light on the prehistoric period in the life of nations.
A sojourn at the Virginia Springs might open to the
attentive folk-lorist of the north, arlued with a
memorandar11-boolr, stores inexhaustible of southern
~ n i i l ~ . i ~ c;
l ~for
. r i ~ here southern society congregates,
conversation is still a fine art, and the long evenings
of smnnler are most provocative of meditative reminiscence. Mr. Qomme's proposed manual for the
scientific gathering and classification of all this
A folk-lore a n d dialect society.
legendary lore vill doubtless prove priceless to s l ~ c h
s~unmers ojourners. The ~ o n t his peculiarly fertile
Youn editorial comment on the proposition to
in all the conditions through vhich the carious befotuld a follr-lore and dialect society in this country
is, iu my opinion, exceeclingly opport~une. T~lllen liefs, custolns, and narratives you editorially comthe American historical association was organized a ment upon are handed down from generation to
generation ; nay, are even generated under oar very
few years ago, y o u correspondent and Prof. H . B.
Ada~nsexchanged views on the feasibility of estab- noses. Let the Folli-lore society and the American
lishing such a society as auxiliary to the \T-orliof the dialect society come and gather while the hills are
association. The plan, hon~ever,fell to the ground, white with harvest. I t requires no exceptionally
until, a fen. weelis ago, a gathering of scholars in- gifted pen to talre down n ~ h a tone hears and sees all
terested particularly in American follr-lore met at around one. A series of intelligently articulated
Can~bridge, i\Iass , and formed the nucleus of a circulars, with pregunnt hint and clear suggestion,
promising society for its investigation.
The in- sent o a t under the auspices of these societies, ~voald
valuable worlr acconlplished by the English dialect doubtless elicit lists of mords and descriptions of
castoms and follr-lore prevalent in particular localisociety, and by such publications au i l l e l n s i ~ ~in
e
France and Gerlnany, shon~swhat intelligent efl'ort ties, and these could gradually be elaborated and
can do in this direction to save froin oblivion the systematized into a volume. By all means, let these
relics, linguistic and saperstitioual, of the past. A11 societies go to work without loss of time. and both
philologists lrnow that the study of dialects -- dia- co-operate to a common end.
lectology - is of extreme inlportance to the scienJ~RIB
A. SHARRISOX.
tific linguist; for in the dialects are often f o ~ ~ n c l iTTashingtonaud Lee univ.,
Loxington,
Ya.,
Juno
1.
archaic pron~~nciations,
idioms, usages, which point
to a more ancient time than the pron~~nciations,
T h e idea of a civil academy.
idioms, and usages prevalent among those who slieali
the standard tongue. I n this manner, dialect studies
The idea of a civil acadenly at Washington, as
in nlodern Greelr, modern Italian, Spanish, and
developed by Dr. Herbert B. Adams, in Circular of
German have contributed abundantly to the expla- information No. 1, 1887, bureau of education, seeuls
nation of phenomena in those languages otherwise to have met v i t h a varying reception from the public
inexplicable. I n this country, where dialects vere press. Condelnned b y some journals and highly
supposed to be non-existent, or to have been obliter- cornillended by others, the conspicuoas attention
ated by the levelling influence of the colnlnonschool,
which i t has attracted is the best proof that it is not
they are really found, on closer inspection, to abonnd. a mere Utopian dream.
Noticing this many years ago, the subscriber conI believe myself that a civil academy is not merely
ly
tributed to the B u l t i i ? z o r e j o z c ~ ? r ; u l . o f ~ ~ ? v i i o l o y (iii.
