i66 



NATURE 



{June 13, 1878 



M. Furuhelm. The second will prove of considerable 

 importance for Eskimaux philology. The most notice- 

 able fact connected with Sitka grammar is that "there 

 are only two cases, nominative and instrumental," and 

 that the instrumental case of the pronouns is employed 

 with active verbs, which means that no true verb exists 

 in the language. 



The second half of the volume is occupied by an ex- 

 haustive account of the tribes of Western Washington 

 and North- Western Oregon, by Mr. George Gibbs. While 

 the ethnology of these tribes has been treated minutely, 

 their dialects have received the attention to be expected 

 from so able a philologist, and lengthy tables of com- 

 parative vocabularies are followed by a complete Nisk- 

 walli-English and English-Niskwalli dictionary. Mr. 

 Gibbs begins by saying that "in the western district of 

 Washington Territory — that is to say, between the Cas- 

 cade Mountains and the Pacific — there is found, compared 

 with the extent of country occupied, an extraordinary 

 diversity in the aboriginal tongues. Mr. Hale, the ethno- 

 logist, who accompanied Capt. Wilkes's expedition, recog- 

 nised among them eight languages belonging to five 

 distinct families, and to these are now to be added six 

 other languages which escaped his observation. In 

 addition there are several but partially intelligible, even 

 to those speaking the same general language." It is the 

 old story ; the lower we descend the larger becomes the 

 number of dialects and independent tongues which it is 

 the part of civilisation to destroy and unify. The further 

 back we trace the stream of human speech the greater 

 is its diversity, the more manifold its forms. 



Among the ethnological facts brought to light by Mr. 

 Gibbs, may be mentioned the universal flattening of the 

 skull, the use of the • haikwa shell as a medium of ex- 

 change, and of armour composed of elk-skins or of thin 

 pieces of hard wood. Scalping is unknown, as are also 

 totemism and the division of the tribe into clans, while, 

 on the other hand, "slavery is thoroughly interwoven 

 with the social polity of the Indians of the coast." Earth- 

 works are found in various parts of the district, though 

 they never present the figures of animals, and the existing 

 Indians have no traditions of their origin. But there are 

 clear evidences that the present population of the country 

 is a mixed one, and was probably preceded by a more 

 civilised race. Thus the Makah differ from the Indians 

 of the Sound " in features and habits as much as lan- 

 guage." In fact, the Indians of North America differ 

 among themselves, both physiologically and linguistically, 

 no less than the natives of Europe, and to lump them 

 together under a single name is as rude and unscientific 

 a proceeding as that of the Greeks and Romans, with 

 Avhom all other peoples were " barbarians." If the labours 

 of Mr. Powell and his assistants do nothing more than 

 impress this fact on the student of language and race, 

 they will have effected a good and needful work. 



A. H. Sayce 



CULLEY'S PRACTICAL TELEGRAPHY 

 A Handbook of Practical Telegraphy. By R. S. Culley. 

 Seventh Edition. (Longmans, 1878.) 



THIS well-known book has reached its seventh edition. 

 It was first published in the year 1863, and 190 

 pages were sufficient to recount its practical instructions. 



Now 450 pages scarcely suffice to accomplish its purpose. 

 The book reminds one of some old house that has been 

 added to from time to time by different occupiers until it 

 has lost all trace of plan or design. Valuable teachings 

 of experience on one subject are found buried here and 

 there in chapters devoted to other subjects. It is a pity 

 that the author did not thoroughly revise and rewrite his 

 book. It is more like some old housewife's recipe book, 

 full of useful and valuable information, scattered indis- 

 criminately about, than a methodical scientific manual of 

 a grand practical art which has grown within the last few 

 years with gigantic strides. It never pretended to be the 

 result of scientific originality or profound research, but 

 simply to be a practical book intended for practical men. 

 Its great success is more a proof of its want than of its 

 merit. Nevertheless it has merit, and that of no mean 

 order. 



Commencing with the sources of electricity and the 

 laws of the current, of magnetism and electromagnetism, 

 of induction and of atmospheric and cosmic electricity, it 

 proceeds to describe the construction of a line of tele- 

 graph, both over-ground and under-ground. Modes of 

 testing the various apparatus used, and the systems for 

 signalling'are fully described. Cable working and testing 

 receive very exhaustive treatment. The automatic system 

 of working— the child of Bain and the pupil of Wheat- 

 stone — receive full handling, and the recent develop- 

 ments of the duplex and quadruplex systems receive 

 their fair share of description. The telephone is not 

 neglected, but we must wait for an eighth edition for the 

 later wonderful developments of Hughes and Edison. 



In speaking of the history of the telegraphic system in 

 this country in his meagre but pithy introduction, Mr. 

 Culley says : — " No assistance whatever was granted by 

 the Government, and it was only after several years of 

 adversity that the undertaking became firmly established." 

 Rather a strange remark from the pen of an officer of a 

 company who owed its foundation to the support of the 

 Government. The first contract of any magnitude ever 

 made by the founders of the company was with the 

 Government, who agreed to pay 1,500/, a year for twenty 

 years, and 1,000/. a year for another twenty years, for 

 telegraphic communication to Portsmouth ; and it was 

 this contract that enabled them to float their concern. 

 However, it is an Englishman's happy privilege to abuse 

 to his heart' s content his own Government for what it 

 does not do, and to ignore entirely what it does do, and 

 we should be sorry to interfere with his prerogative in 

 this respect ; but it is curious to find a Government offi- 

 cial making such a sweeping and erroneous statement as 

 the above in a book accepted by his department as its 

 text-book. 



It is in the development of submarine telegraphy that 

 England principally shines on the Continent and in 

 America, and it is surprising to find our author omitting 

 all mention of her great deeds in this field. English 

 enterprise in this respect is most marked. English 

 capital is invested in every sea, and EngUsh genius 

 has surmounted every difficulty, whether natural, mecha- 

 nical, or electrical. In 1876 the length of cable laid 

 was 63,990 nautical miles, of which 59,547 ""'ere owned 

 by private companies. 



There is a great tendency to deny the existence 



