478 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. IX., Mo 223 



words on the practical advantage of the study of 

 the Scandinavian languages. 



We of the east can scarce realize the part the 

 Scandinavian plays in the west : books and news- 

 papers are printed for him in his own language ; 

 ministers preach the gospel to him in his own 

 tongue ; his presence is felt everywhere, save in 

 the university and the college. A population of 

 107,768 Scandinavians lives in Minnesota, and there 

 is not a college in which the parent tongues of 

 this great mass of people can be studied. But in 

 order to give a clearer idea of the extent of the 

 Scandinavian settlements in the. west, I have taken 

 a few tables from the U. S. census for 1880 (vol. i. 

 pp. 465 and 261) : — 



That is, in Minnesota the Scandinavians outnum- 

 ber any other two foreign nationalities ; in Wis- 

 consin they are outnumbered by the Germans 

 alone ; in Iowa they also stand second, and in 

 Illinois third, in the proportion of foreign-born 

 inhabitants. If we compare the percentage of 

 Scandinavians with that of French, we find still 

 more startling figures : — 



What the percentage of Scandinavians in this 

 country will be in 1890, we can surmise from these 

 figures. That it is increasing with as great rapid- 

 ity as ever before, is very probable. 



And it is this great people whose language and 

 literature are considered of such slight importance 

 that in only three of our great colleges is any atten- 

 tion paid to their study. There are more Scandina- 

 vians in the United States than French, and there 

 is not a college in the country in which French is 

 not studied. It is true that the Scandinavian lan- 



guages are but little used on the continent ; but 

 no one can depreciate a language that counts 

 among its great names H. C. Andersen, Adam 

 Oehlenschlager, H. C. Oersted, Karl von Linne. 

 Bjornstjerne Bjornsen, Ibsen and Jonas Lie. 

 Such a language deserves study for its own merits. 

 Yet a word on the three Scandinavian theo- 

 logical schools. The only medium by which 

 the non-English-speaking Scandinavians can be 

 reached, and taught to become good citizens, is by 

 men of their own race and tongue, who must be 

 specially trained for this work. The three Scandi- 

 navian colleges that have been established for this 

 purpose have done and are doing good work in 

 their own way ; but unfortunately their way is 

 not our way ; in fact, the views of the Scandina- 

 vian religious bodies are directly opposed to every 

 thing distinctively American. Instead of trying 

 to Americanize the Scandinavian youth of the west, 

 these missionaries do all they can to keep their 

 charges in their present condition. They do not 

 teach them even to use the English language, but 

 rather encourage, intentionally or not, the sur- 

 vival of a foreign language on American soil. 

 The Scandinavian courses in our western colleges 

 should be intended, not only to teach Norwegian 

 and Swedish to Americans, but also English to 

 Norwegians and Swedes. Those working as spiiit- 

 ual or secular teachers among the Scandinavians, 

 should use their knowledge of the two tongues to 

 increase and encourage the adoption of English as 

 the natural means of communication of this great 

 population of ours. It may seem inconsistent to 

 advocate the study of a language as a means of its 

 own destruction, but in actual working this plan 

 will prove to be a success. 



Daniel Kilham Dodge. 



A MAP of central Africa, based on the latest in- 

 formation, is now nearly ready, and will be pub- 

 lished in an early number of Science. This will 

 be the most accurate map of that region yet pub- 

 lished in America, and will be the only American 

 map which will enable readers to folio n^ the jour- 

 ney of Stanley to the relief of the lost Egyptian 

 army. 



