6 3 6 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



symbolically signifies reaching out for a good taste, which, also 

 has been discussed. This gesture is common among the Austra- 

 lians, who are said to stick out the tongue in respect, not in de- 

 rision, as we would regard the action, as also did Isaiah in his 

 query, " Against whom make you a wide mouth and draw out the 

 tongue ? " But close observers report that the Australian tribes 

 wholly unaffected by Europeans do not thrust forward the tongue, 

 but extend it downward from the widely opened mouth as in the 

 preparation for licking. The action of these people, perhaps the 

 lowest of all humanity, is similar to the tasting and sniffing by 

 the subhuman animals to distinguish friends. 



Cyrus beheaded two satraps because they omitted to place 

 their hands inside their sleeves when they saluted him. Captain 

 Speke had trouble in Uganda lest he should not be admitted into 

 the king's presence wearing his usual dress, without the conceal- 

 ment of his trousers by flowing robes. Probably the origin of 

 these rules of etiquette was the restriction from free motion of 

 the arms and legs of the subjects, so as to insure greater safety 

 to the ruler. In the one hundred and seventieth of the Arabian 

 Nights' Entertainments Prince Camaralzaman showed respect 

 for his father by keeping his hands joined behind his back and 

 covered by his sleeves, but when he became angry with the king 

 he unclasped his hands from behind and rolled his sleeves up 

 on his arms. This is the fighting attitude, and shows that the 

 posture and muffling of respect were adopted because they were 

 the converse of the free pose appropriate for contention. With 

 the same concept a Sakaptin chief, in the early part of this cent- 

 ury, threw his robe down on the ground as a sign of displeasure, 

 though not intending an attack. 



Other considerations may be mentioned in the direct line of 

 militancy so often discussed in the Synthetic Philosophy, but not 

 definitely in this connection. Apart from the purely ornamental 

 head-gear, such as feathers, horse-hair, fur, and other attach- 

 ments, the earliest coverings for the head were for defensive pur- 

 poses. The abandonment of defensive as well as of offensive 

 armor, though once a mark of defeat and subjection, is now more 

 generally a sign of peace and friendship. Some African tribes 

 not only ostentatiously lay down all weapons but remove the up- 

 per portion of their clothing to show that neither arms nor armor 

 are concealed. Some formal military salutes still prevailing may 

 be consulted upon the same topic. The theory of these is to ren- 

 der the saluter actually or symbolically powerless for the time. 

 This is the case with the firing of unshotted guns, the dropping 

 of the sword-point, and presenting the musket. The common 

 military salute, in which the empty hand, with palm outward, is 

 raised to the visor, is less objective and more symbolical. Simi- 



