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Show BEMARKS ON LIST OF SIGNS DESIRED. 65 particular gesturer and the inches traced by his motions, are of as little necessity as would be a careful reproduction of ( he flourishes of tailed letters and the thickness of down- strokes in individual chirography when quoting a written word. The fingers must be in some position, but that is frequently accidental, not contributing to the general and essential effect, and there is a custom or " fashion" in which not only different tribes, but different persons in the same tribe gesture the same sign with different degreeg of beauty, for there i& calligraphy in sign- language, though no recognized orthography. It is nevertheless better to describe and illustrate with unnecessary minuteness than to fail in reporting a real differentiation. There are, also, in fact, many signs formed by mere positions of the fingers, some of which are abbreviations, but in others the arrangement of the fingers in itself forms a picture. An instance of the latter is one of the signs given for the " bear," viz, middle and third finger of right hand clasped down by the thumb, fore and little finger extended crooked downward. ( Titchkemdtski) This reproduction of the animal's peculiar claws, with the hand in any position relative to the body, would suffice without the pantomime of scratching in the air, which is added only if it should not be at once comprehended. In order to provide for such cases of minute representation a sheet of " TYPES OK HAND POSITIONS " has been prepared, and if none of them exactly correspond to a sign observed, the one most nearly corresponding can, be readily altered by a few strokes of pen or pencil. The sheet of " OUTLINES OP ARM POSITIONS," giving front and side figures with arms pendent, is also presented as a labor- saving device. The directions upon these sheets as illustrated by the sheet of " EXAMPLES," which concludes this pamphlet, are, it is hoped, sufficiently ample to show their proposed use, and copies of them, to any requisite number, will cheerfully be mailed, together with official stamps for return postage on contributions, by application to the address given below. LIST OF SIGNS DESIRED. The following is a condensed list, prepared for the use of observers, of the headings under wliich the gesture- signs of the North American Indians have been collated for comparison with each other and with those of deaf- 5 s L |