ng mysticism. This was shown by a correspondent who
enthusiastically lauded the _Dakota Calendar_ (edited by the present
writer, and which is a mere figuration of successive occurrences in
the history of the people), as a numerical exposition of the great
doctrines of the Sun religion in the equations of time, and proved to
his own satisfaction that our Indians preserved hermeneutically the
lost geometric cultus of pre-Cushite scientists.

Another exhibition of this vicious practice was recently made in the
interpretation of an inscribed stone alleged to have been unearthed
near Zanesville, Ohio. Two of the characters were supposed, in liberal
exercise of the imagination, to represent the [Greek letter: Alpha]
and [Greek letter: Omega] of the Greek alphabet. At the comparatively
late date when the arbitrary arrangement of the letters of that
alphabet had become fixed, the initial and concluding letters might
readily have been used to represent respectively the beginning and the
end of any series or number of things, and this figure of speech was
employed in the book of Revelations. In the attempted interpretation
of the inscription mentioned, which was hawked about to many scientific
bodies, and published over the whole country, the supposed alpha
and omega were assumed to constitute a universal as well as sacred
symbol for the everlasting Creator. The usual _menu_ of Roman feasts,
commencing with eggs and ending with apples, was also commonly known
at the time when the book of Revelations was written, and the phrase
"_ab ovo usque ad mala_" was as appropriate as "from alpha to omega" to
express "from the beginning to the end." In deciphering the stone it
would, therefore, be as correct in principle to take one of its oval
and one of its round figures, call them egg and apple, and make them
the symbols of eternity. In fact, not depending wholly for significance
upon the order of courses of a feast or the accident of alphabetical
position, but having intrinsic characteristics in reference to the
origin and fruition of life, the egg and apple translation, would
be more acceptable to the general judgment, and it is recommended to
enthusiasts who insist on finding symbols where none exist.

_SIGNS USED BY WOMEN AND CHILDREN._

For reasons before given it is important to ascertain the varying
extent of familiarity with sign language among the members of the
several tribes, how large a proportion possesses any skill in