98 
Proceedings of the Royal Society 
b. Transform to 
f +« 2 = X > 
and express this by the help of an auxiliary operation in terms of 
a merely artificial quantity z, so that 
^ + £2 = e *s Z 
ax 
so that all equations of the kind considered can he reduced to 
the very simple form 
C $ + i 2 = kc ax 
ax 
If this were integrated, the only remaining difficulty would lie in 
the separation of symbols from the quantities they operate upon. 
5. On Two-dimensional Motion of mutually influencing Vortex- 
columns, and on Two-dimensional Approximately Circular 
Motion of a Liquid. By Sir W. Thomson. 
Monday , Yitk January 1876. 
The Bight Rev. Bishop COTTERILL, Vice-President, 
in the Chair. 
The following Communication was read : — 
On the Origin of Language— Max -Muller, Whitney. 
By Professor Blackie. 
Professor Blackie stated that though the origin of language might 
be considered by some more a metaphysical than a philological ques- 
tion, it was yet so closely connected with philology, that whatever 
opinions a philologer held on this question could not fail to exer- 
cise a strong secret influence on his philological procedure. The 
primary elements out of which language grew were admitted by all 
to be three, viz., cries or interjectional exclamation, mimetic re- 
production of audible sounds, technically but stupidly called onoma- 
topoeia, and gesture. But while agreeing on this threefold basis 
the most distinguished writers on this subject, such as Max-Miiller, 
Wedgwood, Whitney, Bleek, Schleicher, and Steinthal, disagreed 
fundamentally, or at least seemed to be at daggers drawing, with 
regard to the course which language pursued in its further develop- 
