SCIENCE. 



[Vol. X. No. 253 



1, hrownik, ' bone,' is the well-known Eskimo word smcneq (the 

 unitial s is perhaps merely an aspirate in some parts of the central 

 'region). , 



2, anayva, ' brother,' is a misprint or misquotation of aiiayoa of 

 Father Petitot's Mackenzie vocabulary. This means ' his elder 

 .brother,' being the well-known ahayo (Greenland spelling, ajigajo) 

 •with the so-called suffix. 



3, tchene-yoark, ' do,' is phonetically tceneyoaq, the regular Mac- 

 -kenzie dialectic variant of sanavoq, ' he works.' 



4, anya7-k, ' day' (Mackenzie), is a misprint for anyapk, defined 

 by Petitot as 'jour long.' 



5, tschintak, 'ear ' (Tchuktschi = Asiatic Eskimo), is an evident 

 -error for siuia, ' his ear.' In this case the correction makes the 



comparison a little better, for the words compared at least begin 

 with the same letter. 



6, aiia, ' father," is the baby-word atata, adada (perhaps the 

 ■same as ' daddy '). 



7, a.thanka, ' fingers,' is probably a Reindeer Chukch or Siberian 

 •word. 



8, oonoktook, ' to bum,' is a well-known compound of which the 

 ■stem-word is levoq. 



9, aisez'i, ' ioot' {hand), is properly fl.rca:/'/ (Greenland spelling, 

 ■arssazt), which appears in the other dialects as aggait, adrzgai, etc. 



10, ayunitork ' good ' (Mackenzie), is really a compound, ayufiit- 

 joq, ' not bad ' (Greenland spelling, ajungiisok). 



11, eshet, ' hand' (Kadiak), is evidently arssait again. 



12, kakkairar, 'lip' (Mackenzie), is meant for kakkiviap of 

 iPetitot's vocabulary, which is a well-known compound of kakik. 



13, aftaka, etc., ' mother,' is evidently another well-known baby- 

 word, anana, sometimes amama (really, I think, mama). 



14, cfiinga, ' nose ' (Tchuktschi), is qingd, ' his nose,' of all the 

 -dialects. (The initial sound is perhaps nearer to i, though a well- 

 marked guttural.) 



15, anttu, annju, ' snow,' should probably be amgo. 



16, ukshiok, uktschuk, 'winter,' is ukioq in at least five other 

 •dialects. 



17, aganak, 'woman,' loses all resemblance to ekening in the 

 ■forms in which it is usually seen, axnaq, aiina. 



Thus I have shown that out of twenty-five comparisons, at least 

 seventeen depend on a total misapprehension of the pronunciation 

 or meaning of the words for even the "fortuitous coincidences of 

 ■30und " alluded to by Boas. 



I must, however, do Mr. Chamberlain the justice to say that his 

 remarks about the possibility of the Eskimo name for copper hav- 

 ing been derived from the language of the Indians from whom they 

 ■ obtained the copper, are certainly suggestive. The Greenlandic word 

 for copper is kangnusak, which is much more like kanadsz'a than 

 ithe words used for comparison by Mr. Chamberlain, and this word 

 is called a stem- word, z'.e., nothing is known of its etymology. Such 

 a case is, however, of no value in arguing any relationship between 

 the two languages. John Murdoch. 



Smithsonian Institution, Dec. 3. 



The Eskimo Tribes. 



I HAVE just read with great interest the notice by Dr. F. Boas 

 •(in Science of Dec. 2) of Dr. Rink's latest work. Dr. Boas has to 

 a certain extent anticipated my own intentions, as I had already 

 'handed in to the publishing committee of the Washington Anthro- 

 pological Society a somewhat lengthy review of the same work for 

 ■publication in the first number of the new periodical which that 

 society is about to publish. I have, however, discussed the subject 

 in much greated detail than would be suitable for the columns of 

 Scze?tce, and therefore venture to believe that my paper has not 

 ■been rendered superfluous even by Dr. Boas's excellent article. 



