; and, amidft the daily and the hourly millions of thofe events which we call contingencies, fecured the perpetuity of the fpecies, fixed the time of individual exiftence, regulated the periods of thofe functions which return occafionally, and every where fettled the extent, duration, and fucceflion of thofe which produce growth, vigour, and decay.
If fuch fpeculations accord not with the views of the medical practitioner, he is at leafl cer- tainly concerned in the knowledge of relative lituation and afpect fo far as regards the hu- man body ; the furgeon requires it in all his operations; the phyfician requires it in rea-
foning
POSITION AND ASPECT. l6|
foiling upon fymptoms and the feats of difeafe; arid for the anatomift to attempt any deicrip- tion without it, is like venturing to fea with- out a compafs or a fiar to guide him ; like a geographer trying to explain a map without lines of meridian or longitude, where he can- not diftinguifh the north from the fouth, and has no fcale to afcertain the relative diftances* In fhort, without a knowledge of polition and afpect, he is a traveller wandering at ran- dom, blind and in the dark, not able to fay whence he came nor whither he is goins;, and who fleps as readily over a precipice or into a river as he does into the road.
CHAP,
ld2 NEW TERMS*
CHAP. VII. THE NEW TERMS ENUMERATED.
FOR THE HEAD.
See Page 144, &c. and Plates III. IV. V, Coronal Bafilar Inial Glabellar Antinial
FOR THE TRUNK.
See p. 100. and PI. I. II.
Atlantal
Sacral
Dorfal
Sternal To be occafionally extended to the head, when we mean to exprefs its relative fituation with regard to the trunk. See p. 102.
TERMS
NEW TERMS. 163
TERMS COMMON TO THE HEAD AND TRUNK,
Seep. 121. and PL I. II. III. Dextral Siniftral Lateral Mefial
FOR THE ATLANTAL EXTREMITIES*
See p. 124, 125. and PI. I. II. Ulnar Radial Anconal Thenal
FOR THE SACRAL EXTREMITIES,
See p. 127. and PI. I. II. Tibial Fibular Rotular Popliteal
L2
TERMS
I64 NEW TERMS.
TERMS COMMON TO BOTH KINDS OF EXTREMI- TIES. See p. 124. and PL I. II. Proximal Diftal
TERMS COMMON TO THE HEAD, TRUNK, AND EXTREMITIES. See p. 120.
Dermal
Peripheral
Central
SECT.
NEW TERMS. 165
SECT. I.
The new Terms, by a change of Termination, may he ufed Adverbially.
Instead of the words upward, downward, back- ward, forward, outward, inward, and toward, which fo frequently occur in almoft every ana- tomical defcription, and in a fenfe fully as vague asfuperior, inferior, poflerior, anterior, external, and internal, we may, with a flight degree of variation, employ the' new terms as fo many adverbs. Thus,
IN THE HEAD,
Coronad will lignify towards the coronal afpec"l Bafilad ... ^ ... . towards the bafilar
Iniad towards the inial
Glabellad towards the glabellar
Antiniad towards the antinial
L 3 in
l66 " NEW TERMS.
IN THE TRUNK,
Atlantad will fignify towards the atlantal afpe$
Sacrad towards the facral
Dorfad ........ towards the dorfal
Sternad ........ towards the fternal
IN THE HEAD AND TRUNK,
Dextrad will fignify towards the dextral afped
Siniftrad towards the finiftral
fcaterad ........ towards the lateral
Mefiad ........ towards the mefial
IN THE ATLANTAL EXTREMITIES,
Ulnad will fignify towards the ulnar afpecl
Radiad . towards the radial
Anconad . towards the anconal
Thenad ....... towards the thenal
IN THE SACRAL EXTREMITIES,
Tibiad will fignify towards the tibial afpect
Fibulad towards the fibular
Rotulad ....... towards the rotular
Poplitead ...,;. towards the popliteal
in
^EW TERMS. 167
IN BOTH KINDS OF EXTREMITIES,
Proximad will lignify towards the proximate afpedl Diftad towards the diftant
IN THE HEAD, TRUNK, AND EXTREMITIES,
Dermad will fignify towards the dermal afpect
Peripherad towards the circumference
Centrad towards the centre
L 4 SECT.
i68 NEW TERMS,
SECT. IT.
