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and gently stroked by the other hand, accompanied by looks of affection on some occasions, but possibly by a different expression, if indicating a teething child in the small hours of the morning.

So much for tangible visible objects, but how were more abstract ideas, such as day and night, to be represented by signs?

Day is always naturally associated with light, and that with the sun, while night is equally associated with darkness, or with the moon. But the sun, whenever it is visible, is round, and so, more or less, is the human face. The finger, therefore, drawing a circle round the face, is the " sign" for day, or for light, while two fingers closing the eyelids is the sign for darkness, and the fingers passed along one side of the face indicate a crescent (the typical condition of the moon), which therefore represents night.

After the above indication of the principle upon which the Abbé de l'Epée constructed his "sign language" in its most rudimentary stage, we may now give a few more illustrations of this language to show how wonderfully it was constructed for raising the intelligence and cultivating the observing faculties of his poor defective pupils.

Man, woman, child, and baby, have been already considered, but how was nationality to be indicated? For a man might be of any nation under the sun. The Abbé first symbolised the man, and then looked out for some striking characteristic of the nation that could be easily remembered, and as easily illustrated. For example—

A Scotchman. Sign-1st, a man in the abstract; then work the elbow up and down from the side, and twiddle with the fingers of both hands as if playing the bagpipes; and finally convert the simple Scotchman into a Highlander by cutting off his garments at the knees by a movement of the hands asunder.

An Irishman. 1st, a man; 2nd, the right arm raised over the head flourishing an imaginary shillelagh, one leg also being raised in triumph.

A Frenchman. 1st, a man; 2nd, French shrug of the shoulders.

An Englishman. What characterises an Englishman in the eyes of others we ourselves should never have guessed. In the Abbé's eyes an Englishman is a handshaking man. handshaking.

Therefore, 1st, a man; 2nd, imaginary

An American. Eminently a handshaking man. Therefore, 1st, a man; 2nd, handshaking; and 3rd (to distinguish him from the Englishman), an imaginary hat on one side of his head, with an imaginary depression in the crowna billycock."

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QUALITIES OF THE MAN AS WELL AS NATIONALITY-GOOD, BAD, &C.

Good is always represented by one thumb held up. Very good by two thumbs. Bad or very bad by one or both little fingers turned downwards or outwards.

These signs, therefore, after the sign for the man, woman, or child, indicate their quality.

ANIMALS.

A horse. The two hands holding imaginary reins, and the imaginary rider rising and falling in the saddle.

A donkey. The two open hands held up to the sides of the head, and moved gently backward and forward, to represent his ears.

A cow.

The two closed hands drawn in a curved direction sideways from the temples, to indicate the projecting unbranched horns.

A deer. The two thumbs on the temples, but the fingers spread widely apart to represent the antlers.

A goat. The two hands held up vertically from the top of the head, and an imaginary beard pulled.

A pig. The closed hand grasping the nose to represent the snout, with or without, afterwards, a corkscrew movement of the finger behind the back to indicate his little twisted tail.

A dog and a cat. Here domestic life, with observation of the habits of the animals, is brought into play. You want to call your dog, and you whistle for him. The deaf and dumb man sees the puckering of the mouth, though he hears no sound; but he finds that the dog pricks up its ears, but possibly does not come immediately. You next snap your fingers, which the deaf man also sees, but does not hear, and he finds now that the dog sets off to come. Lastly, you pat your leg, with a "good dog," and your object is obtained. The dumb man calls his dog in the same way by going through the above manœuvres ; but they would fail entirely with a cat. The sign for it is, therefore, drawing out an imaginary waxed moustache for its whiskers, and gently stroking an imaginary cat lying on your arm, with a "poor pussy" issuing from moving, though inaudible lips.

Rat and mouse. Both these have whiskers also. How then are they distinguished from a cat in the sign language? By reference again to their habits. If a terrier is looking for a rat he watches at a moderate sized hole. Therefore the "sign" is-1st, pulling imaginary whiskers; 2nd, joining two or three fingers into a cone, and making them just show through an imaginary good sized hole, formed by the thumb and the longest finger. A mouse, on the contray, would be one finger projecting through a little hole, made by the forefinger and half the thumb.

A bird. The two arms flapping like wings. Just so; but a bat has wings, and so has a butterfly. Add, therefore, the hooked forefinger in front of the nose to represent the bird's bill.

A butterfly. The two open hands placed together side by side and moved to indicate the large wings, the two thumbs being raised between them, and separated at the tips, to show the erect antennæ.

A fish is always opening and shutting its mouth, and moving its small front fins. Therefore, lay one hand on the back of the other, and let the thumbs project on each side. Moving them imitates the fins, and lifting up and down the upper hand is a telling representation of the fish's constant swallowing.

CONNECTED THOUGHTS AND ACTIONS AS REPRESENTED BY THE SIGN LANGUAGE.

The above representations have referred only to tangible or visible objects, but the Abbé went far beyond this rudimentary, though indispensable foundation (or alphabet of signs, if we may so express it); and the following will be an illustration of the intelligence brought to bear in constructing the sign language, and the education of every mental faculty in the deaf and dumb resulting from instruction in it. I have selected The Lord's Prayer as taught to them by this system.

Our. "I" and "my" are represented by the finger touching the chest for "I," and by the closed hand, grasping some imaginary object and touching it, for "my.' But "our" conveys the meaning of a number, which is indicated by the two arms embracing some imaginary large number, and then being brought to touch the chest.

Father. This term of course implies the sign for a man; but there is no simple sign known that would easily

indicate the complex relationship of father, brother, uncle, &c. The finger alphabet is therefore brought in here as an assistant, and the finger letter F, followed by the pluck of the beard, shows the "F-" man—the father.

Which art. The deaf and dumb do not require or indicate every word, and these words are not therefore signed."

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In Heaven. The hand and eyes lifted up as to the sky. Hallowed. The hands gently waved, as if a bird was fluttering.

Be. Indicates futurity. Sign-the finger beckoning to some imaginary object or person in front. "Was," indicating a past object or event, the fingers would be directed backwards, over the shoulder.

Thy. The closed hand pointed at some imaginary person in front. (Thou only one finger used for

pointing).

Name. The finger traces the sign of the cross on the forehead, because a child's "name" is given to it at baptism, when it is also signed with the sign of the cross.

Thy. As above-whenever the word occurs.

Kingdom. King implies a man; therefore use the sign for man, and supplement it by the hand on the top of the head to indicate the crown. Kingdom-after signifying "king," spread out the hands over some imaginary globe in front to indicate the kingdom.

Come. The finger or hand is moved in a beckoning

manner.

Thy will. "Will" has so many meanings, e.g., wish, order, determination, &c., that its signs are various. In the Lord's Prayer the body is usually inclined forward, as a token of submission or obedience.

Be done. "Be" as above.

"Done"-the hands

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