perfection of art, have diverged widely
from nature. It thus appears that the absence of absolute
self-interpretation by gesture is by no means confined to the lower
grade of actors, such as are criticised in the old lines:

When to enforce some very tender part
His left hand sleeps by instinct on the heart;
His soul, of every other thought bereft,
Seems anxious only--where to place the left!

Without relying wholly upon the facts above mentioned, it will be
admitted upon reflection that however numerous and correct may be
the actually significant gestures made by a great actor in the
representation of his part, they must be in small proportion to the
number of gestures not at all significant, and which are no less
necessary to give to his declamation precision, grace, and force.
Significant gestures on the stage may be regarded in the nature of
high seasoning and ornamentation, which by undue use defeat their
object and create disgust. Histrionic perfection is, indeed, more
shown in the slight shades of movement of the head, glances of the
eye, and poises of the body than in violent attitudes; but these
slight movements are wholly unintelligible without the words uttered
with them. Even in the expression of strong emotion the same gesture
will apply to many and utterly diverse conditions of fact. The
greatest actor in telling that his father was dead can convey his
grief with a shade of difference from that which he would use if
saying that his wife had run away, his son been arrested for murder,
or his house burned down; but that shade would not without words
inform any person, ignorant of the supposed event, which of the four
misfortunes had occurred. A true sign language, however, would fully
express the exact circumstances, either with or without any exhibition
of the general emotion appropriate to them.

Even among the best sign-talkers, whether Indian or deaf-mute, it
is necessary to establish some _rapport_ relating to theme or
subject-matter, since many gestures, as indeed is the case in a
less degree with spoken words, have widely different significations,
according to the object of their exhibition, as well as the context.
Panurge (_Pantagruel_, Book III, ch. xix) hits the truth upon this
point, however ungallant in his application of it to the fair sex.
He is desirous to consult a dumb man, but says it would be useless
to apply to a woman, for "whatever it be that they see they do always
represe