desirable, bat that in the no distant fatare it vill
No. 2 ) a paper on ' The Creole [negro] patois of
be a necessity. The opinions of nlany government
Louisiana,' ~ v h i c hnTafipart of a plan to embrace stad- officials n ~ h o have held positions of adlninistrative
ies in ' Greaser Spanish ' (Texas, Nen, Mexico, Cali- responsibility justify this statement. Only recently
fornia), ' The Hoosier dialect of the middle states,'
a gentleman who has long been prominently con' The cmcker dialect of Georgia, East Tennessee,
nected with the public service expressed the convicand Korth Carolina' (as outlined by R. B.), ' P e w - tion that he nrould yet see the balk of the higher
sylvania Dutch ' (after Holdeman), ' New England- offices distributed on the basis of competitive merit,
isms,' and ' Negro English.' The first and last only in place of being bestowed as the reward of political
of this series have been as yet, though very imper- labors. However this may be, there can hardly be
fectly, executed. The essay on negro English was any doubt that civil-service principles have come to
about fifty pages octavo in length, a n d v a s published stay; and the significance of this fact in the present
in full, as a tolerably complete grammar of negro,
connection is that a strong demand is thus created
in A i z g l i a (Leipzig, Germany, 1884). A Y C ~ S I L of
? ~ Lit~ for men thoroughly trained and specially fitted, parTvas read before the American philological associa- ticularly for higher branches of government work.
tlon, mhich met at New Haven in July, 1885 ; and a The sentiment has been well expressed by Col. Carbrief abstract of the paper appears among its Pro- roll D. Wright, whose fifteen years of public adminceedings for that year. Negro rssage abounds with istrative experience should entitle his vien~s to
linguistic cariosities, obsolescent idionls, twists and considerable meight. I n an address recently deturns descended froill the Elizabethan or Jacobin
livered before the joint session of the American hissettlers ; and aloug with these goes a ~vorldof quaint torical and Econonlic associations at Cambridge, on
superstitions, proverbs, charms, ' sa~vsa nd sayings,' the study of statistics in colleges, he mid, "The exthat reveal a peculiarly naive and old-morld turn of tension of civil-service principles mast become
iilind and inlagination. The Society for psychical
greater and greater, and the varied delnands which
research ought certainly to investigate this t e r r a will be created by their growth logically become
more exacting ; so that the possibilities nrithin the
vierge, rich with the stratified folk-lore of ages,
enamelled v i t h flon~ersof African parentage, replete application of such principles are therefore not
with scraps of custom and myth which might throm ideal, b a t practical, in their nature. And these
LETTEBS 2'0 THE EDITOR.
*,*The a t t e n t i o n 0.f scientiJZc ??Len i s ec~lle(1to t h e aduantctges
for p l a c i n y pl'onlptiy
of the correspondence colunbns of SCIENCE
o n record brief l?relinbinaru notices o.f their investigations.
T ~ u e i r t ycopies of tlie nzcmber c o n t a i n i n g h i s c o m n ~ u ? a i c ~ c t i o n
toill he f u r n i s h e d free to cvay corresponde,st oiL reyuest.
T h e editor U J ~ ~b eZ glad to 2~ublislaa n u quePies eonsonccnt tuit11
the clinracte?' of the jozrrnal.
Correspondents a r e req~!este(lto be LLS b r i q f a s possible. T h e
writer's ncwle i s in all cases reqzcired a s proof of gooci.f(tith.
[ToL. IX., NO. 22'7
potentialities in the near future nrill enhance the we 111nst prepare to meet the change. I do not think
value of the services of the trained statistician. The we can checli the growth of state interference in
consular and diplumatic service, as well as other matters nrhich v e r e once considered of purely perfields of government aciministration, come under the sonal and private concern, but we can and mi-1st
same necessity."
regulate it. How ? I n two ways, - by innltiplging
One of the objections urged against the civil the means for obtaining accurate information upon
academy is that we have already plenty of colleges, econo~llicand social conditions, aud by basing legisamply eqnipped with facilities for political ednca- lation upon ascertained facts. Congressmen must
tion, -a point which is si~fficientlyanfivered by the be able to do more thau put t,hemselves ' on record '
distinction between ' political science ' and political
in favor of labor : they must grasp the true inwardpraxis.' Political science can he acquired in a tolerness of the lal~or-problemin its details. Adminisably satisfactory manner in inany of 0111. institutions
trators must not be content with the performance of
of learning, but political praxis is the special prod- perfiunctory duties : they must he ready, v h e n called
uct of contact and experience nrith administrative upon, to furnish facts suggestive of useful conslrucnrorl;. An academy in Washington, ~ v i t hthe lnost
tive legislation. The training of both must be profavorable environrr~eiitthat could be found, for the
vided for, and the civil academy offers the combinaprosecution of theorecical studies, and nrhich fur- tion of advantages to be desired.
nishes contemporaneoi~slythe opportl~nityfor apE. R. L. GOWLD.
prenticeship work, manifestly embodies the ideal \TTnshingion, D.C., J u n e 4.
