264 Proceedings of th Albany Institute, 



with the interchangeability and convertibility of letters as 

 b means of etymological research, and as a means of system- 

 atically acquiring the English and the Romance language 

 from a comparison with the Latin, Greek, and Sanscrit: 

 also, to show the mannerin which the differences of voice, 

 mood, tense, number and person of the verb are generated 

 by means of pronominal affixes, prefixes and angmenl 

 showing the common origin of the pronouns in different 

 languages. He also explained bow certain tenses of the 

 verb are formed in the Italian, French, Spanish, and Tor- 

 tuguese languages, from a combination of pthertenses with 

 the infinitive. This theory explains the law of formation 

 that governs the past tense of the regular verb in English, 

 and he pointed out the. effect of certain combinations of 

 the labial, lingual, and guttural elements with the ele- 

 ment of motion to express the different varieties of action. 

 He applied some of these principles to the discussion of 

 the genesis of the word as AS, and, from a comparison of 

 its use in English with its use in Sanscrit, * iiveh, and Latin, 

 to make evident its pronominal nature. 



Mr. Burnet remarked that the length of time allotted to 

 such a paper would forbid a thorough exposition of the 

 variety of matters touched upon, and the best that could be 

 done was to foreshadow certain general principles that a 

 future paper will more fully embody and elucidate. 

 Adjourned. 



January 20th, LS64. 

 Seventeen members present. Tn the absence of the 

 president, on motion of Dr. Eough, Mr. Carpenter took 

 the chair. 



The treasurer's report of receipts and expenditures for 

 1863 was received and referred to the usual committee. 

 The chair appointed as such committee: Mr. Munsell, Dr. 

 Willard. 



