REMARKS ON LIST OF SIGNS DESIRED. (35 



particular gesturer and the inches traced by his motions, are of as little 

 necessity as would be a careful reproduction of the flourishes of tailed let- 

 ters and the thickness of down-strokes in individual chirography when 

 quoting a written word. The fingers must be in some position, but that is 

 frequently accidental, not contributing to the general and essential effect, 

 and there is a custom or "fashion" in which not only different tribes, but 

 different persons in the same tribe gesture the same sign with different 

 degrees of beauty, for there i& calligraphy in sign-language, though no 

 recognized orthography. It is nevertheless better to describe and illustrate 

 with unnecessary minuteness than to fail in reporting a real differentiation. 

 There are, also, in fact, many signs formed by mere positions of the 

 fingers, some of which are abbreviations, but in others the arrangement 

 of the fingers in itself forms a picture. An instance of the latter is one 

 of the signs given for the " bear," viz, middle and third finger of right hand 

 clasped down by the thumb, fore and little finger extended crooked down- 

 ward. (Titclikemdtsld.) This reproduction of the animal's peculiar claws, with 

 the hand in any position relative to the body, would suffice without the 

 pantomime of scratching in the air, which is added only if it should not be 

 at once comprehended. In order to provide for such cases of minute rep- 

 resentation a sheet of " Types of Hand Positions " has been prepared, 

 and if none of them exactly correspond to a sign observed, the one most 

 nearly corresponding can be readily altered by a few strokes of pen or 

 pencil. The sheet of " Outlines of Arm Positions," giving front and side 

 figures with arms pendent, is also presented as a labor-saving device. The 

 directions upon these sheets as illustrated by the sheet of "Examples," 

 which concludes this pamphlet, are, it is hoped, sufficiently ample to show 

 their proposed use, .and copies of them, to any requisite number, will cheer- 

 fully be mailed, together with official stamps for return postage on contribu- 

 tions, by application to the address given below. 



LIST OF SIGNS DESIRED. 



The following is a condensed list, prepared for the use of observers, of 

 the headings under which the gesture-signs of the North American Indians 

 have been collated for comparison with each olher and with those of deaf- 

 5 s L 