:.. .
5n1ug.
Sea-sickness.
SVithont contesting what seelns to be a favorite
I t is true that many (leaf-mates are lir~ownto have
proposition with many jonrnalists, that A~nerican
statesmen come up frorn the illasses,' that they, lilie enjoyed what seems to be a sorprining ilnmunity
poets, are born, not made, it is only fair to add that from sea-sickness ; but it cannot be said, that, as a
the country has likewise suffered much from ans~ul~ed class, they are exempt from the misery me all so
heaven-born genius in high places. This fact nre are much dread.
I travelled last wrniner on the Pacific Ocean v i t h a
too apt to lose sight of, and thiuk only of conspicuous
number of deaf-mutes, some of whom paid their
examlsles of statesn~anshipwhere the only edncational
tribute to Neptune with the best of us mho hear.
training has been the village school. I s it not true
I t is iuy opinion, however, that there is g r o l ~ n d f o r
that more statesmen who have come u p fro111 the
Dr. James's statement (Xcfence, Jnne 3), if care be
masses h a ~ turned
e
out to he incubi to congressional
societx than glittering lights in the l~oliticalfirma- taken not to say that a deaf-mute cannot he made
ment ? KO arglunent can be founded upon the state- sea-sicli.
If I may sag a vord from illy own experience of a
ment hefore mentioned, for it is certain that no
genius would he spoiled hy scientific political study ; number of ocean-voyages, nrith a decided tendency
that much might he developed that otherwise ~voald to be sea sick, I think great help may he had by
keeping in one's berth at the first approach of rough
never be utilized.
The strong point of the civil academy is its prac- nreather, eating moderately. and not rising until the
processes of digestion and assilnilation haye had
tical side. Leaving out the disputed question of
government aid to higher education, there can be no time to be quite fully coinpleted after at least tnro or
E. &I.GALL~UDET.
three meals.
cloltbt of the wisdom of expenditure which vill
Keudall Green, TVashington, J u n e 4.
create trained and skilfnl aiiininistmtors. Colonel
Wright says, "The gover~lment should s ~ ~ p ~ l e u l e n t
Garbage-disposal.
college-training with practicnl adlilinistrative inPour note as to garbage-disposition in Milvaalree
struction, acquired through positive sel.vice in its
does not express the present state of affairs. The
on-u departments." Statesmen may be born, but
health ofEcers of the ~ilrronndingtowns have forbidadministrators mast be made. What may be underden the, entrance of garbage-wagons into their disstood as technical training is as much required for tricts. At preseut illany plans are under discussion,
them as for the army and nayy ofticer. TTThetherv e
but none has yet heen fixed upon. The furnace plan
\Till or no, the co~uplexity of modern state life finds much favor.
ARTHUR
STI~~TES~.
is increasing, is certain to increase still more, and
Xilmaukea. TVis.. J u n e 4
A ,
CKOSBU'S VITALIZED PHUSPHITES Composed o f the Nerve-giving Principles o f thii O x Brain and the Embryo o f t h e Wheat and Oat,
I s a standard remedy with physicians who treat nervous or mental disorders.
T h e formula is on everv label. A s it is itlentical in its comuosition ~ i t h
brain matter it is rapidly absorbed and relieves the depression from mental
efforts, loss of memory, fatigue or mental irritability.
Sleeplessness, irritation, nervous exhaustion, inability to work or study
is but B K A I XE~Ix(,cI:, in urgent cases B R ' I I N SI',\KS'XTION.
I t aids in the
bodily and svonclerf~~lly
in the mental development of children. I t is a viiad
phosphite, not a laboratory phosphate or soda water absurdity.
56 W. 25th St., N.Y.
F o r sale by Druggists, o r by Mail, $1.