REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON NOMENCLATURE OF DISEASES. THE Committee on Nomenclature of Diseases, who were ap pointed at the last meeting of the Association to determine what alterations, if any, are necessary to adapt the provisional nomenclature of the Royal College of Physicians of London to general use in the United States, respectfully report: That in accordance with their instructions they published, through the Committee of Publication, one thousand copies of the English and Latin portion of the London Nomenclature. That upwards of five hundred copies of this reprint were distributed with a prefatory note, inviting criticism and coöperation on the part of those receiving it. Outside of the Committee but three replies were received, and these contained criticisms more or less unfavorable in their character. They also drew the attention of the Surgeon-General of the Army, the Chief of Bureau of Medicine and Surgery of the Navy, and the Census Department to the same subject, and invited them to appoint whom they saw fit to represent them on the Committee. To this invitation the Medical Departments of the Army and Navy responded by detailing a surgeon from each, who have cheerfully and actively contributed their labor in furthering the duties of the Committee. The Census Department, not being then. legally organized, was unable to comply. A sufficient time for the examination of the proposed Nomenclature having elapsed, the Committee were invited to meet in Philadelphia, and those who from distance or other causes were unable to attend, were desired to forward to the chairman any suggestions or modifications they deemed advisable. After earnest and careful consideration of the Nomenclature of Diseases prepared by the Royal College of Physicians of London, VOL. XXI.-9 the Committee being convinced that it was inadequate to meet the wants of the profession in this country, and unsatisfactory and incomplete in its details, determined to present the following resolution: Resolved, That the American Medical Association be requested to appoint a committee to prepare a nomenclature of diseases, which, on approval by the Association, shall be submitted to the medical practitioners of the United States for adoption and ob servance. This resolution was agreed to by the following named members of the Committee:: The following letters, disapproving of the resolution and recommending the adoption of the original nomenclature of the Royal College of Physicians of London by the Association, were received from Drs. Austin Flint, of New York, and Stanford E. Chaillé, of New Orleans. |