TONE AND GESTURE, 1 13 



mute sign of milking a cow and drinking the milk was fully 

 and quickly understood. 



"The narrative of a boy going to an apple tree, hunting 

 for ripe fruit, and filling his pockets, being surprised by the 

 owner and hit upon the head with a stone, was much 

 appreciated by the Indians and completely understood." 



Innumerable other instances of the same kind might be 

 given ; * but I have now said enough to establish the only 

 points with which I am here concerned — namely, that gesture- 

 language admits of being developed to a degree which 

 renders it a fair substitute for spoken language, where the 

 ideas to be conveyed are not highly abstract ; and that it 

 admits of being so developed without departing further from 

 a direct or natural expression of ideation (as distinguished 

 from a conventional or artificial) than allows it to be readily 

 understood by the sign-talkers, without any preconcerted 

 agreement as to the meanings to be attached to the particular 

 signs employed. 



Such being the case, it is of importance next to note that, 

 as all the existing races of mankind are a word-speaking race, 

 we are not now able to eliminate this factor, and to say how 

 far the sign-making faculty, as exhibited in the gesture- 

 language of man, is indebted to the elaborating influence 

 produced by the constant and parallel employment of spoken 

 language. We can scarcely, however, entertain any doubt 

 that the reflex influence of speech upon gesture must have 

 been considerable, if not immense. Even the case of the 

 deaf-mutes proves nothing to the contrary ; for these 

 unfortunate individuals, although not able themselves to 

 speak, nevertheless inherit in their human brains the psycho- 

 logical structure which has been built up by means of speech ; 

 their sign-making faculty is as well developed as in other 

 men, though, from a physiological accident, they are deprived 

 of the ordinary means of displaying it Therefore we have 



* See especially Tylor, loc. cif.y pp. 28-30, where an interesting account is 

 given of the elaborate and yet self-speaking signs whereby an adult deaf-mute gave 

 directions for the drawing up of his will. 



