302 SIGN LANGUAGE AMONG NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 
eyelid. This is a warning against a cheat, shown more clearly in Fig. 91. 
‘This sign primarily indicates a squinting person, and metaphorically one 
- whose looks cannot be trusted, even as in a squinting 
person you cannot be certain in which direction he is 
looking. 
Fig. 92 shows theextremities of theindex and thumb 
closely joined in form of a cone, and turned down, the 
other fingers held at pleas- 
ure, and the hand and arm 
advanced to the point and 
held steady. This signifies 
justice, a just person, that 
Fic. 91. which isjustandright. The 
same sign may denote friendship, a menace, which specifically is that of 
being brought to justice, and snuff, 7. e. powdered tobacco; but the expres- 
sion of the countenance and the circumstance of 
the use of the sign determine these distinctions. 
Its origin is clearly the balance or emblem of 
justice, the office of which consists in ascertain- 
ing physical weight, and thence comes the moral 
1G BE idea of distinguishing clearly what is just and 
accurate and what is not. The hand is presented in the usual manner 
of holding the balance to weigh articles. 
Fig. 93 signifies little, small, both as regards the size of physical 
objects or figuratively, as of a small degree of talent, affection, or the like. 
It is made either by the point of 
the thumb placed under the end 
of the index (a), or vice versa (b), 
“uy and the other fingers held at will, eg 
HES ehh but separated from those men- Fi. 95. 
tioned. The intention is to exhibit a small portion either of the thumb 
or index separated from the rest of the hand. The gesture is found 
in Herculanean bronzes, with obviously the same signifi- On 
cation. The signs made by some tribes of Indians for the ie 
\ 
same conception are very similar, as isseen by Figs. 9£and 95. t 
Fig. 96 is simply the index extended by itself. The other (\¥ %_ 
fingers are generally bent inwards and pressed down by the ( 
thumb, as mentioned by Quintilian, but that is not neces- 
sary to the gesture if the forefinger is distinctly separated 
from the rest. It is most commonly used for indication, 
pointing out, asit is over all the world, from which comes the 
name index, applied by the Romans as also by us, to the 
forefinger. In different relatjons to the several parts of 
the body and arm positions it has many significations, C.J, Fic. 96. 
attention, meditation, derision, silence, number, and demonstration in 
general, 
Ta, 
SSrnnscnee 
