190 PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY 



as he departed from the Grecian camp, disappointed in the 

 hope of recovering his captive daughter : — 



B7 S' cLKeav irapa 6lva 7roXv^Xoicr/3oio daXdcrarjs. 

 " And he went silent along the shore of the much-rcsounduig sea." 



Now, what sea, and what sound of the sea, are we to under- 

 stand ? Is it the Atlantic Ocean, driven by a winter storm, 

 and breaking and roaring against the rocks of Nahant ? No. 

 It is the sparkling Hellespont, on a summer day, sweeping 

 up the long beach on the coast of Troy, and rippling over 

 the sands, as he had often seen and heard it, while riding at 

 anchor, or sailing by those classic shores ; — and this sound 

 is more nearly represented by the Modern Greek polt/phleesveo 

 thaldsses, than by our more sonorous but somewhat mouthing 

 way of pronouncing the words. 



Mr. Charles Folsom remarked, that the discussion brought 

 to memory an incident in his early travels. He was formerly 

 of Mr. Gould's opinion ; but on one occasion, in Smyrna, he 

 was walking with an accomplished Greek gentleman, when 

 the conversation turned upon this question. He had; cited 

 to his Greek friend the very passage cited by Mr. Gould. 

 The Greek gentleman reminded him that they were now in 

 the midst of the scenes familiar to Homer from his earliest 

 youth (the Smyrniotes still claim Homer for their country- 

 man), and the water of the beautiful harbor of Smyrna rip- 

 pling against the shore, as they beheld it at the moment, was 

 what the poet was describing. Mr. Folsom further remarked, 

 that reflection and observation had convinced him that the 

 only mode of securing uniformity in the pronunciation of the 

 Greek was to adopt that of the Modern Greeks. 



Remarks were also made on the communication of Pro- 

 fessor Felton by President Quincy, Dr. Jacob Bigelow, and 

 the Rev. Thomas Hill. 



Dr. Pickering called the attention of the members to the 

 Coptic alphabet, formed as early at least as the fifth century, 

 and affording evidence that, from the time of its formation, 



