Lankester's prose can be dense with neologisms. Try getting this (below) into print today. (there are 13 of his metamerism laws).
Geoff
Lankester, 1904:533. "But it is to be
noted that in the higher members of each great class or line
of descent, the tagmosis becomes definite and characteristic
just as do the total number of meres or somites, whilst in the
lower grades of each great class we find what may be regarded
as varying examples of tentative tagmosis. The terms nomotagmic
and anomotagmic are applicable with the same kind
of implication as the terms nomomeristic and anomomeristic.
The FOURTH LAW of metamerism (auto-heterosis of the
meromes) is that the meromes of a somite or series of somites
may be separately and dissimilarly affected by heteromerism.
It is common enough for small changes only to occur in the
inner visceral meromes, whilst the appendages and terga or
sterna are largely changed in form. But of equal importance
is the independent "heterosis" of these visceral meromes
without any corresponding heterosis of the body-wall."
>>> On 12/11/2008 at 10:15 a.m., "J. Kirk Fitzhugh" <kfitzhug from nhm.org> wrote:
> Re obfuscating rather than illuminating terminology, credit can be given
> to Lankester for introducing the terms homogeny and homoplasy (1871), as
> replacements for the one term homology.
NIWA is the trading name of the National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research Ltd.
