DR. TH. NEUMANN. 147 



two languages and dialects, and his analytical mind was 

 ever busy with the assortment of these languages into 

 relations of correspondence. This knowledge enabled 

 him at the same time to prove the often heard statement 

 that the purpose of a universal language is to supplant 

 all existing languages, to be the outcome of a miscon- 

 ception. He saw and knew clearly that no artificial lan- 

 guage will ever supersede the languages of the earth, nor 

 even a single one of them. Its aim can never be to 

 supersede, but to supplement, to provide a means by 

 which the races of mankind may become intelligible to 

 each other while retaining their mother tongues. After 

 years of wearisome work, often disgusted and discour- 

 aged, and many a time nearly giving up, Pastor Schleyer 

 presented to the world in 1879 his new language, Vola- 

 pfik. But even then he was not favored with immediate 

 success. The influence of many previous abortive 

 attempts was felt in preventing an impartial investiga- 

 tion of its merits, and for several years it was either 

 ignored by the world of learning or spoken of with 

 ridicule. Slowly only it made its way, it gained strong- 

 holds here and there, found the approval of eminent 

 philologists who commenced its propagation, until in 

 1889 Professor Ellis, president of the London Philologi- 

 cal Society, was justified in saying: " Volapiik is no 

 longer an experiment ; it is a living, spoken tongue !" 



It spread rapidly to nearly all the countries of Europe, 

 crossed continents and oceans, and set up its standard 

 in China and Japan, and within a few years from the 

 first impulse given it, every civilized nation of the globe 

 had accepted Volapiik. In 1885 an academy was found- 

 ed to supervise the interests of the language and this 

 academy was made international in 1887. The capa- 

 bility of Volapiik to express ideas has been demon- 

 strated variously. One of the most significant experi- 

 ments was made by Dr. Boger, of Hamburgh. He re- 



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