| OCR Text |
Show ANIMALS- DEER. 27 slightly extended, is dipped over toward and suddenly forward from the left shoulder. ( Titchkemdtski.) All the gestures of deaf- mutes relating to intelligence are connected with the forehead. Animals are expressed pantomimically by some characteristic of their motion or form, and the Indian mimographers generally seem to have hit upon similar signs for the several animals; but to this rule there are marked exceptions, especially in the. signs for the deer and the dog. For the deer six signs are noted: 1. Right hand extended upward by the right ear, with a quick puff from the mouth ( Dunbar), perhaps in allusion to the fleet escape on hearing noise. 2. Make several passes with the hand before the face. ( Wied.) 3. With the right hand in front of body on a level with the shoulder, and about eighteen inches from it, palm down, make the quick up- and- down motion with all the fingers held loosely together, as of the motion of the deer's tail when running. The wrist is fixed in making this sign. It is very expressive to any one who has ever seen the surprised deer in motion. ( McChesney.) 4. Forefinger of right hand extended vertically, back toward breast, then turned from side to side, to imitate the motion of the animal when walking at leisure. ( Long.) 5. Both hands, fingers irregularly outspread at the sides of the head, to imitate the outspread horns. ( Titchemdtski.) This sign is made by our deaf- mutes. 6. Same position, confined to the thumb and two first fingers of each hand. ( Burton.) The above signs all appear to be used for the animal generically, but the following are separately reported for two of the species: Black- tailed deer [ Cariacus macrotis ( Say), Gray]. 1. Make several passes with the hand before the face, then indicate a tail. ( Wied.) 2. Hold the left hand pendant a short distance in front of the chest, thumb inward, finger ends approximated to each other as much as possible ( i. e.} with the first and fourth drawn together under the second and third). Then close the right hand around the left ( palm to back, and covering the |
