282 LANGUAGE IN LOWER MAN. 



quent, more intelligible than any of the ordinary forms 

 of verbal, spoken, written, or printed language, appealing 

 much more immediately to the heart if not to the head, to 

 the feelings if not to the intellect. The language of simple 

 emotion is used by man to a much greater extent than he is 

 aware, frequently superseding what has been called c intel- 

 lectual ' language by Carpenter. 



Language is too much regarded as synonymous with mere 

 articulate speech. We forget that the articulation or pro- 

 nunciation of words that verbal language is not a native 

 attribute of man, is not innate, but the result of imitation 

 and training (Houzeau) in other words, a gradual acquisi- 

 tion. We also forget the non-necessity for words in the 

 formation of thought, in the interchange of ideas. We 

 constantly lose sight of the possibility of thinking without 

 giving audible expression to our thoughts, or of signifying our 

 feelings, wishes, requirements, or intentions otherwise than 

 by word of mouth, by writing, or by printing. 



The student of comparative language cannot too soon 

 disabuse himself of the notion that words are indispensable 

 to the expression of feelings or ideas, that words are essen- 

 tial either to thought or to language. In all countries the 

 dumb make themselves understood, and understand each 

 other, or those who can make use of their special form of 

 language, by means of symbols, sign language, or other sub- 

 stitutional modes of expression. 



They cannot litter words, but they can write and read 

 those of them who are educated and it would be absurd to 

 deny to them the possession of ideas and feelings, the faculty 

 of thought. Erasmus Darwin gives a case in which speech 

 was lost in a deaf man by disuse, gesture language super- 

 seding it ; so that, even in civilised races and individuals, 

 articulate language requires cultivation and practice- 



Unlinguistic tourists on the Continent manage to find 

 their way and to get what they want by somewhat similar 

 means the use of gesture or pantomime language. I have 

 myself found less difficulty in understanding, and being un- 

 derstood by, the natives of countries with whose printed or 

 spoken language I was unacquainted, or imperfectly ac- 



