Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1905-10-15
NAMES OF ANIMALS.
rhs Meaning of some Of Thoss Whose
Urigtn We Can Trace.

Origin We Can Trace.
Some OF The names o! the common.
est animals are lost Ia the iimness
OF antiquity. such as foA. weasel.
sheep. horse dog aud baboon. OF the
origin Of these The clew is forever lost.
With camel one cannot Eo further
back than the Latin word camelus. and
elephant 10 derived from the old, Hin.
doc word elph. which means an OK.
The old root VI the word wolf meant
one who tears or rends.
Lynx is from the same Latin root
AS the word lux dignt and probably
was given To these wildcats on ne.
count OF the fierce brightness OF their
eyes. Lion is. uf course. from the
Latin leo. which word. in turn. Is lost
far back in the Egyptian tongue.
where The word for rhe&ing Of beasts
was labu. The compound word
leopard is first found in the Persian
language, where pnrs stands for pan
iher Seal, very appropriately, was
once word meaning OF the sea- close
10 the Latin sal, tile sea
Puma, jaguur. tapir and peecary
from pnQuires, are all names from
South American Indian languages.
The coyote and oceel were called
coyoti and ocelote by the Mexicans
long before COrtes landed on their
shores.
Moose is from the Indian word
mouswah. meaning wood enter;
skunk. from seganku. an Algonquin
term: wapiti In The Creek language
means white deer. and was originally
applied 10 The Rocky mountaiu goat.
but the name is now restricted to the
American el6. Caribou Is also ma
tive Indian word; opossum is from
possowne. and raccoon is from the In
dian arrAthkune Thy further aphere.
sis SOON.
Ishinoceros is pure Greek. meaning
nose horned, but beaver has indeed
had rough time OF II In It's travels
through various languages Ii is hard.
~ recognizable as bebrus. babru and
brll. The latter Is the ultimate root
OF The English word brown. The orig
iunl application WAS doubtless on uc-
count OF The color OF the creatures
fur. Otter goes back to Snnskrit.
where IT Is udra. The Significance OF
this word is In liz close kinship TO
ndan. meaning water.
The little mouse hands its name
down through the years from the old
OLD Sapskrt. the root meaning To steal
The word rat may have been derived
from the root OF the Latin word va
deere. to scratch. or rodere, 10 gnaw
Rodent IL derived from the latter term.
Cat IL also in doubt. but is first rec
ognized In catulus, dlminutive OF
CAMS, dog. II was applied to the
young Of almost any animal. as the
English words pup, kitten, cub. etc.
Bear is The result OF tongue twisting
from the Latin fera, u wild beast
Deer Is OF obscure origin, but may
have been an adjective. meaning wild
Elk Is derived from the same root AZ
Gland, and the history of the latter
word Ia an interesting one. 1t meant
sufferer. aud WAS applied by the
Teutons to the elk OF the old world
OH account OF the awkward gait and
stif' movements OF This uDgainly ami.
NAL
Squirrel has poetic origin In the
Greek language, its original meaning
being shadow tnil Tiger is far more
intricate. The old Persian word tIr
meant arrow. while tighra signified
sharp. The application to this great
animal was in allusion to the swiftness
with which the tiger leaps upon it's
Brey.-Detroit News-Tribune.