THE GESTURE-LANGUAGE. 41 



betekend Gahen), while tlie universal sign of the two fore- 

 fingers stands for " like " (Holstu se even thosamen, dat bete- 

 kent like). The sign for "beer" is to put the hand before the 

 face and blow into it_, as if blowing off the froth (Thustu de 

 hand vor dem anschlahe dat du darin pustest, dat bediidt gut 

 Bier). Wiping your mouth with the whole hand upwards 

 (cum omnibus digitis terge buccam sursum), means a country 

 clown (rusticus). 



To put the fore-finger against the closed lips is " silence," 

 but the finger put in the mouth means a " child." These are 

 two very natural and distinct signs ; but then the finger to the 

 lips for " silence " may serve also quite fitly to show that a 

 cliild so represented is an infant, that is, that it cannot speak. 

 The confusion of the signs of " childhood " and " silence " 

 once led to a curious misunderstanding. The infant Horus, 

 god of the dawn, was appropriately represented by 

 the Egyptians as a child with his fingers to his lips, 

 and his name as wi-itten in the hieroglyphics (Fig. 1) 

 may be read Har-(p)-chrot, " Horus-(the)-son."^ 

 The Greeks mistook the meaning of the gesture, 

 and (as it seems) Graecizing this name into Harpo- 

 crates, adopted him as the god of silence. Fig. 1. 



To conclude, the Cistercian lists contain a number of signs 

 which at first sight seem conventional, but yet a meaning may 

 be discerned in most or aU of them. Thus, it seems foolish to 

 make two fingers at the right side of one's nose stand for 

 " friend ;" but when we see that placed on the left side, they 

 stand for " enemy," it becomes clear that it is the opposition 

 of right and left that is meant. So the little finger to the tip 

 of the nose means "fool," which seemingly poor sign is ex- 

 plained by the fore-finger being put there for " wise man." 

 The fact of such a contrast as wise and fooHsh being made be- 

 tween the fore-finger and the little finger, corresponds with the 

 use of the thumb and little finger for " good" and " bad" by 

 the deaf-and-dumb, and makes it likely that both pairs of signs 



> Coptic JcTiroti (ni) =filii, liberi, hroti ^coga&ius,, filius. Old Eg. in Eosetta Ins. 

 Compare S. Sharpe, Hist, of Egypt, 4tli ed. vol. ii. p. 148. Wilkinson, ' Popular 

 Account of the Ancient Egyptians ;' London, 1854, vol. ii. p. 182. 



