Horatio Emmons Hale (1817-1896) was an American-Canadian ethnologist, philologist and businessman. He is known for his study of languages as a key for classifying ancient peoples and being able to trace their migrations.
Hale made many valuable contributions to the science of Ethnology, attracting attention particularly by his theory of the origin of the diversities of human languages and dialects.
When the United States Exploring Expedition was organized under Charles Wilkes, Hale was recommended, while yet an undergraduate, for the post of ethnologist and philologist. From 1838 to 1842, he worked with the expedition, visiting South America, Australasia, Polynesia, and North-western America, then known as Oregon Country. The Hale Passages of Puget Sound were named in recognition of his service to the expedition.
The Hale’s short essay
The Origin of Primitive Money, which we bring today to the attention of modern readers, was published in January 1886 on the magazine
Popular Science Monthly. It is one of the most interesting studies on the ancient origin of the use of money among primitive peoples.