because his father's sister's daughter is his sister, and his sister's son, as already explained, is his nephew. It should also be added that the Two-Mountain Iroquois show an advance as compared with the Hawaiian system in the terms relating to relationships by marriage.

The Micmac system, as shown in column 5, is in three points an advance on that of the Two-Mountain Iroquois. Not only does a man call his sister's son his nephew, but a woman applies the same term to her brother's son. Thus, men term their brother's sons "sons", and their sister's sons "nephews"; while women, on the contrary, call their brother's sons "nephews", and their sister's sons "sons"; obviously because there was a time when, though brothers and sisters could not marry, brothers might have their wives in common, while sisters, as we know, habitually married the same man. It is remarkable also that a father's brother and a mother's sister are also distinguished from the true father and mother. In this respect the Micmac system is superior to that prevailing in most other Redskin races. For the same reason, not only is a mother's brother termed an uncle, but the father's sister is no longer called a mother, but is distinguished by a special term, and thus becomes an aunt. The social habits of the Redskins, which have already been briefly alluded to, sufficiently explain why the father's sister is thus distinguished, while the father's brother and mother's sister are still called respectively father and mother. Moreover, as we found among the Two-Mountain Iroquois that although the mother's brother is recognised as an uncle, his son. is still called brother, thus pointing back to a time when the father's brother was still called father; so here we see that though the father's sister is called aunt, her son is still regarded as a brother; indicating the existence of a time when, among the Micmacs, as among the Two-Mountain Iroquois, a father's sister was termed a mother. It follows as a consequence that, as a father's brother's son, a mother's brother's son, a father's sister's son, and a mother's sister's son, are considered to be brothers, their children are termed sons by the males; but as a woman calls her brother's son a nephew, so she applies the same term to these constructive brother's sons.

If the system of relationship is subject to gradual growth, and approaches step by step towards perfection, we should naturally expect that, from differences of habits and customs, the various steps would not among all races follow one another in precisely the same order. Of this the Micmacs and Wyandots afford us an illustration. While the latter have on the whole made most progress, the former are in advance on one point, for though the Micmacs have distinguished a father's brother

from a father, he is among the Wyandots still termed a father; on the other hand, the Wyandots call a mother's brother's son a cousin, while among the Micmacs he is still termed a brother.

Here we may conveniently consider two Asiatic nations-the Burmese and the Japanese-which, though on the whole considerably more advanced in civilisation than any of the foregoing races, are yet singularly backward in their systems of family nomenclature. I will commence with the Burmese. A mother's brother is called either father (great or little) or uncle: his son is regarded as a brother; his grandson as a nephew; his great-grandson as a grandson. A father's sister is an aunt; but her son is a brother, her grandson is a son, and her great-grandson a grandson. A father's brother is still a father (great or little); his son is a brother; his grandson a nephew; and his great-grandson a grandA mother's sister is a mother (great or little); her son is a brother; her grandson a nephew; and her great-grandson a grandson. Grandfathers' brothers and sisters are grandfathers and grandmothers. Brothers' and sisters' sons and daughters are recognised as nephews and nieces, whether the speaker is a male or female; but their children again are still classed as grandchildren.

son.

Among the Japanese a mother's brother is called a "second little father"; a father's sister a "little mother" or "aunt"; a father's brother a "little father" or "uncle"; and a mother's sister a "little mother" or "aunt." The other relationships shown in the table are the same as among the Burmese.

The Wyandots, descendants of the ancient Hurons, are illustrated in the eighth column. Their system is somewhat more advanced than that of the Micmacs. While, among the latter, a mother's brother's son, and a father's sister's son, are called brothers, among the Wyandots they are recognised as cousins. The children of these cousins, however, are still called sons by males, thus reminding us that there was a time when these cousins were still regarded as brothers. A second mark of progress is, that women regard their mother's brother's grandsons as nephews, and not as sons, though the great-grandsons of uncles and aunts are still, in all cases, termed grandsons.

I crave particular attention to this system, which may be regarded as the typical system of the Redskins, although, as we have seen, some tribes have a ruder nomenclature, and we shall presently allude to others which are rather more advanced. A mother's brother is termed uncle; his son is a cousin; his grandson is termed nephew, when a woman is speaking, son in the case of a male. In either case his grandson is termed grandson. A father's sister is an aunt, and her son a cousin ; but her grandson and great-grandson are termed, respectively, son and grandson,

thus reminding us that there was a time when a father's sister was regarded as a mother. A father's brother is called father, his son brother, his grandson son, and his great-grandson grand

son.

A mother's sister is a mother, her son is a brother, her grandson is called nephew by a female, son by a male; her greatgrandson is, in either case, called grandson. A grandfather's brother and sister are called grandfather and grandmother respectively.

A brother's son is called son by a male, and nephew by a female, while a sister's son is called nephew by a male, and son by a female, the reasons for which have been already explained.

Lastly, brothers' son's sons and daughters, sisters' son's sons and daughters, are all called grandsons and granddaughters. Thus we see that in every case the third generation returns to the direct line.

The two following columns represent the Tamil and Feejeean system, with which, also, that of the Friendly Islands very closely agrees. I have already called attention to this, and given my reasons for being unable to adopt the explanation suggested by Mr. Morgan.

