(shown to be such by her head-dress, and the form of
the basket which she has deposited on the ground), accosts a vender of
roast chestnuts and asks for a measure of them. The chestnut huckster
says they are very fine and asks a price beyond that of the market;
but a boy sees that the rustic woman is not sharp in worldly matters
and desires to warn her against the cheat. He therefore, at the moment
when he can catch her eye, pretending to lean upon his basket, and
moving thus a little behind the huckster, so as not to be seen, points
him out with his index finger, and lays his left forefinger under his
eye, pulling down the skin slightly, so as to deform the regularity
of the lower eyelid. This is a _warning against a cheat_, shown more
clearly in Fig. 91. This sign primarily indicates a squinting person,
and metaphorically one whose looks cannot be trusted, even as in
a squinting person you cannot be certain in which direction he is
looking.

[Illustration: Fig. 92.]

Fig. 92 shows the extremities of the index and thumb closely joined in
form of a cone, and turned down, the other fingers held at pleasure,
and the hand and arm advanced to the point and held steady. This
signifies _justice_, a just person, that which is just and right. The
same sign may denote friendship, a menace, which specifically is that
of being brought to justice, and snuff, i.e. powdered tobacco; but the
expression of the countenance and the circumstance of the use of the
sign determine these distinctions. Its origin is clearly the balance
or emblem of justice, the office of which consists in ascertaining
physical weight, and thence comes the moral idea of distinguishing
clearly what is just and accurate and what is not. The hand is
presented in the usual manner of holding the balance to weigh
articles.

[Illustration: Fig. 93.]

[Illustration: Fig. 94.]

Fig. 93 signifies _little, small_, both as regards the size of
physical objects or figuratively, as of a small degree of talent,
affection, or the like. It is made either by the point of the thumb
placed under the end of the index (a), or _vice versa_ (b), and the
other fingers held at will, but separated from those mentioned. The
intention is to exhibit a small portion either of the thumb or
index separated from the rest of the hand. The gesture is found in
Herculanean bronzes, with obviously the same signification. The
signs made by some tribes of Indians for the same conception are ver