20 



nexion with each other, three fifths resem- 

 ble the Mantchou, the Tongouse, the Mon- 

 gul, and the Samoyede ; and two fifths the 

 Celtic and Tschoud, the Biscayan, the Cop- 

 tic, and the Congo languages. These words 

 have been found by comparing the whole 

 of the American languages with the whole 

 of those of the Old World ; for hitherto we 

 are acquainted with no American idiom, 

 which seems to have an exclusive corres- 

 pondence with any of the Asiatic, African, 

 or European tongues. What some learned 

 writers have asserted from abstract theo- 

 ries, respecting the pretended poverty of 

 all the American languages, and the ex- 

 treme imperfection of their numerical sys- 

 tem, is as doubtful as the assertions which 

 have been made respecting the weakness 

 and stupidity of the human race through- 

 out the New Continent, the stunted growth 

 of animated nature, and the degeneration 

 of those animals, which have been trans- 

 ported from one hemisphere to the other. 

 Several idioms, which now form the lan- 



