A language so constructed has in reality no sentences; it runs them into long words in which the single words are often much abbreviated. For example, in Cherokee they say Bring us the skiff," from ualcn," bring," amarol," skiff," i euphonic, and ;lin," us" (Stein thal). Nouns, adjectives, and verbs are not sharply distinguished in the formation of the language. We make the distinction between subject and predicate the foundation of syntax, and therefore say (to retain the first example), " I " (subject) " eat " (what is said of the subject, descrip tion of the subject, and therefore agreeing with it in number•and person) " meat " (object of the predicate, of little importance to the subject, as its action remains unchanged whether it eats bread or meat).
But the American says, I-meat-eating," and his mate rial, sensual conception does not consider the condition or situation of the subject, and therefore he does not change the verb-root, but he puts in the foreground the relation of the subject to the present object, and cannot think of the verb without the subject itself or a pronominal representative of it. To him it is not, therefore, the principal thing, as it is with us, that I am in a condition to eat, but that I have meat and am eating it. So Humboldt and Steinthal are correct in saying that the American lan guages make the object or verb the central point of a sentence, yet do not consider the verb as a word denoting action, but on the contrary contract it into a sort of adjective, saying, in place of " I eat," "1 eating"—that is, "1 the eating one." All the American languages show a similar structure, more or less pronounced—most the Mexican; while the Eskimo and its related idioms rarely insen the object itself, but very reg ularly the demonstrative pronoun, into the verb. The language of the Yukagirs, Kanichatkans, etc. is of entirely different construction.
Physical Description: The is impossible to represent a typi cal American skull; for although a rather long or medium form predom inates among the Kolushes and peoples of Oregon, as well as among the Indians from the Yukon to Florida and among the peoples of Mexico, Guiana, Brazil, and Peru (pl. 45, 2, 3, 4; pi. 53, fig. 13), still some tribes of the above-mentioned peoples show variation and others great differences. The Patagonians are distinguished by very broad skulls, while the Eskimos have narrow and high and the Aleutians lower skulls; in consequence of this the face becomes broader and the head assumes a pyramidal shape (pl. 2, fig. 8; pl. 29,fig. 3; pl. 3o, fig. 14), which we meet
with, highly developed, among the Mexicans (pl. 41, Ac. 1; pl. 42, fig. 4), but which is at the same time peculiar to the most ancient skulls of North American tombs. Almost everywhere an artificial shape was given to the skull by compressing it, especially in Peru, on the Columbia River (the Flatheads), in Mexico, among the Eskimos, etc.
Stature and stature is good on the average (p1. 32, fic-s. 1, 3; pl. 33, .figs. 1, 2, 5, 6;j5!. fig. pl. 9, 10, II; 46, fig. 4; pi. 47, fig. 4; pi. 48, fig. 4)-generally above the middle height, some times (Patagonians, Pnelches) gigantic, up to 7 feet 6 inches, but, on the other hand, as among the Eskimos, the tribes of Tierra del Fuego, and some Brazilian peoples, hardly attaining 5 feet. In many places the women are especially small (pl. 42, fig. 3; 44, fig. Pl. 45, fig. 8). Hands and feet are often remarkably small-as, for instance, with the Eskimos (pl. 29, fig. 4), in Mexico, Peru, Brazil-the legs curved a little to the outside, which makes their carriage awkward. As the latter peculi arity is found not only among the Eskimos (p1. 29, 5), but also among the Kolushes and in Mexico, it probably is not caused by continual sitting in the skiffs. Undersized figures with broad shoulders and short necks are often found among the Mexicans and their relations (pl. 42, Jigs. 6, 9), in South America, and especially among the Patagonians (pl. 49, fig. 1; pl. so, fig. 2); not seldom a disproportion is seen between the large rump and the too small limbs (pl. 36, fig. 3; pl. 5o, 1); while the Onichuas and Pampas Indians often have a head somewhat too large (p1. 50, fig. ; 5r, fig. 2). The Eskimos, on the contrary, are short, but stout, fleshy, and fat (p1. 29, Jigs. 4, 5, 7; pl. 3o, f,. 14); an extraordinarily high blood temperature is said to have been observed in them.
Color. -The color of the skin is shaded from a whitish hue, through vellowish-brown and cinnamon color, to a blackish tint; real copper-red, except when artificially produced, occurs rarely. However, light and dark shades are found among the most closely related tribes; thus the Eskimos in Greenland are gray, while the Aleutians are of a dark-vellow brown. Redness of cheeks is often perceptible, and the skin is smoother, some times also softer, than that of Europeans, and altogether less hairy.