ALASKA INDUSTRIES. 251 



SO far as I can ascertain, is unknown in Denmark (see ISTyerup's Dansk- 

 J>Iorsk Litteratur-Lexicon, v. i, pp. 56, 57, 1818). Second. The form 

 Bering is almost (but not quite) universally adopted in all non-English 

 works, for example, Biographic Universelle (Michaud), v. 4, p. 261, 

 1811; also nouv. ed., v. 4, p. 28, 1854; ISTouvelle Biographie Generale 

 (Hoefer), v. 5, p. 527, 1855; Allgemeine Encyclopiidieder Wissenschaf- 

 ten uud Kiinste (Ersch uiid Gruber), v. 9, p. 136, 1822; ISTeues Konver- 

 sations-Lexicon (Meyer's), v. 3, p. 238, 1862; Deutsch-Amerikauisches 

 Conversations-Lexicon (Schem), v. 2, p. 296, 1869, and numerous others. 

 Tlie exceptional cases are Pierer's Universal Lexicon, Grand Dictiou- 

 naire Universel du xix"^ siecle, etc. In English dictionaries, the true 

 form, Bering, is adopted In the Brief Biographical Dictionary, by Holes, 

 1865, and the Dictionary of Biographical Eeference, by Phillips, 1871, 

 and is gradually superseding the more familiar English form. An 

 explanation of tlie reason of the origin of the name Behriu_g, is found 

 in the fact that it was originally derived from the Russian, without a 

 knowledge of its primitive source, and was the supposed English pho- 

 netic expression of the Russian characters. Inasmuch, however, (1) as 

 tlie original form of a name, without regard to its pronunciation, is 

 universally ado])ted in our biographies and bibliographies, and (2) as 

 the original form of the navigator's name was Bering, such is the cor- 

 rect one, and that which must ultimately supersede the other. It need 

 only be added that Bering himself and the Russians universally, (?) 

 adopt that form when writing in English characters, and tbat the Rus- 

 sian letter ('n') in his name, represented by 'eh,' is especially ordained 

 by the Russians to be rendered by the Latin character 'e,' in accord- 

 ance with the pronunciation of the Latin and continental races gen- 

 erally." 



In addition to this clear statement by Professor Gill, I desire to add 

 the following : John Reinhold Forster, I. IJ. D., who sailed around the 

 world with Captain Cook — a man that universally commanded respect 

 in his day as a scholar and a high-minded gentleman — in his Voyages 

 and Discoveries in the North, London, 1783, pp. 401-402, writes: 

 "Nevertheless, it would be still more proper to make this strait a kind 

 of monument to the very deserving and truly great navigator, Veit 

 Bering, by naming it, after him, Bering Straits." 



The common error op "off" for "ov." — Furthermore, in this 

 connection, it will be noticed that 1 do not spell the common Russian 

 terminative "(,in." as "off." These letters ".nth" in the Russian are 

 sounded by their makers exactly as we would " ov " in our own alpha- 

 bet. For instance, take the name " Baranov," or " r.jipaiiom, " in the Rus- 

 sian. The common English and German spelling in our language is 

 "Baranoft;" but when these same writers come to "i;;ip;uinBiiTi.," instead 

 of making it " Baranofitch," according to their first erroneous rule, 

 they spell it correct!}^ — " Baranovitch." In the same way they murder 

 "Pribylov;" but did they chance to write it in the possessive it would 

 appear correctly as " PriJjylova," and not " Pribyloffa." The Russians 

 have our letter "f" as "<i, " in their alphabet, and they use it freely 

 when they want to express that same sound of " f " in our tongue. 

 For instance, in "Timothy" they always say "Timofay" (TimoLenb); 

 " Officer " is " Ofifitsar," etc. 



The unwarranted " W " for " V." — This unsettled state of Eng- 

 lish orthography, as far as it relates to the introduction and correct 

 rendition of Russian nomenclature, produces much embarrassment and 

 annoyance to any writer who may seek for a fixed rule. Not only do 

 no two authors agree, but these authorities themselves are guilty of the 



