478 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY, 



and such cases require separate discussion ; but there are many- 

 known instances where greeting is and long has been expressed 

 by gesture without words, and others in which the words used, 

 conjointly or independently, are but derivations from the older, 

 perhaps disused, gestures. 



In this application of sign-language the characteristics of 

 that mode of expression appear with distinctness, noticeable 

 among which are the variety of shades of meaning conveyed by 

 substantially the same gesture and the different modes of exhibit- 

 ing the same substantive concept. Sign-language is more elastic 

 as well as more comprehensive than oral language. Its abbre- 

 viation and symbolism are also so clear that linguistic lore and 

 etymologic guess are not needed for their explanation. 



The main divisions of the subject to be now considered are 

 I. Salutations with contact ; and, II. Salutations without contact. 

 Under the first division it is convenient to notice successively 

 those directly connected with the sense of 1, touch ; 2, smell ; 

 3, taste although that is not the probable order of their evolu- 

 tion. 



Touch. Under the heading of touch come the personal pal- 

 pations, such as patting, stroking, or rubbing the head, chest, or 

 abdomen. These are very ancient and wide-spread, biit have sel- 

 dom special significance save as expressive of good-will by seek- 

 ing to give a pleasurable sensation. Licking sensitive parts with 

 the tongue is in the same category ; and most actions of this class 

 may be derived from, or at least explained by, those of subhuman 

 animals. 



The abdominal surface was most generally favored, its rub- 

 bing being practiced in both hemispheres, and ranging from the 

 Arctic Ocean to Polynesia. Perhaps the notorious fact that eat- 

 ing was often continued to painful repletion, after which friction 

 of the abdomen is a relief, may have some connection with the 

 practice ; but it is more probable that it arose from the moderate 

 and agreeable warmth and titillation produced by manipulation of 

 that region. The highest mark of respect in the Mariana Islands 

 was to stroke with the hand the abdomen of the person saluted. 

 The stroking of the exposed surface of that part of a friend's 

 body was symbolized in 1823 by the Eskimos stroking down with 

 their palms the front of their own fur jackets. 



But other exposed surfaces received the same attention. When 

 the Kaiowa Satana came back to his wives after a long absence, 

 he said not a word, neither did they, but they stroked his face 

 and shoulders gently with indistinct murmurs of endearment. 

 Livingstone reported that the Zambesi patted the hands of the 

 person saluted. 



The Gond people pull the ears of their friends. That familiar 



