ort vowels
and three nasal consonants. These are the short _u_, as in faithful,
and the _i_ in pin, and the consonants, _m_, _n_, and _n _ [_i.e._,
_ng_]. One of these three consonants is to be found in the centre of
every root of the [philosophic] language. They resemble the reed in
the hautboy--they give B metallic ring in the words where they occur.
They may be compared to the sound of the trumpet in a concert; the
other consonants are the sound of the drum--rub-a-dub-dub."

It is of course impossible, in a short notice like this, to give a
thousandth part of the methods and arguments by which Mr. Edmonds
works out his theory; but I shall attempt to make his process clear by
one or two short examples.

He starts by assuming that, as all words are reducible to nouns as
a first principle, so the whole of the nouns can be classified into
forty "genera." These genera are each divisible into "differences,"
and the differences are sub-divisible into "species." He gives a
list of the "genera," each of which is composed of two vowels and
two consonants; and then, in a series of very elaborate tables, he
proceeds to show how words of every possible signification can
be built up from the materials thus provided and classified. For
instance, amongst the genera, _onji_ is the root-word for insects,
_anji_ for fish, _enji_ for birds, and _inji_ for beasts. Taking
_anji_--or fish--for my example, because it is the shortest, I
may mention that he divides fish into nine "differences," two of
viviparous, five of oviparous, one of crustacea, and one of scaly
river fish. I will give one example of each class, merely pointing
out that the letters _anj_ occur in the middle of each name. The
final letters give the _species_, and the initials the _specific fish_
indicated, thus: _Panjoo_ is whale, _Banjoi_ is skate, _Danjo_ is
herring, _Kanja_ is gurnet, _Danji_ is sea-perch, _Danjai_ is eel,
_Banjino_ is plaice, _Vanjoinoi_ is star-fish, and _Fanjino_ is
salmon.

The same process of building up words from simple roots is carried on
all through the whole range of thought and action; and the result as
a whole is that, as a theoretical system, the entire subject is
successfully worked out.

Whether it will ever be carried out in practice is extremely doubtful.
Some Spanish enthusiasts were so enraptured with Mr. Edmonds's book
that they sought and obtained an interview with the late Emperor
Napoleon, with a view to secure his patronage