Volapiik.] : 12 (Jan. 6, 
fixes and fourteen prefixes. There are a ‘‘durative”’ tense, and a 
‘‘jussive”? mood, conjunctive, optative, gerund and supine forms, all 
indicated by added syllables, reminding one of the overloaded themes 
of Turanian tongues. This mechanism is not only superfluous, but if 
any lesson may be learned from the history of articulate speech, it 
is precisely the opposite to what the universal language should and 
must be. 
The meaning is largely derived from placement, as will be seen in 
the following example, in which gudikos is the neuter adverbial noun 
‘“‘ooodness,”’ das Gute ; plidos, from English ‘‘please,”’ the third singu- 
lar indicative. 
Gudikos plidds Gode. 
Goodness pleases God. 
Plidos Gode gudik. 
It pleases God the good (the good God). 
Plidos gudik Gode. 
It pleases well God. 
Andsoon. It is acknowledged by the author that obscurities may 
easily arise from these transpositions, and there is much dependence on 
accents and tones. 
From this brief comparative examination of the evolutionary ten- 
dencies of the Aryan tongues and the scheme of a universal language 
as offered in the works of Mr. Schleyer, it is plainly evident that the 
two are in absolute opposition. 
Volapiik is synthetic and complex ; all modern dialects become more 
and moreanalytic and grammatically simple; the formal elements of 
Volapiik are those long since discarded as outgrown by Aryan speech ; 
its phonetics are strange in parts to every Aryan; portions of its vocab- 
ulary are made up for the occasion ; and its expressions involve una- 
voidable obscurities. With an ardent wish for the formation and 
adoption of such a universal tongue, and convinced as we are that now 
is thetime ripe for its reception, we cannot recommend Volapiik as 
that which is suited to the needs of modern thought. On the contrary, 
it seems to usa distinct retrogression in linguistic progress. Nor in 
this day of combined activities does it appear to us likely that any 
one individual can so appreciate the needs of civilized nations as to 
frame a tongue to suit them all. Such a task should be confided to 
an international committee from the six or seven leading Aryan na- 
tionalities. 
In conclusion, your committee would respectfully suggest that 
it would eminently befit the high position and long-established repu- 
tation for learning of the American Philosophical Society, to take 
action in this matter, without delay, and to send an official pro- 
position to the learned societies of the world to unite in an interna- 
