80 



ON THE CLASSIFICATION 



conformity with stated rules. A stone, which is the altar of 

 sacrifice to their manitoes ; a bow, so necessary in the chase ; 

 a feather, the honored sign of martial prowess ; a kettle, so 

 valuable in the household ; a pipe, by which friendships are 

 sealed and treaties ratified ; a drum, used in their sacred and 

 festive dances ; a medal, the mark of authority ; vermilion, the 

 appropriate paint of the warrior ; wampum, by which messages 

 are conveyed, and covenants remembered. These are among the 

 objects, in themselves inanimates, which require the application 

 of animate verbs, pronouns, and adjectives, and are thereby 

 transferred to the animate class. It is to be remarked, however, 

 that the names for animals are only employed as animates, 

 while the objects are referred to as whole and complete species 

 but the gender 126 must be changed when it becomes necessary 

 to speak of separate members. Man, woman, father, mother, 

 are separate nouns so long as the individuals are meant ; but 

 hand, foot, head, eye, ear, tongue are inanimates. Buck is an 

 animate noun while his entire carcase is referred to, whether 

 living or dead ; but neck, back, heart, wind-pipe, take the in- 

 animate form. In like manner eagle, swan, dove are distin- 

 guished as animates, but beak, wing, tail are arranged with 

 inanimates. So oak, pine, ash, are animates ; branch, leaf, root, 

 inanimates. Reciprocal exceptions however exist to this rule. 

 Thus the talons of the eagle, and the claws of the bear and of 

 other animals, which furnish ornaments for the neck, are 

 invariably spoken of under the animate form. The hoofs and 

 horns of all quadrupeds, which are applied to various economical 

 and mystical purposes ; the castoreum of the beaver, and the 

 nails of man, are similarly situated. The vegetable creation 

 also furnishes some exceptions of this nature ; such are the 

 names for the outer bark of all trees (except the birch), and the 

 branches, the roots, and the resin of the spruce and its 

 congeners." 



The division between animates and inanimates is widely 

 spread, e.g., Castren mentions that the Kottes distinguish 



(126) Gender is here used not in the sense we understand it, in fact the 

 word is here hardly appropriate. 