It will be observed that the only differences shown in the table between the system of these races and that of the Wyandots, are, firstly, that the mother's brother's grandson is regarded, among the Wyandots, as a nephew by males, and a son by females; while, in the Tamil and Feejeean system, the reverse is the case, and he is termed son by males, and nephew by females. Secondly, that the father's sister's grandson is regarded as a son among the Wyandots, while in the Tamil and Feejeean system, he is, when an uncle is speaking, recognised as a nephew. The latter difference merely indicates that the Tamil and Feejeean systems are slightly more advanced than the Wyandot. The other difference is more difficult to understand.

But though the Redskin, Tamil, and Feejeean systems, differing as they do from ours in many ways, which, at first, seem altogether arbitrary and unaccountable, agree so remarkably with one another, we find, also, in some cases, remarkable differences among the Redskin races themselves. These differences affect principally the lines of the mother's brother, and father's sister. This is natural. They are the first to be distinguished from true parents, and new means have, therefore, to be adopted to distinguish the relationships thus recognised. In several cases other old terms were tried, with very comical results. These modes of overcoming the difficulty were so unsatisfactory, that, by the time a father's sister's son was recognised as a cousin, the necessity for the creation of new terms seems to have been generally felt.

Table II shows, as regards fourteen tribes, the result of the attempt to distinguish these relationships. Taking, for instance, the line which gives the terms in use for a mother's brother's grandson, we find the following, viz., son, stepbrother, grandson, and grandchild, stepson, and uncle; in the case of a father's sister's grandson (male speaking), we have grandchild, son, stepson, brother, and father; when a female is speaking, grandchild, son, nephew, brother, and father. Thus, for this single relationship we find six terms in use, and a difference of three generations, viz., from grandfather to son. At first the use of such terms seems altogether arbitrary, but a further examination will show that this is by no means the case.

Column 2 gives the system of the Redknives, one of the most backward tribes on the American continent as regards their nomenclature of relationships. Here, though a mother's brother and a father's sister are, respectively, uncle and aunt, their children are regarded as brothers, their grandchildren as sons, and their great-grandchildren as grandsons. The Munsee system shows a slight advance. Here, though the women call their sister's sons their sons, the males, on the contrary, term them nephews, and, consequently, apply the same term to their mother's brother's daughter's son, and their father's sister's daughter's son, because, as in the preceding case, mothers' brother's daughters, and fathers' sister's daughters, are termed sisters. The Micmacs (column 3) show another step in advance. Here, not only does a man call his sister's son nephew, but, in addition, a woman applies the same term to her brother's sons; consequently, not only a mother's brother's daughter's sons, if a male is speaking, but a mother's brother's son's son, if a female is speaking, and the corresponding relations, on the side of the father's sister, are termed nephews.

Among the Delawares a mother's brother's son, and father's sister's son, are distinguished from true brothers by a term corresponding to "stepbrother." They appear to have also felt the necessity of distinguishing a stepbrother's son from a true son, but having no special term, they retain the same word, thus calling a stepbrother's son a stepbrother. This principle, as we shall see, is followed by several other tribes, and has produced the most striking inconsistencies shown in the table. We find it again among the Crows, where a father's sister is called mother, her daughter again mother; but as her son cannot of course be a mother, he is called "father." The same system is followed by the Pawnees, as shown in columns 7 and 8; and the Grand Pawnees carry it a generation lower, and call their father's sister's grandson on the male side "father": a father's sister's daughter's son is however called a brother. Among the

Cherokees we find this principle most thoroughly carried out, and a father's sister's grandson is also called a father. This case is the more interesting because the circumstance which produced the system is no longer in existence; for, as will be seen, a father's sister is called an aunt. It is not at first obvious that a father's sister being called a mother would account for her son being called a father; but, with the Crow and Pawnee systems before us, we see that the Cherokees could not call their father's sister's sons "fathers", unless there had been a time when a father's sister was regarded as a mother.

The Hare Indians supply us with a case in which mother's brothers and father's sisters being distinguished from fathers and mothers, their children are no longer termed brothers, but are distinguished as cousins; while their grandchildren and great-grandchildren, on the contrary, are still termed sons and grandsons.

So far as the relationships shown in the table are concerned, the system of the Omahas, and of the Sawks and Foxes, is identical. A mother's brother is an uncle, and, for the reason already pointed out, in the case of the Delawares, his sons and son's sons, and even son's grandsons, are also termed grandsons. His daughter's sons, on the contrary, retain the old name of brother. A father's sister is an aunt, her children are nephews, and the descendants of these nephews are grandchildren.

Among the Oneidas a father's brother is an uncle, and his son is a cousin; his son's sons, however, are still sons. His daughter's son is a son when a female is speaking; but, for the reason already explained in the case of the Munsees, males term them nephews. The relationships connected with a father's sister are dealt with in a similar manner, except that a father's sister is still called mother.

The Otawa system resembles the Micmac, and is formed on the same plan, being, however, somewhat more advanced, inasmuch as the children of uncles and aunts are recognised as cousins, and a man calls his cousin's son, not his son, but his stepson. The Ojibwa system is the same, except that a woman also calls her mother's brother's daughter's son, and father's sister's daughter's son, her stepson, instead of her son. In some of the relationships by marriage, the same causes have led to even more striking differences. Thus, a woman generally calls her father's sister's daughter's husband her brother-in-law; but among the Missouri and Mississippi nations, her son-in-law; among the Minnitarees, the Crows, and some of the Chocta clans, her father; among the Cherokees, her stepparent; the Republican Pawnees, and some of the Choctas, her grandfather; and among the Tukuthes, her grandson!

VOL. I.

C