nature of its syntaxj and in the number ot 
additive particles (afl&xa et suffixa). Tliis 
uniform tendency of the idioms betrays, if 
not a community of origin, at least a great 
analogy in the intellectual dispositions of 
the American tribes, from Greenland to the 
Magellanic regions. 
Investigations made with the most scru- 
pulous exactness, in following a method 
which had not hitherto been used in the 
study of etymologies, have proved, that 
there are a few words that are common in 
the vocabularies of the two continents. In 
eighty-three American languages, examined 
by Messrs. Barton and Vater, one hundred 
and seventy words have been found, the 
roots of which appear to be the same ; and 
it is easy to perceive, that this analogy is 
not accidental, since it does not rest merely 
I 
on imitative harmony, or on that conform- 
ity in the organs, which produces almost a 
perfect identity in the first sounds articu- 
lated by children. Of these one hundred 
and seventy words, which have this con- 
