326 TRANSACTIONS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE, [VoL VI. 
and then the rich imagination of the bard given free rein. Here many 
points of contact with the slang of the criminal and lower classes, whose 
profusion of synonyms is well-known, may be noted, also certain 
striking resemblances to the languages invented by children, concerning 
one of which Mr. Newell observes: “A group of children invented the 
cat language, so-called because its object was to admit of free intercourse 
with cats, to whom it was mostiy talked, and by whom it was presumed 
to be comprehended. In this tongue the cat was naturally the chief 
subject of nomenclature ; all feline positions were.observed and named, 
and the language was rich in such epithets, as Arabic contains a vast 
number of expressions for Zzon.” (Songs and Games, p. 25. ) 
The participation of animals, birds and insects, in fact all animate 
and inanimate things in the creation of man, each giving him some mark 
or quality, each endowing him with a special characteristic or a useful 
organ, is a frequent occurrence in primitive myths, paralleled only in 
interest and significance by the many transformation legends and 
evolution stories by which man is evolved in some fashion from lower 
animals, a form of belief very widespread among the lower races, who 
couple with it often the myth that in the first days of earth all beings— 
men, animals and even trees spoke one common language, which, when 
the great culture-hero departed, was all-too-soon misunderstood and 
forgotten. 
Inthe names they give to plants and animals, the lower races of men 
have crystallized much evidence of interest in, and appreciation for, the 
ways and means of nature. What could be more expressive than the 
Fanti name for “a small plant like the /orget-me not, with pale blue 
flowers, which grows very quickly and spreads”—tutu muroko kohwe 
épiv, “ Run, | am going to see the sea!” (Journ. Anthrop. Inst., 1896, 
p. 141). Or the Arabic name, current in Central Africa, of the MZacro- 
dypterix longipennis, “father of four wings,’ because “as it chases the 
mice, it looks as though it had a couple of satellites in attendance !” 
With what fitness the Winnebago Indians style fire-flies wa-ru-ha, “the 
movers!” And it is interesting to learn that: “Certain roots, for 
example Indian potatoes (probably a species of /pomea), and Indian 
turnips (Psoralea esculenta), used by the Indians as food, are not dug 
during the summer months, the time when the fire-flies happen to be 
seen. The Indians say the roots are ‘moving’ at this time, and should 
be left unmolested.” (Schweinfurth, Vol. 1., p. 357; Journ. Amer. Folk- 
Hore OW Ol wl MOV .G 4s) 
The inventions of primitive peoples and their arts,—mechanical devices, 
