132 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XII. No. 293 



having a direction different from that of the stars. The search 

 was unsuccessful ; and Pickering concludes from the results that the 

 satellite, if existing at all, has a diameter of less than two hundred 

 metres. 



— Rudolf Clausius, the eminent physicist, died on Aug. 25 at 

 Bonn. Clausius was born on Jan. 2, 1822, at Koeslin. In 1840 he 

 commenced his studies at the University of Berlin. After having 

 taken his degree, he became lecturer of physics at this university, 

 holding at the same time the position of teacher at a military acad- 

 emy. In 1855 he was appointed professor of physics at Ziirich, 

 and in 1867 he was elected by the faculty of Wiirzburg, at which 

 university he remained for two years. Since 1869 he has been 

 professorof physics at the University of Bonn. His work on the the- 

 017 of heat is so well known that we do not need to sum up his 

 merits. His important researches on this subject were first pub- 

 lished in Poggeiidorff' s Annalen, and later on collected in a work 

 of two volumes, the first of which treats of the theory of heat, 

 while the second refers to the applications of the theory to elec- 

 tricity. With admirable modesty he termed his most important 

 discovery 'the principle of Carnot,' as in following his line of re- 

 search he was led to its discovery. 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 

 Mississagua Etymology. 



A RECENT visit to the Mississaguas of Scugog Island (a remnant 

 of a once powerful branch of the great Ojibwa confederacy) has 

 enabled me to collect some interesting philological and folk-loristic 

 information. Their language is nearly pure Ojibwa, and was in its 

 uncorrupted form a purer dialect than that of Baraga's Dictionary. 

 This conclusion is based upon a vocabulary of some five hundred 

 words collected during my visit, and upon a manuscript French- 

 Indian vocabulary of the region between York (Toronto) and Lake 

 Simcoe of a date circa 1803. The words dealt with here were ex- 

 plained to me carefully by Mrs. Bolin, an aged member of the 

 Scugog tribe, a very intelligent woman. Her Indian name is 

 Nawigishcoke ('the sun in the centre of the sky'). She is about 

 sixty-five years old. 



Manitoominis ('bead') literally means 'mystery-seed.' The 

 Indian was very much puzzled when he saw beads for the first 

 time. Mtisawkwodon ('beard') literally means 'fuzzy-mouth.' 

 ilfK.fO«.f ('caterpillar '), the same word as that for 'nettle,' means 

 ' fuzzy thing.' Muskeganiin (' cranberry ') means ' swamp-fruit.' 

 Shaganosh ('Englishman') was explained as meaning 'sailing 

 round the world.' The brother of the Mississagua chief at Scugog 

 is called Shawanosh ('sailing from the south '). It is the termina- 

 tion of these words that gives the idea of sailing. Wamitigoshi- 

 ('Frenchman'), Mrs. BoUn explained to me as meaning 'he who 

 'carries a trunk.' She said that no doubt the first Frenchman with 

 whom the Indians got acquainted carried, for some purpose or 

 other, a trunk or box, hence the name. Shabomm ('gooseberry') 

 is 'the transparent fruit.' PajicogosJii ('horse') is 'the animal 

 with one hoof.' Piwabik ('iron') is 'the metal that crumbles off.' 

 Oshkikzuomin (' lead ') is ' that which can be cut with a knife.' 

 Wabiinojichag-iiian ('looking-glass') is a most interesting word. 

 Mrs. Bolin explained it as meaning ' where ghosts are seen.' 

 When the Indians first became acquainted with looking-glasses, 

 they imagined that in them they saw their ghosts or spirits 

 (pjichag). Ashebojanak (' oar ') is from ashebojan (' to row '), the 

 literal meaning of which is ' to sit backwards,' referring to the 

 position assumed when rowing as opposed to paddling. Pajicogo- 

 shinijiii (' oats ') are literally ' horse's food.' Ocadak (' sarsapa- 

 rilla ') is ' the leg-root.' Menagwacomis (' sassafras ') is ' the 

 scented tree.' Manitajiis ('sheep') is 'the animal that has the 

 damaged hide,' or the hide that is not durable, as that of deer, 

 etc. Papakawaiyon (' shirt ') means literally ' thin wear.' Shishi- 

 ban-wing (' shot') is literally ' duck-stones.' Mtiskeg (' swamp') is 

 a ' place which is full of sticks.' Nibaiiakwanisitan (' toes ') are 

 so named from their running in rotation. Pakweshikanusk 

 (' wheat') literally means 'bread-herb.' Wasaijakon ('window') 

 is 'that by which the light (wasatja) comes in.' 



