ANTUROPOLOGY. 647 



question by language we have to inquire wliich is older — nearer to the 

 primitive speech — the Huron or the Iroquois. Though we know nothing 

 of this speech, we can reconstruct it I'rom its offspring, and the one 

 which is most complete in form and phonology is likelj' to be nearest 

 in structure and residence to the origiual speech. Mr. Hale examines 

 with great miuuteuess the forms of words common to the various 

 branches of this great stock, in order to show abbreviation and differ- 

 -entiation as we proceed from the location of their supposed origin. 

 {American Antiquarian, IV, Nos. 1 and 11.) 



A language entirely new to science has recently been redeemed from 

 oblivion. It was spoken in two dialects on both sides of the Mississippi 

 River, between Natchez and Vicksburg, by the Taensa tribes mentioned 

 by the French explorers and colonists of the eighteenth ceutury. The 

 manuscript of the Orammaire et Vocabulaire de la Langiie Taensa was pre- 

 pared for the press by MM. J. Parisat and Lucien Adam. Mr. Gatschet 

 informs us that the language forms a stock by itself and is remarkable 

 for its extensive j)ower of compounding by prefixes, by a variety of 

 reverential i)ronouns, and by other forms. The number of terms em- 

 braced in the vocabulary is about 900. [Am. Antiquarian, iv, p. 238.) 



The sources of information upon North American philology are the 

 Journal of Philology, published in Baltimore; the American Naturalist, 

 published in Philadelphia; and the American Antiquarian, published 

 in Chicago. The largest collection of manuscripts is in the Bureau of 

 Ethnology at Washington, a report of which is given in the first part 

 ■of this volume. 



The most elaborate linguistic production of the year in our country 

 was the study of the Manuscript Troano, by Dr. Cyrus Thomas, with a 

 historical introduction by Dr. Daniel G. Brinton. The Codex Tro or 

 Troano was first published by the Abb^ Brasseur (de Bourbourg). On 

 his return from Yucatan, in 18G4, he visited Madrid, and found this 

 manuscript in the possession of Don Juan de Tro y Ortolano. It con- 

 sists of 35 leaves of 70 pages, written on paper manuftictured from the 

 leaves of the maguey plant. Dr. Thomas briefly summarizes his con- 

 clusions respecting the manuscript: 



1. The work was intended chiefly as a ritual or religious calendar. 

 The day columns and numerals which form fully one-half of the written 

 portion are dates, which run through a cycle of three hundred and twelve 

 years, fixing the time when festivals should be held. 



2. The figures in the spaces are in some cases symbolical, in others 

 pictographs, and, in quite a number, refer to religious ceremonies ; but 

 in many instances they relate to the habits, customs, and occupations of 

 the people. 



3. The work appertained to and was prepared for a people living in 

 the interior of the country, away from the sea-shore. 



4. The people were peaceable, not addicted to war. 



5. The taking of life, apparently of a slave, is indicated in one place; 



