With a view to obtain a satisfactory explanation of the record names, the writer submitted them to the late eminent Iroquoian philologist, Horatio Hale, M. A., of Clinton, Ontario, Canada, and to the eminent Algonquian linguist, the late Dr. D. G. Brinton, of Philadelphia. In reply, Mr. Hale wrote: . . . "Your letter has proved very acceptable, as the facts you present have thrown light on an interesting question which has heretofore perplexed me. I have vainly sought to discover the origin and meaning of the name Saratoga. My late distinguished friend, L. H. Morgan, was, it seems, equally unsuccessful. In the appendix of local names added to his admirable 'League of the Iroquois,' Saratoga is given in the Indian form as _Sharlatoga,_ with the addition, 'signification lost.' There can be no doubt that the word, as we have it, and indeed as Morgan heard it, is, as you suggest, much abbreviated and corrupted. One of the ancient forms, however, which you give from the old Dutch authorities, seems to put us at once on the right track. This form is _Ochsechrage._ The 'digraph' _ch_ in this word evidently represents the hard guttural aspirate, common to both the Dutch and the German languages. This aspirate is of frequent occurrence in the Iroquois dialects, but it is not a radical element. As I have elsewhere said, it appears and disappears as capriciously as the common _h_ in the speech of the south of England. In etymologies it may always be disregarded. Omitting it, we have the well-known word _Oserage_--in modern Iroquois orthography _Oserake,_ meaning 'At the beaver-dam.' It is derived from _osera,_ 'beaver-dam,' with the locative particle _ge_ or _ke_ affixed. "In Iroquois _r_ and _l_ are interchangeable, and _s_ frequently sounds like _sh._ Thus we can understand how in Cartier's orthography _Oserake_ (pronounced with an aspirate) became _Hochelaga,_ the well-known aboriginal name of what is now Montreal. That this name meant simply 'At the beaver-dam' is not questioned. It is rather curious, though not surprising, that two such noted Indian names as _Saratoga_ and _Hochelaga_ should have the same origin. In _Ochseratongue_ the name is lengthened by an addition which is so evidently corrupted that I hesitate to explain it. I may say, however, that I suspect it to be a 'verbalized' form. It may possibly be derived from the verb _atona,_ 'to become' (in its perfect tense _atonk_), added to _osera,_ in which case the word would mean, 'where a beaver-dam has been forming,' or, as we should express it in English, 'where the beavers have been making a dam.'