A few other examples might also be given. l\Iiskotchies (' beet ') 

 literally means ' red turnip.' Osawascopzneshi (' bluebird ') means 



the same as in English. Osawatchies (' carrot ') is ' the yellow 

 turnip.' Eshkon (' chisel ') means literally ' horn,' showing of what 

 material these implements were made in the past. Papiga omti- 

 kaki (' toad ') is literally ' the rough frog.' Papassa (' woodpecker ') 

 means literally ' the pecker.' 



At Scugog, English is fast superseding the native Indian lan- 

 guage, and soon one of the most interesting and most constructive 

 of American aboriginal tongues will have ceased to exist upon the 

 island. A. F. CHAMBERLAIN. 



Toronto, Aug. 15. 



The Limit of Drift. 



Maps showing the drift-limit fix the boundary in Kansas a few 

 miles south of Lawrence and Topeka. These are possibly correct 

 so far as the drift-sheet is concerned, but erratic bowlders have 

 strayed from their native ledges about Lake Superior to a greater 

 distance. One of granite, weighing over 360 pounds, was found 

 by the writer near the summit of a divide thirteen miles east-north- 

 east of Eureka, and seventy-five miles south of Topeka, Kan. The 

 elevation is about 1,160 feet above the ocean. It lay nearly buried 

 in the soil near the head of a draw tributary to West Creek, a tribu- 

 tary of the Verdigris River. The draw trended south-south-west; 

 and the configuration of the country immediately northward, on 

 the opposite side of West Creek, lends weight to the supposition 

 that that was the direction the emigrant travelled when he entered 

 southern Kansas. 



No other bowlders have been found in the neighborhood. This 

 one has five planed faces, and bears other marks of having trav- 

 elled, part of the way at least, at the bottom of a glacier. The 

 country immediately north has never been visited by the writer, 

 and so it is possible that other drift-material lies in that quarter, 

 but none exists here. 



If the attenuated margin of the glacier stopped some miles to the 

 northward, and this country was flooded with water, it seems 

 strange that so few bowlders floated away in bergs or floes. If 

 this country vvJas flooded to a sufficient depth to float bergs with 

 bowlders, the eastern margin of this State must have been oc- 

 cupied by a river of extraordinary dimensions, emptying southward, 

 etc. The find is very suggestive of questions. L. C. Wooster. 



Eure!:a, Kan., Sept, 5. 



A Brilliant Meteor. 



On Sunday evening last a meteor was seen by several people in 

 and around this city, but, so far as I can learn, Mr. J. C. Mayo 

 was the only one who made reliable time-observations of its ap- 

 pearance and disappearance. 



Mr. Mayo is the telegraph-operator and stenographer of the Blue 

 Bird Mining Company, Limited, and resides at the Blue Bird Mine, 

 about three miles west of Butte City. 



At 6.30 P.M. by Mr. Mayo's watch, which was five minutes slow 

 of local time, a meteor burst into view in the southern heavens, and 

 moved in an apparent downward and north-easterly direction. 

 About two seconds (estimated) after its appearance the meteor 

 burst, first into two parts, and then into fragments which immedi- 

 ately disappeared! Mr. Mayo, having his watch in hand, noted the 

 time at which the meteor burst, and then listened for a report. At 

 the expiration of five minutes and thirty seconds tv/o loud reports, 

 nearly simultaneous, were heard. These reports were like the e.x- 

 plosions of heavy blasts of powder, and were followed by a rumbling 

 like near thunder, lasting about ten seconds. 



The place in the sky where the meteor was first seen, as pointed 

 out to me, was S. 60° E. from the Blue Bird Mine, at an elevation 

 of 50" from the horizon. The place where it burst was due eas' 

 and at an elevation of 25°. 



Mr. Mayo describes the meteor as having a well-defined body, 

 egg-shaped, with the smaller end foremost. This body was dis- 

 tinctly visible, " resembling white-hot iron," giving off a pure white 

 light, and was followed by a " bright blaze," which shaded into a 

 dense white, " sulphurous " smoke. The trail of smoke left behind 

 remained visible for fully ten minutes. 



The sky was clear and the sun shining brightly ; but the meteor 

 apparently emitted as much light as the sun, and lighted up its. 

 shadows. A. B. Knight. 



Butte City, Montana, Aug. 22. 



