girl, it is put into the arms of a good woman, who breathes into its
mouth" (433. 482).

Here we have _father_-wit as well as _mother_-wit.


_Mother-Tongue_.

Where women have no voice whatever in public affairs, and are
subordinated to the uttermost in social and family matters, little that
is honourable and noble is named for them. In East Central Africa, a Yao
woman, asked if the child she is carrying is a boy or a girl, frequently
replies: "My child is of the sex that does not speak" (518. XLIII. 249),
and with other peoples in higher stages of culture, the "silent woman"
lingers yet. _Taceat mulier in ecclesia_ still rings in our ears
to-day, as it has rung for untold centuries. Though the poet has said:--


"There is a sight all hearts beguiling--
A youthful mother to her infant smiling,
Who, with spread arms and dancing feet,
And cooing voice, returns its answer sweet,"


and mothers alone have understood the first babblings of humanity, they
have waited long to be remembered in the worthiest name of the language
they have taught their offspring.

The term _mother-tongue_, although Middle English had
"birthe-tonge," in the sense of native speech, is not old in our