Page:Essays ethnological and linguistic.djvu/169

Rh they hadde broken the Canibal's boats or lighters which they call Canoas they loosed their ankers &c." and again "they shewed much humanitie to our men and helped them with their lighters or small boats which they call Canoas." Those Canoas are described by him and also by Columbus and other authorities as holding from 40 to 50 men, though made of only one tree hollowed out, and it is worthy of note that Canoa seems to be an African as well as a native American word, and is one of the many proofs that may be adduced of African tribes, especially the Caribs, having found their way over to the New World. Of this word Canoe or Canoa in Todd there is no derivation suggested — but Richardson thinks it has the same origin as Can a drinking vessel, quoting Menage who derives it from the Greek a reed, and the Greek from the Hebrew and other Eastern languages, and particularly refers to Pliny who, he says, records of the Indian reeds or canes that they be of such a length that between every joint they will yield sufficient to make boats able to receive three men a piece to row at their ease. Another word under this category I would mention is 'Carminative' applied to certain medicines of a soothing nature, "especially such as are given to children, and applied of old, as old nurses still apply them, with singing. Such a simple explanation of the word however is not suited to the learned taste of our lexicographers, and they choose to take the word carmen in its recondite sense — supposed to be so called as having vim carminis, the power of a charm, says Todd — or as Richardson says from Latin carminare to cleanse from gross parts or from Carmen as if acting by charm or enchantment. The only other word I will adduce is Chronicle — here the Greek is too palpable not to be seized upon, and supposed to be used as if the old writers had a notion of the modern  'Times'  uppermost in their minds, when in fact they had little or no knowledge of Greek at all, and if they had, would never have thought of the refinement of twisting it into Chronicle. In the oldest use of the word we find it invariably without the letter H and in the varied spellings of the word I think we may clearly see it was taken not from the Greek but from the Latin Coronica, as the Records of the Monarchies were styled in the middle ages.

Among the mistakes in our Dictionaries I would class not only the positively wrong explication but also any given in too restricted a sense, as for instance to calve is given "to bring forth a calf, spoken of a cow", when it might be added, and of some other animals, especially sea mammalia. 'To rut'