Corrections to Lewis and Clark Lexicon of Discovery, Alan H. Hartley
Washington State University Press, 2004
The page number, entry headword, and
correction are followed in parenthesis by the name of the person who
brought the error to my attention and in square brackets by the date
the correction was
posted. I very much appreciate receiving such notices: thanks to those
who've done so!
p. 44 clyster: the correct pronunciation is KLIS-ter, with short i. Also, the illustration of a rubber-bulb syringe may be incorrect for the clyster of the period: the more common type at the time is that of a syringe with a cylinder-shaped pewter barrel. (John Fisher on both points.) [19 April 2005]
p. 134 Pomp: for "elit" read "elite". [19 April 2005]
p. 160 shishiquaw: This name has given me pause: the mountain is, as Lewis says, cone-shaped, not the usual cylindrical or (more or less) spherical shape of the shaker-portion of the shishiquaw. But the word, in various spellings representing the same pronunciation, was in common use in the fur trade and is recorded as early as 1763 by Alexander Henry the Elder in his Travels, published in 1809 (Dict. of Canadianisms s.v. shishiquoi). It was probably used generically by the French-speakers of the expedition for various Indian rattles. The apparent identity of Lewis's name Shishiquaw with the name of the rattle seems unlikely to be coincidental, and Lewis's use of the name suggests a search for cone-shaped rattles. In fact, I've found a photo of a conical Hidatsa rattle on one of Joe Mussulman's Web pages. (For a striking image of Haystack Butte rising from a field of balsamroot, see John Reddy's photo.)
Haystacks, incidentally, are (or were) often cone-shaped, and the word is used for many topographic features of roughly conical shape. [19 April 2005]
Monet, Haystack,
Snow Effect,
1891
p. 177 string: "semen" should read "sperm". (John Fisher.) [19 April 2005]
p. 178 suck: a more careful reading of the context of the quotation makes it clear that the "suck" referred to is at the upper end of a narrow channel ("Great Shute") into which the goose was being drawn. (John Fisher brought this to my attention in suggesting a more appropriate definition here would be that found in the entry counter-current, though the context rules that out.) [19 April 2005]
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p. 44 clyster: the correct pronunciation is KLIS-ter, with short i. Also, the illustration of a rubber-bulb syringe may be incorrect for the clyster of the period: the more common type at the time is that of a syringe with a cylinder-shaped pewter barrel. (John Fisher on both points.) [19 April 2005]
p. 134 Pomp: for "elit" read "elite". [19 April 2005]
p. 160 shishiquaw: This name has given me pause: the mountain is, as Lewis says, cone-shaped, not the usual cylindrical or (more or less) spherical shape of the shaker-portion of the shishiquaw. But the word, in various spellings representing the same pronunciation, was in common use in the fur trade and is recorded as early as 1763 by Alexander Henry the Elder in his Travels, published in 1809 (Dict. of Canadianisms s.v. shishiquoi). It was probably used generically by the French-speakers of the expedition for various Indian rattles. The apparent identity of Lewis's name Shishiquaw with the name of the rattle seems unlikely to be coincidental, and Lewis's use of the name suggests a search for cone-shaped rattles. In fact, I've found a photo of a conical Hidatsa rattle on one of Joe Mussulman's Web pages. (For a striking image of Haystack Butte rising from a field of balsamroot, see John Reddy's photo.)
Haystacks, incidentally, are (or were) often cone-shaped, and the word is used for many topographic features of roughly conical shape. [19 April 2005]
p. 177 string: "semen" should read "sperm". (John Fisher.) [19 April 2005]
p. 178 suck: a more careful reading of the context of the quotation makes it clear that the "suck" referred to is at the upper end of a narrow channel ("Great Shute") into which the goose was being drawn. (John Fisher brought this to my attention in suggesting a more appropriate definition here would be that found in the entry counter-current, though the context rules that out.) [19 April 2005]
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