The new Terms , by another change of Termina- tion, may exprefs Connection*
W hat belongs to the atlas, fternjmi, and fa+ crum ; to the radius, ulna, and ancon ; to the tibia, fibula, rotula, and poples, being fome- what different from that which belongs on}y to their afpect or fituation, in order to prevent any confufion, it may be necelfary to mark the diftindtion by another change in the termina- tion. Thus,
Atlanten
Sacren
Sternen
Radien
Ulnen
Anconen
Tibien
Fibulen
Rotulen
Popliteen
May
NEW TERMS. l6o
May be ufed in cafes where the reference is not merely to the afpecl, but to the part from which the afpedt has derived its name. On this principle a radial artery, or a radial muf- cle, will be an artery or mufcle belonging merely to the radial afpect ; while a radien ar- tery will be one that enters the radius itfelf, and a radien mufcle one particularly connect- ed with the radius by origin or infertion. Or the principle may even be extended farther, and a regular diftin&ion made between the terms that denote limply pofition or afpecr, and thofe which imply a particular connec- tion. For inftance, let the terms of the firft kind always terminate in al or ar9 and thofe of the fecond always in en, as reprefented in the following columns.
|
Coronal |
Coronen |
|
Bafilar |
Baiilen |
|
Inial |
Inien |
|
Glabellar |
Glabellen |
|
Antinial |
Antinien |
|
Atlanta! |
170
|
NEW TERMS. |
|
|
Atlantal |
Atlanten |
|
Sacral |
Sacren |
|
Sternal |
Sternen |
|
Dorfal |
Dorfen |
|
Dextral |
Dextreri |
|
Siniftral |
Siniftren |
|
Lateral |
Lateren |
|
Mefial |
Mefien |
|
Radial |
Radien |
|
Ulnar |
Ulnen |
|
Aconal |
Anconen |
|
Thenal |
Thenen |
|
Tibial |
Tibien |
|
Fibular f |
Fibulen |
|
Rotular |
Rotulen |
|
Popliteal |
Popliteen |
|
Diftal |
Diften |
|
Proximal |
Proximen |
Dermal
|
NEW |
TERMS. |
171 |
|
Dermal |
Dermen |
|
|
Peripheral |
Peripheren |
|
|
Central |
Centren |
Nay, as there are other terms in anatomy which allude to particular pofitions and af- pects, and which are likewife occafionally em- ployed to denote a different fort of connection, it might alfo contribute to accuracy of de- fcription to intimate this difference in their fenfe by a fimilar difference in their termina- tion, I fhall here enumerate feveral of the terms to which I allude.
|
Frontal |
Fronten |
|
Parietal |
Parieten |
|
Temporal |
Temporen |
|
Occcipital |
Occipiten |
|
Sphenoidal |
Sphenoiden |
|
Ethmoidal |
Ethmoiden |
|
Nafal |
Nafen |
|
Malar |
Malen |
|
Maxillar |
Max Men |
|
Cervical |
|
1 7 2 NEW |
TERM Si " |
|
Cervical |
Cervicen |
|
Lumbar |
Lumben |
|
Coital |
Coften |
|
Chondral |
Chondren |
|
Clavicular or Clavar |
Claviculen or Claveo |
|
Scapular |
Scapulen |
|
Humeral |
Humeren |
|
Carpal |
Carpen |
|
Metacarpal |
Metacarpen |
|
Digital |
Digiten |
|
Ilial |
Ilien |
|
Pubal |
Puben |
|
IfcbiaJ |
Ifchien |
|
Femoral |
Femoren |
|
Tarfal |
Tarfen |
|
Metatarfal |
Metatarfen |
But as this change of the termination is in- tended always to intimate forne change in the .meaning, it can never be neceffary in thofe cafes where the meaning of a word is always the fame, or where the meaning is fixed by the context and cannot be miftaken. It would be
a
NEW TERMS. 1 73
a childifh and abfurd affectation, for inftance, to fay, fronten, temporen, and parieten bones, or mufculen, glandulen, and reticulen ftruc- ture ; when we mean nothing more than what is expreffed by the ufual words frontal, tem- poral, parietal, mufcular, glandular, and reti- cular. It mould therefore be remembered, that the change is intended only for the cafes where the words convey, or are apt to con- vey, a twofold meaning ; where they fame- times allude to pofition and afpect, fometimes to connection, and where it is proper at the fame time to mark the diftinclion, as often happens in our defcriptions of the nerves and blood- veffels, where the double fenfe mod: fre- quently occurs.
SECT,
1 74 NEW TERMS*
SECT. III.
Tojhorten Befcriptioni the new Terms may hi made to enter into Compojition.
