30 



bear, following the retreat of the iee. It may suffice here to 

 remark that even in discussing the probability of the suggest- 

 ions the question about explaining the .similarity or identity of 

 what we have called the new words in the different dialects 

 offers the same indispensable condition to be complied with as 

 in weighing the grounds of the other theories. 



19) STEMWORDS. In the above quoted article of the 

 Anthropological Institute's Journal 1885 an approximate calcul- 

 ation of the so called stemwords or radical words is tried. 

 The same has now been repeated, althoug the result must still 

 remain but imperfect on account of the defectiveness of our 

 sources. It gave: stemwords hitherto discovered, in Labrador 

 1153, Central regions 578, Mackenzie river 833, Extreme Western 

 and Asiatic 796. Of these supposed stemwords there are in 

 Labrador 998 common with those of Greenland, 107 differing, 

 and 48 uncertain, making relatively 87, 9 and 4 pr. Ct. ; in the 

 other dialects comparatively to this: C. r. 524, 38, 16, making 

 90, 7 and 3 pr. Ct. ; M. r. 716, 60, 57, making 86, 7 and 7 

 pr. Ct.; E. W. &A.: 494, 137, 165, making 62, 17 and 21 pr. Ct. 

 For Greenland itself is still computed 1371, although some 

 might have been added as concerning East Greenland, while on 

 the other hand perhaps some might have been rejected. As 

 to the other dialects many of those which, in the former state- 

 ment, were counted as uncertain have now been left out as too 

 dubious, or at least not representing other radical words than 

 those already counted. This especially refers to the Mackenzie 

 vocabulary, which may be said, without failing to appreciate 

 the worth which its richness in words has to us in other respects. 



(10) POLYSYNTHETISM. In the Compte rendu of the 

 Congres des Americanists') in Copenhagen 1883, the well 

 known French linguist Lucien Adam communicates a lecture 

 delivered by him on the Eskimo language compared with the 

 other North American and with the Uralo-Altaic languages. He 

 arrives at the conclusion that the Eskimo can not be classed 



