290 SIGN LANGUAGE AMONG NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 
both her hands in suprise accompanied with negation. The latter is ex- 
pressed by the right hand raised toward the shoulder, with the palm op- 
posed tothe person to whom response ismade. This is the rejection of the 
idea presented, and is expressed by some of our Indians, as shown in Fig. 65, 
A sign of the Dakota tribe of Indians with the same signification is given 
in Fig. 270, page 441, infra. At the same 
time the upper part of the nymph’s body is 
drawn backward as far as the preservation of 
equilibrium permits. Soa reproach or aceu- 
sation is made on the one part, and denied, 
) whether truthfully or not, on the other. Its 
; subject also may be ascertained. The left 
x hand of Eudia is not mute; it is held towards 
2G Un her rival with the balls of the index and 
thumb united, the modern Neapolitan sign for love, which is drawn more 
clearly in Fig. 66. It is called the kissing of the thumb and finger, and 
there is ample authority to show that among the ancient classics it was 
a sign of marriage. St. Jerome, quoted by Vincenzo Requena, says: 
“ Nam et ipsa digitorum conjunctio, et quasi molli 
osculo se complectans et faderans, maritum pin- 
git et conjugem;” and Apuleius clearly alludes to 
the same gesture as used in the adoration of Venus, 
by the words “primore digito in erectum polli- 
cem residente.” The gesture is one of the few 
out of the large number described in various parts 
of Rabelais’ great work, the significance of which 
is explained. Itismade by Naz-de-cabre or Goat’s 
Nose (Pantagruel, Book III, Ch. XX), who lifted 
up into the air his left hand, the whole fingers 
whereof he retained fistways closed together, except the thumb and the 
forefinger, whose nails he softly joined and coupled to one another. 
“T understand, quoth Pantagruel, what he meaneth by that sign. It 
denotes marriage.” The quarrel is thus established to be about love; 
and the fluting satyr seated between the two nymphs, behind whose back 
the accusation is furtively made by the jealous one, may well be the object 
concerning whom jealousy is manifested. Eudia therefore, instead of 
“serenely” marking time for a ‘‘ tranquil” tympanist, appears to be ery- 
ing, “‘Galené! you bad thing! you are having, or trying to have, an affair 
with my Comus!”—an accusation which this writer verily believes to 
have been just. The lady’s attitude in affectation of surprised denial is 
not that of injured innocence. 
Fic. 66. 
Fig. 67, taken from a vase in the Homeric Gallery, is rich in natural 
gestures. Without them, from the costumes and attitudes it is easy to 
recognize the protagonist or principal actor in the group, and its general 
subject. The warrior goddess Athené stands forth in the midst of what 
appears to be a council of war. After the study of modern gesture 
