REASON AND DIVERS TONGUES. 275 



in far worse plight than a Society Islander thus seems 

 to be. As to the Tasmanians, he tells us,* on the 

 authority of a vocabulary, that they had no word for 

 tree, hard, soft, warm, cold, long, short, and round. 

 We do not believe the vocabulary, and regard its repre- 

 sentation as being as absurd and incredible one way as 

 the tales about the rational cockatoo and the pious bees 

 on the other. Does Mr. Romanes really mean that no 

 one Tasmanian could make another understand that 

 anything was hot or cold, or that a weapon was too short 

 or too long t We are persuaded he does not mean 

 this ; but if he does not, then he does not really mean 

 to deny that Tasmanians could explain themselves " by 

 equivalent expressions " as to such matters. 



Dr. Latham is quoted as telling us, " that a Kurd 

 of the Zara tribe, who presented Dr. Sandwith with a 

 list of native words, was not * able to conceive a hand 

 or father except so far as they were related to himself 

 or something else.'" Now, it is very likely that we 

 have here some misunderstanding on the part either of 

 Dr. Latham, Dr. Sandwith, or the Kurd. It is simply 

 incredible that the Kurd could not think of a hand 

 (or a father), not his^ nor that of Dr. Sandwith, nor that 

 of so7ne other given man. It is, however, very likely 

 that the Kurd understood his questioner as asking hirn 

 whether he could conceive of a father or a hand not 

 related to him or any one else } The natural and 

 proper reply to that would be that he could not, nor 

 could either Dr. Latham, Dr. Sandwith, or Mr. Romanes, 

 unless it was a merely ideal hand or father. As to any 



* p. 352. 



