used by different Nations, 307 



collected by Marini *, even four unities are found before ten, 

 for instance, IIIIX=6. We shall soon see, that among some 

 tribes inhabiting the East Indies, methods are found in which 

 the joining of figures, which among the Romans and ancient 

 Tuscans indicated only addition or subtraction, expresses 

 addition or multiplication, according to the place or the direc- 

 tion of the signs. In these Indian systems, (to use Roman 

 figures,) IIX is twenty, and XII is twelve. 



In many languages the groups of 5, 10, and 20, are called 

 a hand, two hands, and hand and foot (in the language of 

 the Guaranis mbombiade) . When the fingers of both ex- 

 tremities, viz., fingers and toes, are gone through in counting, 

 then it is considered that the number comprehends the whole 

 body, thus : the word man becomes the symbol for twenty. 

 Therefore, in the language of the Yaruros (of which tribe I 

 found populous villages, erected by the missionaries on the river 

 Apure, which falls into the Orinoco) forty are called two men, 

 nocni pume, from no eni two, and pume man. It is known, 

 that in the Persian language the word pencha signifies fist, 

 and pendj five, derived from the Sanscrit word pancha. " The 

 last is (according to the ingenious observation of M. Bopp) 

 to be considered as the original of the Roman quinque, as the 

 Indian chafur of quatuor. The plural of chatur is chatvaras, 

 and approaches very near the Doric-^olian rirrxqEs. The 

 Indian ch is pronounced as the English in words of Saxon 

 origin, but in Greek it becomes a t; therefore chatvaras is 

 changed into tatvaras, as pancha into panta (the Greek Trivrs, 

 iEolice TrifjiTTs, whence itBy.Tidl^ziv to count by fingers^ or up 

 to five). But in the Latin language, the Indian ch is ex- 

 pressed by qu and thus chatur is changed into quatuor^ and 

 pancha into quinque. Pancha itself never signifies in India 

 hand, but only the number five. But panchasakha is a 

 descriptive expression for hand, as a limb with five branchesf ."" 



As in languages, and with peculiar naivete in those of 



* Iscrizioni della Villa di Albano, p. 193. Hervas Aritmetica delleNarioni, 

 1786, p. 11,16. 



\ On the numerals in Sanscrit, compared with those of the Greek, Latin and 

 Gothic language!?, a Very interesting essay, in manuscript, was communicated to 

 me by M. Bopp, in Paris, in 1820 ; and it was composed by him for the puri^se 

 of being inserted in my work, On the Numericai Siyns o/Tvotions. 



