28 Contributions to English Lexicography. 



cd with the fine raylcts which pertain to this genus. Tlie impres- 

 sions of the fins are, usually, but faintly visible ; owing, probably, 

 to their delicate structure. The scales are equally indistinct ; 

 and the impression of the head is seldom visible. 



Found at Wcstfield and Middlefield, Ct. ; Boonton, N, J. ; and, 

 as I have been informed, at Sunderland, Ms. 



4. Catoptcrns parvulus : W. C. R. — Little Catopterus. This 

 small and delicate fossil is but obscurely developed in the few 

 specimens which have been obtained. The extremely fine spread 

 caudal and other fins ; with their slender frontal raylets ; serve 

 to mark it as a member of the genus : although these raylets 

 are fewer in number and of greater and more unequal length 

 than in the other species. In the few specimens obtained, the 

 caudal extremity is commonly found in a bent or half twisted 

 position. 



Found at Middlefield, Ct. ; Sunderland, Ms. ; and Boonton, 

 New Jersey. 



In view of the paucity of organic remains in the red sand- 

 stone rocks of New England and New. Jersey, geologists will ap- 

 preciate the value of these fossils, as indicating the comparative 

 age or identity of the formations in which they are found. The 

 rocks containing these fossils, also exhibit peculiarities of stratifi- 

 cation, dislocation and lithological appearance, as well as a simi- 

 larity in other small but undetermined fossils, which tend to es- 

 tablish the cotemporaneous character of these formations. 



New York, February 3, 1841. 



Art. V. — Contributions to English Lexicography ; by Prof. 



J. W. GlBBS. 



No. II.* Account of some American Indian Words found in English. 



Cacao, (probably an American Indian word ;) the chocolate-tree, 

 a species of the Theob?'otna, a native of the West Indies. 



Cacique, (from the native Mexican and Guatemalan languages 

 through the French ; comp. Span, cacique, Port, cacico, Fr. ca- 

 cique ;) the title of the native chiefs in Mexico, Guatemala, and 

 perhaps other parts of America, at the time of the conquest by 

 the Spaniards. 



* For No. I. 8ce Vol. xxxin, p. 324. 



