August 9, 1888] 



NATURE 



155 



linguistic faculty in the evolution of jargons. Compare a simple 

 Latin sentence from Cicero, with its translation into English, 

 which is a jargon of marked type, and note how much is dropped, 

 and with what judicious economy: " Romanis equitibus liters 

 afferuntur" — "Letters are brought to the Roman knights." 

 One word here will serve to illustrate all. In Latin the speaker 

 must think of the adjective Romanis as masculine, not feminine, 

 or neuter ; as plural, not singular ; as a dative, not a nomina- 

 tive, accusative, or vocative form ; as agreeing in all these points 

 with the noun it qualifies ; and finally, as of the first, and not 

 of the second, third, or of some irregular declension. All this 

 needless labour is saved in the English adjective Roman by the 

 method of position or placement. And so it is with every other 

 word in this sentence. The evidence, both from theory and 

 from history, is conclusive that the progress of language, linguis- 

 tic evolution, means the rejection of all paradigms and inflections, 

 and the specialization of the process of placement. 



Prof. Easton maintains that this method (that of placement) 

 "introduces an element of great difficulty into the language," 

 and also doubts the acceptance of the logical order stated in the 

 Report. 



To the first of these objections the obvious answer is that the 

 method of placement is that uniformly adopted in all jargons 

 and mixed tongues, which is positive proof that it is the least 

 difficult of any method of expressing relation. As to the logical 

 order referred to by the Committee, it is surprising that any 

 exception should be taken to it, as it is that stated in the common 

 classical text-books. 



Some related minor points remain to be noticed. In oppos- 

 ing vocal inflection, signs, and accents, in their Report, the 

 Committee referred only to the written, not to the spoken lan- 

 guage. The phonetic formation proposed is insisted upon only 

 to the extent that no sound should be introduced which would 

 be strange to the six leading Aryan languages. The substi- 

 tution of placement for prepositions, which they recommended, 

 was meant as illustrative merely. The particular statement that 

 the Berlin dialect (of the lower class) has but one termination 

 for both genitive and dative is upon the authority of Dr. and 

 Mis. Seler, of Berlin, the former a professed linguist, the latter 

 born and raised in that city. The - question whether, in the 

 German expression, seeks Uhr Abends, the word Uhr is a singu- 

 lar form with a plural meaning, is contradicted by Prof. Seiden- 

 sticker ; but, in view of the strictly analogous Spanish expression, 

 las sets horas de la tarde, the Committee maintains its original 

 opinion. 



Passing from these specific animadversions, there were some 

 general objections which should be answered. Various speakers 

 maintained that the project of an international language is im- 

 possible of realization ; others asserted that it was unnecessary ; 

 others that, even if realised, such a tongue could have no figurative 

 or artistic wealth of resources. 



To these strictures it is replied that within eight years Vola- 

 piik is claimed to have acquired 100,000 students ; within a 

 month it has attracted attention all over the United States ; 

 within a week a number of German merchants have announced 

 to their foreign correspondents that in future it will be used in 

 their business communications. If this is the case with so im- 

 perfect a language, backed by no State, no learned body, not 

 even by the name of any distinguished scholar, what would be the 

 progress of a tongue perfect in adaptation, and supported by all 

 these aids to its introduction ? In a decade it would be current 

 among 10,000,000 people. That it would be barren in figurative 

 meanings, or sterile in the expression of the loftier sentiments, 

 is inconceivable, because, formed though it would be of de- 

 liberate purpose, the inherent, ever-active linguistic faculty of 

 the race would at once seize upon it, enrich it, mould it, and 

 adapt it to all the wants of man, to the expression of all his 

 loves and hates, his passions and hopes. 



Your Committee closes with a reference to the remaining two 

 tongues now claimants for universal adoption. 



The "Pasilengua" {Gemeinsprache, "Tongue of All ") was 

 introduced by P. Steiner, in 1885, with a small grammar and 

 dictionary, published in German. The "international lan- 

 guage " of Dr. L. Samenhof, of Warsaw, is an arrival of the 

 present year, and is explained by him in a small volume, issued 

 in French, in his native city, under the pseudonym of " Dr. 

 'Esperanto." 



