THE EVOLUTION OF LANGUAGE 207 



unmistakable kind of twist with which one turns 

 a treacle-spoon, it is made known that it is treacle 

 the child has to buy. Next, a wave of the hand 

 shows the child being sent off on her errand, the 

 usual sign of walking being added, which is made 

 by two fingers walking on the table. The turning 

 of an imaginary door-handle now takes us into the 

 shop, when the counter is shown by passing the 

 flat hands as it were over it. Behind this counter 

 a figure is pointed out ; he is shown to be a man 

 by the usual sign of putting one's hand to one's 

 chin and drawing it down where the beard is or 

 would be ; then the sign of tying an apron around 

 one's waist adds the information that the man is 

 the shopman. To him the child gives her jar, 

 dropping the money into his hand, and moving 

 her forefinger as if taking up treacle to show what 

 she wants. Then we see the jar put into an 

 imaginary pair of scales which go up and down ; 

 the great treacle-jar is brought from the shelf and 

 the little one filled, with the proper twist to take 

 up the last trickling thread ; the grocer puts the 

 two coins in the till, and the little girl sets off 

 with the jar. The deaf-and-dumb story-teller went 

 on to show in pantomime how the child, looking 

 down at the jar, saw a drop of treacle on the rim, 

 wiped it off with her finger, and put the finger in 



