396 Atlas Ethnographique du Globe, 



by assigning the proper limits within which the application 

 which he recommends should be restricted. We consider 

 this part of the preliminary discourse as particularly deserv- 

 ing of attention, being treated in a manner altogether new, 

 and illustrated by examples either new or previously very 

 little known. 



Remarks on the orthography of proper names, and on the 

 compilation and transcription of vocabularies collected by 

 travellers, conclude the preliminary discourse. These remarks 

 appear to us apt and sensible, and it would seem are much 

 required, since it is amusing to learn the serious, and occa- 

 sionally the ludicrous, errors into which navigators, even of 

 the first celebrity, have sometimes fallen : thus Bougainville 

 gives the Tahitian word for night as signifying day; and 

 Labillardiere, imposed upon by the islanders of Tonga, has 

 gravely inserted as their numerals, words, of which the signi- 

 fication, had he been aware of it, would have prevented 

 their appearing in his pages. 



In the introduction to the Atlas , M. Balbi, aided by the 

 advice of MM. Malte-Brun, Pinheiro, and Abel-Ramusat, 

 has described the method to be pursued in tracing nations, 

 by means of their Ethnographical relations, to their respec- 

 tive sources ; and has pointed out the principal breaks and 

 interruptions which as yet present themselves to an attempt 

 to render this history complete. He states the grounds on 

 which he estimates the number of distinct languages at up- 

 wards of two thousand ; and has comprised within the small 

 space of nine pages an excellent essay on the Bibliography of 

 Languages. Such are the contents of the first chapter, 

 which we consider as the most important, both as treating in a 

 very able manner the most difficult questions in Ethnography, 

 and as including two most valuable letters — one from tlie late 

 M. Malte-Brun, and the other from M. Pinheiro Ferreira — • 

 both highly deserving of deep consideration by all who 

 occupy themselves in studies of this nature. These letters 

 establish the bases on which the methodical classification of 

 languages should alone be attempted ; and freely discuss the 

 present imperfections of a science which must yet be esteemed 

 in its infancy. 



In the second chapter, M. Balbi has described the several 

 modes of writing employed in ancient and in modern times. 

 Assisted in this chapter by MM. Champollion, Abel-Ramusat, 

 Saint Martin, and Depping, he has reduced them to the 

 seven following classes, containing the same number of dif- 

 ferent systems of writing: — 1st. Pictorial representation; 



