December 



1887.] 



SCIENCE 



275 



— The appointment of Dr. J. H. Kidder assistant commissioner 

 of fish and fisheries gives very general satisfaction. Dr. Kidder 

 has devoted the recent years of his life to the work of the commis- 

 sion, which has been most valuable in its results. He is a profound 

 student, and takes a deep interest in his work. The appointment 

 is commended on all sides, and, should Dr. Kidder consent to re- 

 main in the commission, the government will secure a most faithful 

 and efficient officer. 



— A steam-catamaran, intended for whale and walrus hunting in 

 the Arctic regions, is being built at Montreal, Canada. It has two 

 steel cigar-shaped hulls, each sixty-five feet long, and built in two 

 compartments, one for water ballast, and the other to carry petro- 

 leum for fuel. The catamaran is constructed so that it may be 

 taken apart for transportation on the deck of a whaler. 



— About a year ago the steamer 'Gluckauf,' the first vessel 

 specially constructed for the transportation of petroleum in bulk 

 across the Atlantic, was described in Science. A year's trial has 

 convinced the leading oil-exporters that the new method of ship- 

 ment is far more economical and expeditious than the old system 

 of transportation in casks and cases, and as a result several tank 

 vessels are now being built in England to ply between New York 

 and the different European ports. The fact that Russia is shipping 

 petroleum in bulk from Batoum, on the Black Sea, direct to Europe 

 and India, has perhaps hastened the adoption of the bulk system 

 by the American exporters. 



— Seventeen steel canoes form part of the equipment of the 

 Nicaragua Canal Company's surveying parties, which sail from this 

 city in a few days. The canoes are built of galvanized steel one- 

 twentieth of an inch thick, and are intended for the transportation 

 of the different parties to their stations along the route of the canal, 

 as well as to facilitate the making of the surveys. 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 



*»* Correspondents are requested to be as brief as possible. The ivriter's name is 

 in all cases required as proof of ^ood faith. 



T-wenty copies of the number containing his communication uuill be furnished 

 free to any correspondejit on request. 



Eskimo and the Indian. 



The subject of past relations between the Indian and the Eski- 

 mo must, in the light of recent investigations into the origin and 

 migrations of the latter, become intensely interesting. In the issue 

 of Science for Sept. 2, I gave an instance or two of what seemed to 

 be loan-words from the Indian to the Eskimo. These concerned 

 only the Central Eskimo. I have since succeeded in tracing these 

 words throughout the Eskimo territory from Labrador to Siberia, 

 as follows : — 



Labrador niptar~pok (' foggy ') 



Hudson Bay nepewoke (' sunset ' ) 



Churchill River nipalukuni \' to rain') 



" " nipa ('dead') 



Mackenzie River nipalitk (' rain') 



'' '* nipaluk-toark (' to rain ') 



" " nipta-toark {^ moon's <\uzTX.Qt') 



" " nipi- y or k {' sunset ^) 



" " nipi-yoark (' to set,' of stars) 



Tschuakkak Island niptschuku (' rain ') 



Malemute niptiga (' night ') 



Tchuktschi of Anadyr neptschuk {^ rain ') 



With these I would compare the following : — 



Miami nipanoue (' cold ') 



" w^A/iC water') 



Penobscot. nipongi (* night ') 



" neebunst ('moon ') 



Chippeway ?iipi"l die ') 



Cree nipiw C dead ') 



*' nipiy ('water ') 



Algonkin «zX-die') 



" «?>(?«/« ('death') 



nipan (' sleep ') 



Lenape nipaoni by night') 



Massachusetts nepaiishadt moon *) 



«7>/i^(Svater') 



Narragansett nippitchewo (' die') 



«r>Cwater') 



" nepouckttouut (' kill *) 



Minsi nipahumf (■ moon ') 



" «/^,-C water') 



Montauk neepa ('moon ') 



" K:>('water') 



Mohawk nup ('die') 



*' nibey ('water') 



and elsewhere throughout the great Algonkin stock of languages. 

 Now, if we adopt the view of Mr. Horatio Hale, that the primitive 

 seat of the Huron-Algonkin-Cherokee family was " 07i the banks 

 of the St. Lawrence," and that of Dr. Franz Boas, that the 

 primitive seat of the Eskimo race was " in the west of the Hudson 

 Bay region," have we not an explanation for the coincidences noted 

 above, and may we not expect more as research progresses ? Dr. 

