190 



Dr John Scouler on the Indian Tribes 



casarse con ella el hermano." The existence of this institu- 

 tion appears to have produced the very curious peculiarity of 

 Indian languages noticed by Mr Gallatin, that the women 

 use different words from the men to express family relation- 

 ships. In some Indian languages this peculiarity penetrates 

 even deeper into the language. Among the Moxas of South 

 America, the women and the men use different pronouns in 

 speaking to each other of things relating to each other. The 

 Kobang of the Australians appears to be the very same insti- 

 tution as the totem of the Algonquins ; and it would be inte- 

 resting to know if similar peculiarities pervade their lan- 

 guage. 



