ass are included those signs conveying different ideas, and
really different in form of execution as well as in conception, yet
in which the difference in form is so slight as practically to require
attention and discrimination. An example from oral speech may be
found in the English word "desert," which, as pronounced "des'-ert" or
"desert'," and in a slightly changed form, "dessert," has such widely
varying significations. These distinctions relating to signs require
graphic illustration.

[Illustration: Fig. 112.]

[Illustration: Fig. 113.]

The sign made by the Dakota, Hidatsa, and several other tribes,
for _tree_ is made by holding the right hand before the body, back
forward, fingers and thumb separated, then pushing it slightly upward,
Fig. 112. That for _grass_ is the same made near the ground; that for
_grow_ is made like _grass_, though instead of holding the back of
the hand near the ground the hand is pushed upward in an interrupted
manner, Fig. 113. For _smoke_, the hand (with the back down, fingers
pointing upward as in _grow_) is thrown upward several times from the
same place instead of continuing the whole motion upward. Frequently
the fingers are thrown forward from under the thumb with each
successive upward motion. For _fire_, the hand is employed as in the
gesture for _smoke_, but the motion is frequently more waving, and in
other cases made higher from the ground.

The sign for _rain_, made by the Shoshoni, Apache, and other Indians,
is by holding the hand (or hands) at the height of and before the
shoulder, fingers pendent, palm down, then pushing it downward a short
distance, Fig. 114. That for _heat_ is the same, with the difference
that the hand is held above the head and thrust downward toward the
forehead; that for _to weep_ is made by holding the hand as in _rain_,
and the gesture made from the eye downward over the cheek, back of the
fingers nearly touching the face.

[Illustration: Fig. 114.]

The common sign for _sun_ is made by bringing the tips of the thumb
and index together so as to form a circle; remaining fingers closed.
The hand is then held toward the sky, Fig. 115. The motion with the
same circular position of index and thumb is for _want_, by bringing
the hand backward toward the mouth, in a curve forming a short arch
between the origin and termination of the gesture.

[Illustration: Fig. 115.]

For _drink_ the gesture by several tribes is the same as for _want_,
with