Both these have pursued the correct path in the formation of 

 their vocabulary ; they both proceed on the plan of collecting 

 all words common to the Aryan languages, changing their form as 

 little as possible consistently with reducing them to an agreeable 



phoneticism, and when the same word has acquired diverse sig- 

 nifications, selecting that which has the broadest acceptation. 

 The plan of Dr. Samenhof is especially to be recommended in 

 this respect, and may be offered as an excellent example of 

 sound judgment. It is remarkable, and remarkably pleasant, to- 

 see how easy it is to acquire the vocabulary of either of these 

 writers, and this is forcible testimony how facile it would be to 

 secure an ample and sonorous stock of words, practically familiar 

 to us already, for the proposed universal tongue. 



Unfortunately, the alphabets of both employ various dia- 

 critical marks and introduce certain sounds not universal to the 

 leading Aryan tongues. These blemishes could, however, be 

 removed without much difficulty. 



It is chiefly in the grammar that both err from the principles 

 strenuously advocated by your present Committee. The Pasi- 

 lengua has an article with three genders, to, ta, te, corresponding 

 to the German der, die, das ; it has also three case-endings to 

 the noun, besides the nominative form, which itself changes 

 for singular and plural, masculine and feminine. In the verb 

 the tenses are formed by suffixes, six for the indicative, four for 

 the subjunctive ; while a number of other suffixes indicate 

 participles, gerunds, imperatives, &c. 



In the same manner, Dr. Samenhof expresses the relation of 

 the elements of the proposition in the sentence " by introducing 

 prefixes and suffixes." "All the varying grammatical forms, 

 the mutual relation of words to each other, are expressed by the 

 union of invariable words" ("Langue Internationale," p. 13). 

 He acknowledges that this is " wholly foreign to the construc- 

 tion of European [he means Aryan] languages," but claims that 

 it yields a grammar of such marvellous simplicity that the whole 

 of it could be learned in one hour. In reality, it is what is 

 known to linguists as the agglutinative process, and is found in 

 the Ural-Altaic tongues, in high perfection. 



It will be seen at once that the grammatic theories of both 

 these tongues are directly in opposition to that advocated in the 

 present and the previous Reports. These are both distinct re- 

 trogressions to an earlier, less developed, and more cumbersome 

 form of language than that which dispenses with paradigms and 

 inflections of all kinds. 



Nevertheless, these repeated efforts go to show that an inter- 

 national language is needed, that it is asked for, that it is coming, 

 and justify the propriety of this Society, which, as far back as 

 the second decade of this century, marked itself as a leader in 

 linguistic science, taking the van in this important and living 

 question. 



After discussion, during which amendments to the resolu- 

 tion originally proposed by the Committee were offered by 

 Prof. Cope and Mr. Dudley, the Society adopted the following 

 resolution by a unanimous vote — 



Resolved, — That the President of the American Philosophical 

 Society be requested to address a letter to all learned bodies 

 with which this Society is in official relations, and to such other 

 Societies and individuals as he may deem proper, asking their 

 co-operation in perfecting a language for learned and commercial 

 purposes based on the Aryan vocabulary and grammar in their 

 simplest forms ; and to that end proposing an International 

 Congress, the first meeting of which shall be held in London or 

 Paris. 



THE LICK OBSERVATORY. 



"\A/"E reprint from the Daily Alia California the following 

 extracts from a private letter from Prof. Holden to a 

 gentleman in San Francisco, giving details regarding the first 

 astronomical observations made at the Lick Observatory : — 



" The Lick Observatory is beginning to present a very different 

 appearance, both by night and by day, from the one it lately had 

 during its period of construction. At night the windows which 

 have been so long dark show the lamps of the astronomers 

 gleaming through them. The shutters of the observing slits are 

 open, and the various instruments are pointed through them at 

 the sky. The actual work of observing has begun, and the pur- 

 pose for which the Observatory was founded — to be ' useful in 

 promoting science ' — is in the way of being accomplished. Trof. 

 Schaeberle, late of Ann Arbor, has commenced the lorfg task 

 which has been assigned lo him — namely, to fix with the very 

 highest degree of precision possible to modern science, the 

 position of the ' fundamental stars ' with the Rep::old meridian, 

 circle. The time-service for railway use is now conducted by 