In expreffing pofition, direction, or attach- ment, the above epithets may occafionally be compounded by fubftituting o for the al or ar of the firft column, and by adding it to the en of the fecond. Thus the pofition of the heart in the thorax will be expreffed by the two compounds mejio-jiniftral and atlanto-facral; or> uling the adverbs, we may fay its direction from the melial plane is Jini/lrad and facrad> or jiniftro-facrad. In defcribing the direction of the fuperficial femoral artery, we may fay that at firft it is rotulo-tibial, then tibio-popli- teal. In mentioning the direction of the farto- rius, we may fay that, like the artery, it is at firft rotulo-tibial, then tibio popliteal, and at laft, after*paffing the knee-joint, tibio- rotular. But
ifl
NEW TERMS. 175
in mentioning its attachments, we mull lay alide the epithets which are made to terminate in at or ar, and employ thofe which terminate in en. Thus in expreffing its origin and infertion, I would not think of uling the word Mo- tibial, but ilieno tibien. In many defcriptions, though this minutenefs may not be necefTary, it is al- ways fome confolation to reflecl, that when it is necefTary, we pofiefs a language calculated for fuch minutenefs and accuracy.
SECT.
ij6 NEW" TERMS*.
SECT. IV.
Bivifion of the Sanguiferous Syftenl into two Parts, and new Names.
If the fanguiferous fyftem of man and others of the nobler animals be divided into tWcf parts, the Pulmonic and Syftemic, in that cafe there will naturally follow a change in the lan- guage refulting from the change of claffifica- tion, which the Table fubjoined is intended to exhibit. See p. 122, 123.
Pulmonic veins* All the veins which con-
vey blood from the fyftem at large to- wards the lungs,
Pulmonic finus. Right finus.
Pulmonic auricle. Right auricle/
Pulmonic ventricle. Right ventricle.
Pulmonic artery. Pulmonary artery.
Syftemic
NEW TERMS
Syftemic veins.
Sy Hemic finus. Syftemic auricle, Sy Hemic ventricle. Svilemic artery.
177
Pulmonary veins, or the veins which convey blood from the lungs to the fyflem at large.
Left finus.
Left auricle.
Left ventricle*
Aorta.
M
EXPLA-
EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES. See p. 162, 161, 164.
Flates I. and II. are two outlines of the ike- leton, drawn in the attitude given by Albinus* They mow all the afpecls of the trunk and extremities except the dermal and central* which are eafily underftood without any afr liftance from a figure.
The four lines in which the trunk and part
of the neck are inclofed, exhibit the attentat,
facrat, dextraly and Jiniftral afpe&s, marked
at.fac. d.lf.i (d.L for dextral or lateral, and
././. for Jiniftral or lateral).
The line drawn in the middle, marked mef.
is the flernal edge of the mejial plane, palling
through the body from the Jternal to the dor-
M 2 fal
l8o EXPLANATION OF
jal afpedl, and dividing it into fimilar and .la- teral halves.
In the atlantal extremities, the four dotted lines marked r. u. th. and an. {how the radial, ulnar, thenql, and anconal afpecls. Where the radius is in a (late of pronation, the afpecls appear to crofs one another towards the car* pus.
In the Jacral extremities, other four lines of the fame kind, marked tib.fib. rot. and pop. fhow the tibial, fibular, rotular, and popliteal afpe&s. From the relative position, however, of the leg and foot towards the ancle, thefe £ines convey only a general idea of thofe af- pecls, which are very eafily diftinguifhed in the ikeleton and living body.
In both kinds of extremities, the lines mark- ed prox. and dijl. fhow the proximal and dijlal afpects.
Plate III. fhows the afpecls of the head and the mejial plane in different views. Fig. 3. exhibits at the fame time the mio-glahellar and
the
THE PLATES. l8l
the inantimal diameters ; which compare with figures 3. in Plates IV. and V.
Plate IV. fig. 1. and 3. mow how the af- pe&s of the head and trunk correfpond refpec- tively in man and the babyroufTa. Fig. 1. fhows, befides, the ori-facial angle. Fig. 2. the two baft-facial angles, and the ori-facial. Fig. 3. the inio- glabellar and inantimal diameters.
Plate V. fhows farther how the afpecls of the head vary with refpecl to the trunk in dif- ferent animals ; and how the parts that are at- lantal in man, become dorfal ; the parts that are inial, facral ; the parts that are bafilar, flernal; and the parts that are flernal, atlcpn- tal as we defcend in the fcale of being. Thefe afpe&s of the head, however, will have other pofitions with regard to the trunk, according to the motions of the living animal; and diffe- rent parts may in fuccefiion be flernal, dorfal \ atlantal, and facral. To guefs therefore at the form and ftru&ure of the animal, from thefe re- lative
X%% EXPLANATION' 01* THE PLATES*
lative pofitions, we niuft fix on fome one that is definite. The poiition here fuppofed is that where the vertebral line is continued through the cranium at right angles, or perpendicular to the plane of the foramen magnum.
Fronted by John Brown,? Aaeh©r Close, Edinburgh, J
Plate. 3.
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