642 TEE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



9 



to the right. "Heart easy or smooth." "My bosom's lord sits 

 lightly on its throne/' 



The kalmucks salute their high chiefs by pressing the forehead 

 with the clinched hand, and then touching the chief's side with 

 the same hand. The chief responds by placing one of his hands 

 on the saluter's shoulders. This may be translated as " My head 

 is dependent on the emotion of your heart " ; and the response is, 

 " I accept your offering, and recognize that I possess you." 



Intimately connected with the imagery of the heart is the 

 union by exchange of blood. In ancient Persia, as in modern 

 Africa, it was common to open a vein and then present the blood 

 to be drunk by the friend. This was and is often mutual. Per- 

 haps it is straining the illustration to infer that when the Wanika, 

 after the hand-grasp, press together the balls of their respective 

 thumbs, it is to effect the union of the pulsations. It is, however, 

 in point that the Norse pledge of friendship was to allow the 

 blood to flow between the pierced and grasped hands, and it has 

 been conjectured that " striking hands," often alluded to in the 

 Old Testament (e. g., Proverbs, vi, 1) as a ceremony of covenant, 

 meant an actual intermingling of blood from the pierced palms, 

 or at least was a relic and symbol of that form. But it is fanciful 

 to explain the simple hand-grasp from this blood-mixing ; indeed, 

 all symbolism should be closely scrutinized. Stanley reports that 

 the natives of Panga, as a peace greeting being at a distance 

 from the party greeted poured water on their own heads and 

 sprinkled their bodies with it. Much of the symbolism about the 

 solvent and cleansing qualities of water, including origins of lus- 

 tration and baptism, might be deduced from this performance, 

 but it was simply the sign of coolness and refreshment elsewhere 

 mentioned in these pages. 



Miscellaneous Salutes. It is impossible, within present 

 limits, to detail the world's many forms of gestural salutation. 

 They, like all gesture-signs, show different conceptions of the 

 same general intent and different modes of expressing the same 

 concept. They are also in many cases so abbreviated and modu- 

 lated as to be intelligible in their present forms only through 

 comparison and investigation. A few salutes having special inter- 

 est may be mentioned. 



The important mystic agency of saliva has before been noticed 

 in connection with the hand-grasp. It is too large a topic to be 

 now dwelt upon ; but some examples may be given of its imme- 

 diate connection with salutation. Among the Masai, spitting 

 expresses the greatest good-will and the best of wishes. It takes 

 the place of the compliments of the season. They spit when they 

 meet, and do the same on parting. In some of the South Sea 

 islands they spit on the hands and then rub the face of the com- 