 Rink, in his ' Eskimo Tales and Legends,' tells us of a journey 

 made ages ago, by the Eskimo, in search of copper, to a southern 

 country and people. Now, the word for ' copper ' in the Eskimo- 

 dialects is Kanooyak (Hudson Bay), Kannoyark (Mackenzie River), 

 Kannujak (Unalashka), Kaniija (Kadiak), Kanujak, Kennijak 

 (Tchugazz), and it is interesting to find that in Mohawk the word 

 for ' copper ' is 7K^;z«z>.r, and in Iroquois kanadzia. Did the Es- 

 kimo borrow this word from the Iroquois, or did both borrow it 

 from a people with whom they both must have come into contact, 

 the copper-using mound-builder of the Ohio and Mississippi val- 

 leys? 



The following short list of words common to the Eskimo and 

 more southern tribes of American aborigines may serve to strengthen 

 the views advanced by Dr. Boas and Mr. Hale: — 



Above .. SeJtneken {\xQQ^\io\%) 



I innyak (Unalashka, ' sky *) 



Bone ■! l""" ^^^"/^"'j c ^ 



{ krowntk (Hudson Bay) 



\ haenyehcL (Huron) 

 I anaga (Kadiak) 



Brother .j awfij/z/a ^Mackenzie River) 



\jattatege (Onondaga) 

 \agituda (Aleutan) 



Child Scheakhah {nMxon) 



\ z^«^(? (Mackenzie River) 



( guennies (Mohawk) 

 Copper •< kanadzia (Iroquois) 



f kannooyak (Hudson Bay) 



{ ennisera (Iroquois) 



I eghfiisera (Mohawk) 

 Day i aghynak (Tchuktschi) 



I fflrt«^AiZ^ (Unalashka) 



\^anyark (Mackenzie River) 

 jj- J konnis (Iroquois) 



/ tcheite-yoark (Mackenzie River) 



jjy(,j^ Ssoluck (Mohawk) 



\ tchorlerk (Mackenzie River) 



J*. J suntunke (Nottoway) 

 I tschintak (Tchuktschi) 



( aitaa (Huron) 

 Father lata (Tuscarora) 



( atta (Tchuktschi) 



F-S- jSSi^xSltschi) 



f jj.g Syoneks (Tuscarora) 



1 oonoktook (Hudson Bay, ' to burn ')■ 



[achita (Huron) 

 pQQt 1 ochaita (Onondaga) 



1 etsckeak (Kotzebue Sound) 



[ahseit (Greenland, 'hand ') 



Good jioyan^re (Iroa^nois) 



I ayumtork (Mackenzie River) 



( chotta (Iroquois) 

 Hand \ eshet (Kadiak) 



f tskax (Aleutan) 

 jjg^^ i noatsskera (Huron) 



I naschko (Tchuktschi) 



T ■ S hechkivaa (Iroquois) 



^'P 1 kakkairar (Mackenzie River) 



^eniha (Nottoway) 

 aneehah (Tuscarora) 

 inmik (Greenland) 

 Man ! /«««>t (Mackenzie River) 



I aingahon (Huron) 



I oonguich (Mohawk) 



I ang-ut (Greenland) 



{_angyit (Hudson Bay) 



(anehah (Huron) 

 eanuh (Tuscarora) 

 ««<! (Notto»;ay1 

 anaha. (Kadiak) 

 I antiak (Unalashka) 

 yanaan (Aleutan) 

 Nose Syw'g'^ (Huron) 



■" °^^ \ chinga (Tchuktschi) 



jj^ij J qitecUaha (Seneca) i 



I kciwacktuk (Tchuktschi) 



I onyetak (Seneca) 



Snow < ouniye^hti; (Mohawk ) 



/ annu, annju (Tchuktschi) 

 TnncrTi*> i ennasa (Iroquois) 



^°"SU« 1 a/,«a/t (Unalashka) 



( ojrhey (Huron) 



Winter -{ ukshiok tKadiak) 



( uktschuk (Tchuktschi) 

 (^&«,Xe-(Tuscarora) 



Woman -< aganak I Kadiak) 



( aganak (Tchuktschi) 



I have also found resemblances no less remarkable between the 

 Eskimo and the Cherokee-Choctaw, as well as the Tlingit and the 



