m 



ON THE CLASSIFICATION 



Between the savages 163 who cannot count beyond one or 

 two, or who use their fingers and toes for that purpose, 164 and 

 the civilized European with whom counting is a merely 

 mechanical process, there seems to exist an insurmountable 

 gap. A considerable distance separates them indeed, but one 

 which can be lessened, and in this particular instance is 

 lessened by practice and instruction. An intimate acquaint- 

 ance with the concrete value of the different numbers will 

 soon dispel hazy notions, and effect the adoption of numerals 

 in preference to vague indefinite expressions. 165 



The names of the numerals often explain or afford a means 

 of retracing the numerical system which originally prevailed, 

 and which was afterwards abandoned in preference to another. 

 The Dra vidian numerals " eight " and " nine " render thus the 

 primitive usage of counting up to "seven" instead of up to 

 " ten " very probable. Moreover a research into the meaning 

 of the names of the numerals is a good measure for ascertain- 

 ing their original value. 



The various systems of numbering are objects well worthy 

 of inquiry, and supply weighty materials for a critical exami- 

 nation of a language. On the other hand, we should not 



(163) Compare the chapter on the art of counting in Edward B. Tylor's 

 u Primitive Culture," Vol. I, pages 218-246. 



(164) See " Outlines of a Grammar of the Vei Language, by S. W. Koelle, 

 pages 29 and 30 : " The Vei people, and many other African tribes, when 

 counting, first count the fingers of their left hand, beginning, be it remem- 

 bered, from the little one ; then in the same manner those of the right hand, 

 and afterwards the toes. When both the fingers and the toes were counted, 

 they said: a person (mo) is finished (bande), and hence mo bandy came to 

 mean 20." 



(165) In the Vocabulary of Aboriginal Dialects of Queensland, by 

 Mrs. Harriott Barlow, we find this significant note : " Most of the blacks, 

 when asked to express a number beyond three, give the word signifying 

 4 'many," or else say "that's all, no more my talk." Yet many of the 

 younger men can count well in English. We had, last year, on the station, 

 a young black fellow who could count a flock of sheep (say 200 to 1,200) as 

 they ran through the yard-gate." See Journal of the Anthropol. Institute, 

 Vol. II, page 171. 