I am glad to find that Dr. Boas agrees, in the main, with the 

 • conclusions I had arrived at myself, though I have had the boldness 

 to carry further than he has done the theory of the dispersion of 

 the Eskimo race on this continent. In my discussion of Dr. Rink's 

 arguments, there were so many points of interest that the question 

 of Indian influence entirely escaped my attention, so that I am 

 much pleased to see that Dr. Boas has presented this side of the 

 ■ question. A somewhat detailed study of the arts of the Western 

 Eskimos leads me to agree entirely with his opinion. 



I am strongly inclined to believe, though the evidence is not yet 

 complete, that the use of the birch-bark canoe by some of the Es- 

 kimos on the Alaskan rivers, which Dr. Rink believes is an evidence 

 of their primitive culture, is simply an adoption of the habits of 

 their Indian neighbors, induced by the fact that where they live it 

 is easier to obtain birch-bark than sealskins. Though it is by no 

 means unlikely that, as Dr. Rink believes, the Eskimo skin-boat is 

 descended, so to speak, from a birch canoe, I do not believe that 

 the canoes just mentioned are in the same line of descent. 



Dr. Boas's view of the condition of the Eskimos before their 

 separation into their present divisions seems to me highly probable, 

 though I think a little more study will enable us to add to it con- 

 siderably. 



I have already at hand nearly enough linguistic material to pre- 

 pare a good-sized list of the animals that must have inhabited the 

 original home of the Eskimos. 



In conclusion, I most heartily concur in Dr. Boas's opinion that 

 Dr. Rink's work will be highly appreciated by all ethnologists. It 

 certainly deserves to be. John Murdoch. 



Soiithsonian Institution, Dec. 3. 



Queries. 



19. Who first said it? — The very interesting discovery an- 

 nounced by Professor Trowbridge, that birds have a power of sleep- 

 ing on the wing, brings to mind that it is not a recent observation, 

 but was anticipated by a very astute philosopher and poet, Edgar A. 

 Poe. In a poem which he says was written in his youth, and pub- 

 lished more than thirty years ago, are these lines : — 



"O is it thy -will 



On the breezes to toss ? 

 Or capriciously still 



Like the lone albatross. 

 Incumbent on night 

 (As she on the air).'' 



To which he appends this marginal note : " The albatross is said 

 to sleep on the wing." This poem, however, was criticised by an- 

 other philosophic writer, ' John Phoenix,' who gave it as his opinion 

 that the poet invented the fact in natural history because he found 

 there were no words to rhyme with ' toss ' but ' boss ' and ' alba- 

 tross.' This is now happily discredited ; but the question remains, 

 Who first " said it " .' p. J. F. 



Clinton, lo., Nor. 26. 



Ans'wers. 



18. Meteor-Fall. — In reference to the query "Was the 

 Amsterdam meteorite a hoax ? " the following from the Amster- 

 dam Democrat of Nov. 19 explains it in fewer words than perhaps 

 I can : " A man came down from Fort Hunter this morning to see 

 the 'aerolite.' A meteorologist from Troy arrived in town to-day, 

 having come in haste without his dinner, and was much disap- 

 pointed when told that the 'aerolite ' was a hoax. It is also stated 

 that a party are on their way hither from Philadelphia. A big 

 stone did fall in the place indicated. The only trouble is, instead 

 of falling from the sky, it fell from a wagon, which was loaded and 

 broke down with it, that's all, but it rather spoils the sensation." 

 Newspaper statements report that on Aug. 30 a meteorite had 

 been seen by a number of people on Main Street between Howard 

 and Milk Streets, Spokane Falls, Wash. Ter. It was said to have 

 struck the electric wires, cutting one of them in two. It was de- 

 scribed to be a ball of fire ten feet in diameter. This proved to be 

 nothing but the crossing of the electric light wires, which resulted 

 in the melting of one of them. On the evening of Nov. 7 a large 

 meteor shot over St. John's University, St. Cloud, Minn., and de- 

 cended within two miles of the University. A vigorous search was 

 made by professors and students, but no trace of the meteorite was 

 found. It was concluded by all that it had fallen in the lake, in the 

 direction of which the meteor had passed. The many sensational 

 accounts of meteoric falls at Wellsburg, N.Y., Evansville, Ind., the 

 Georgia metal ball, etc., are all the productions of a so-called re- 

 porter's fertile brain. George F. Kunz. 



New York, Dec. 5. 



