1895. J 415 [Brinton. 



The word for "cat " in most of the Central American tongues 

 is some modification of the Nahuatl mizton, a diminutive of mizili, 

 tlie term for the jaguar. 



Maize and Its Products. — The word for " maize " in several 

 Central American tongues is aima, and it has been plausibly sug- 

 " gested that it is from the Maya ix'im.'^ The Matagalpan word 

 for atole, cdurra, is certainly the Cakchiquel k' or for the same. 

 There seems little doubt that the knowledge of this food plant ex- 

 tended to this tribe from those of Maya descent. 



Addendum. 



Since the above was in type I have received from Dr, Carl 

 Sapper, of Guatemala, some words from the dialect of Cacaopera, 

 collected by himself in 1895. I add them for the sake of compari- 

 son. 



Man, yemra. Nose, nam. 



Woman, yora. Tongue, ducam. 



Sun, laun. Tooth, ninica. 



Moon, aicu. Hand, pana. 



Fire, lavuale. Foot, silin. 



Water, U. House, u. 



Head, guardma. One, dibas. 



Eye, k'un. Two, burru. 



Ear, dupal. Three, vuatpa. 



Mouth, dacavtia. Four, botarru. 



Of these, the word for " man " is from the same root as that for 

 woman; those for "mouth" and "tongue" are probably vari- 

 ants of those given in the vocabulary; while that for "foot" is a 

 wholly different term. Dr. Sapper adds that at present there is no 

 native word for "five." 



"•Consult on this subject the excellent monograph of Dr. John W. Harsh berger, 

 " Maize ; a Botanical and Economic Stady," in Vol i, of Contributions from the Botanical 

 Laboratory of the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, 1893). The linguistic evi- 

 dence is given pp. 118-128. 



PEOC. AMEB. PniLGS. SOC. XXXIV. 149. 3 A. PRINTED FEB. 5, 189G. 



