A Note on the Roman Numerals. 
177 
1907-8.] 
most clearly by the sign X, where the position of the two separate and 
extended hands has been superseded by the actual gesture of the crossed 
arms. Another tendency, namely, that a greater portion of the body is 
required to exhibit a greater value, is shown by even the first step in the 
progression : one hand means five ; two hands, ten. 
I. (1-5). First came the manipulation of the fingers or digits until 
the natural limit (p. 176) was reached, as : I, II, III, IIII, IIIII. The 
last position, viz. IIIII, originally the successive extension of the 
fingers, would, after a long interval of time, be superseded by the 
relatively complete gesture, the mere opening of the hand. This is 
represented by V, the sign of the open hand, and ultimately by the 
approximately similar alphabetic character V. 
II. (5-10). The previous gesture, repeated with additional digits 
of the other hand until the natural limit is reached, gives V, VI, VII, 
VIII, VIIII, VIIIII or VV. But this last position, the mere extension 
of both hands, was incapable of being repeated without ambiguity ; 
and thus it was superseded by the crossed-arms gesture, which signified 
the completion of the preceding series of five similar gestures, and 
which could be clearly repeated. We see this particular gesture in 
the pictograph on p. 175. It denoted ten, or, being repeated, any 
multiple of ten. It was represented by the conventional ideograph 
X, and ultimately by the corresponding letter X. 
III. (10-50). The arms are successively crossed, as in the above 
gesture, until the natural limit of five similar gestures is reached, as 
X, XX, XXX, XXXX, XXXXX. The simplest method of signifying 
the completion of this series of five similar gestures would be to raise 
the arms slightly. This “ gesture,” as it did not move within definite 
limits, remained a vague position, and could not be repeated without 
ambiguity ; but it did not need to be repeated. It served the purpose of 
marking the completion of the preceding series, and readily lent itself to 
representation by means of a pictograph of the extended arms, with an 
upright stroke to denote the body, or a part of it. By the time that 
this gesture acquired a definite numerical value, the signs of the lower 
values had doubtless become mere symbols ; and thus the inference may 
be justified, that the representation of this gesture did not long continue 
in the pictographic stage, but quickly acquired a merely symbolic expres- 
sion. That, however, we are here on the track of an actual gesture 
may be deduced from the pictographs of the North American Indians, 
no less than from the Egyptian hieroglyphs. This pictograph 
represents the Indian gesture-sign for “many” (Clodd, p. 72), as 
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