GREETING BY GESTURE. 635 



appear in sign-language and picture-writing. In the ancient 

 Egyptian pictures the king was always enormous and his sur- 

 rounders were very small fellahs. The Mexican glyphs also sig- 

 nify great by big. Yet these devices do not conclusively show 

 the effect of fear. They are but symbolic of high and low, big 

 and little, as those figurative terms are applied to-day in English, 

 and with corresponding significance in all languages, to discrimi- 

 nate between stations and ranks. 



There are, however, instances directly opposed to the theory 

 that uncovering is a mark of inferiority, and others are traceable 

 to divers concepts. The Oriental custom of uncovering the feet, 

 arising, as generally understood, in the imputation of holiness to 

 a locality, has a curious parallel, if not an explanation, in the expe- 

 rience of Lewis and Clarke in 1805. The Western Indians, before 

 the ceremonial smoke, "pulled off their moccasins, a custom 

 which . . . imprecates on themselves the misery of going bare- 

 foot forever, if they are faithless to their words," on their thorny 

 lands. A similar imprecation having regard to the burning sands 

 in lands where the practice was first noticed might have induced 

 it there. Should the religious ceremony in time be performed 

 only at certain places or in buildings, the original significance 

 would be lost and the locality itself simply considered holy. It is 

 perhaps not fair to adduce historical cases in which the inferiors 

 were expected to don their most sumptuous raiment to do honor 

 to the king or general, while the latter, perhaps in affectation, was 

 clad more soberly than any of his retinue. But there are many 

 savage and ancient examples in which, instead of uncovering being 

 the form for respect, envelopment, or indeed muffling, was adopted. 

 Though generally in the Orient respect requires the feet to be 

 bared, the head must be covered. The Israelite practice is famil- 

 iar, and many other peoples, e. g., the Malabarese and the Malays, 

 preserve covering on their heads in their temples and pagodas 

 to show reverence. Although the New-Irelanders in respect take 

 off the usual head-gear, they place their hands on their heads as a 

 more honorable covering. Quakers, in avoiding the usual Chris- 

 tian ceremony of uncovering on taking an affirmation and on 

 other religious occasions, use a pagan ceremony by insisting on 

 keeping on their hats. 



The Thibetans when before the dolai-lama remove their hats, 

 cross their arms over the breast, and stick out the tongue drawn 

 to a point. A collation of the known cases of the curious salute 

 by the pointed tongue leads to the suggestion that it is connected 

 with the conception before mentioned that the subject is too great 

 to admit of speech. The extended tongue prevents speech as com- 

 pletely and even more obviously than does the covering of the 

 mouth by the hand. It is, however, possible that the gesture 



