as well as the conception in both cases was the indication
of the line of the hat on the forehead, and the position of the
fingers in forming the line is altogether immaterial. There is often
also a custom or "fashion" in which not only different tribes, but
different persons in the same tribe, gesture the same sign with
different degrees of beauty, for there is 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 distinction. 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.
See EXTRACTS FROM DICTIONARY, _infra_. This reproduction, of the
animals peculiar claws, with the hand and in any position relative
to the body, would suffice without the pantomime of scratching in the
air, which is added only if the sign without it should not be at once
comprehended.

_MOTIONS RELATIVE TO PARTS OF THE BODY._

[Illustration: Fig. 233.]

The specified relation of the positions and motions of the hands
to different parts of the body is essential to the formation and
description of many signs. Those for _speak_, _hear_, and _see_,
which must be respectively made relative to the mouth, ear and eye,
are manifest examples; and there are others less obviously dependent
upon parts of the body, such as the heart or head, which would not
be intelligible without apposition. There are also some directly
connected with height from the ground and other points of reference.
In, however, a large proportion of the signs noted the position of
the hands with reference to the body can be varied or disregarded.
The hands making the motions can be held high or low, as the gesturer
is standing or sitting, or the person addressed is distant or near
by. These variations have been partly discussed under the head of
abbreviations. While descriptions made with great particularity are
cumbrous, it is desirable to give the full detail of that gesture
which most clearly carries out the generic conception, with, if
possible, also the description of such deviations and abbreviations
as are most confusing. For instan