DR. TH. NEUMANN. 133 



which may be done to indicate friendship, love, as well 

 as any other emotion, but only two, the languages 

 of gesture and of sound, have been developed by 

 the human race to any higher extent, and we notice 

 without difficulty, that the latter is gradually suppress- 

 ing the former, as the point of culture and civilization 

 becomes higher and higher. 



In general, the languages of sound with animals, are 

 mostly languages of interjections, i. e., they consist of 

 single exclamations expressing a certain state of mind, 

 and are used by more highly developed creatures, to give 

 signs of warning, to cry for help, to express joy or grief, 

 etc., and as such they may be termed universal lan- 

 guages, as they are, on account of their very simplicity, 

 understood everywhere. 



The barking of a dog is unusually rich in such 

 different sounds, and the language in which man must 

 speak to such an animal as well as to very young child- 

 ren, is essentially such a language of ges'ture and in- 

 terjections. Such creatures, whose organs of speech and 

 intellect have not yet reached any higher develof)ment, 

 would understand no other. Doubtless the language 

 of primeval man was of the same character; the 

 language of gesture must have formerly served as a far 

 more important means of communication than it does 

 now when an educated man scarcely moves his facial 

 muscles while speaking. But if we go down to the 

 lower classes of any nation, we find in the con- 

 versation very expressive pantomime, so much the more 

 expressive, the more lively the temper and the less 

 accomplished and the poorer in words the language of 

 those who want to converse. With many wild tribes 

 the few words which their language possesses receive 

 their necessary explanation only by means of panto- 

 mimes and gestures. We are able to know from the 

 latter only if the individuals speak of themselves, or in 



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