What's in a name? that which we call a rose,
By any other name would smell as sweet,"

and argue therefrom that the pronunciation of a word should make no
difference so long as its meaning was understood. Amongst professional
men, it has been observed that physicians and dentists are by far more
prone than others to orthoepical errors. Attention is requested to a
few of the more common of these in addition to those found in the
preceding vocabulary connected with words that are alike used by the
professional and the unprofessional, such as: _abdomen_, _acclimated_,
_albumen_, _animalcula arabic_, _citrate_, _embryo_, _excrescence_,
_fetid_, _fetor_, _forceps_, _homeopathy_, _hydropathy_, _jugular_,
_jujube_, _nasal_, _pharmacop[oe]ia_, _purulent_, _spasmodic_,
_sulphurous_, _tragacanth_, etc. The authorities appealed to are
Dunglison, Thomas, Webster and Worcester. Notwithstanding the superior
merit of Dunglison's Medical Dictionary, as far as the
comprehensiveness and reliability of its definitions are concerned, it
is evident that it is almost useless as an orthoepical guide. The
principal accent is in many cases marked, but the pronunciation of
preceding and succeeding syllables can not be determined, and there is
no attempt at syllabication.

Dr. Thomas' dictionary, though less comprehensive, is equally reliable
in its definitions, and is excellent authority in regard to orthoepy;
though it is to be regretted that in some words important syllables
are not sufficiently marked. For instance, take the words _as-bes'tos_
and _bis'muth_; how can it be determined whether the first should be
pronounced [)a]s-b[)e]s'toss or [)a]z-b[)e]s't[=o]z or the latter
b[)i]z'muth or b[)i]ss'muth? Webster and Worcester are undoubtedly
good authorities for the pronunciation of the medical words they give.
In the following vocabulary all of the authorities that mention the
words may be considered as agreeing, unless notice is made of their
disagreement.

MEDICAL AND DENTAL WORDS.

[In Latin and Latinized Greek words, the English sounds of the
vowels are given as those used by the majority of professional
men. If any one, however, prefers to adopt the continental
method, sounding _a_ as in _father_, _y_ and _i_ as _e_ in
_veto_, etc., and consistently applies it to all such words, no
one, of course, has a right to object.]

=Adipose=--[)a]d'i-p[=o]se, not ad'i-p[=o]ze.

=Ala=--[=