APPENDIX. 457 



mates. Buck, is an animate noun, wliile Ins entire carcass is 

 referred to, whether living or dead ; but neck, back, heart, wind- 

 pipe, take the inanimate form. In like manner, eagle, swan, dove, 

 are distinguished as animates; but beak, wing, tail, are arranged 

 with inanimates. So oak, pine, ash, are animate; branch, leaf, 

 root, inanimates. 



Reciprocal exceptions, however, exist to this rule — the reasons 

 for which, as in the former instance, may generally be sought, 

 either in peculiar opinions of the Indians, or in the peculiar 

 qualities or uses of the objects. Thus the talons of the eagle, 

 and the claws of the bear, and of other animals, w^hich furnish 

 ornaments for the neck, are invariably spoken of, under the animate 

 form. The hoofs and horns of all quadrupeds, which are applied 

 to various economical and mystic purposes ; the castorum of the 

 beaver, and the nails of man, are similarly situated. The vegeta- 

 ble creation also furnishes some exceptions of this nature ; such 

 are the names for the outer bark of all trees (except the birch), 

 and the branches, the roots, and the resin of the spruce, and its 

 congeners. 



In a language, which considers all nature as separated into two 

 classes of bodies, characterized by the presence or absence of life ; 

 neuter nouns will scarcely be looked for, although such may exist 

 without my knowledge. Neuters are found amongst the verbs 

 and the adjectives, but it is doubtful whether they render the 

 nouns to which they are applied neuters, in the sense we attach 

 to that term. The subject in all its bearings is interesting, and a 

 full and minute description of it would probably elicit new light 

 respecting some doubtful points in the language, and contribute 

 something towards a curious collateral topic — the history of In- 

 dian opinions. 1 have stated the principle broadly, without fdling 

 up the subject of exceptions as fully as it is in my power, and 

 without following its bearings upon points which will more pro- 

 perly come under discussion at other stages of the inquiry. A 

 sufficient outline, it is believed, has been given, and having thus 

 met, at the threshold, a principle deeply laid at the foundation of 

 the language, and one which will be perpetually recurring, I 

 shall proceed to enumerate some other prominent features of the 

 substantive. 



2. No language is perhaps so defective, as to be totally without 



