"115 SOUTH SEVENTH STREET,
"_September 27th, 1883_.
"DEAR SIR--I have failed to find the exact word used by
Wordsworth--muccawiss. The nearest to it is 'moshkaois,' which signifies
'bittern,' a water-fowl of the diver class, to which the name has
reference, it being a derivative from a verb meaning to rise to the
surface of the water. The word is no doubt of Algonkin origin, and I
would suggest that you write to the Algonkin scholar, _par excellence_,
of our country, Colonel J. Hammond Trumbull, Hartford, Conn., who is both
able and willing to solve all the enigmas of that difficult tongue.--Very
truly yours,