differently in different parts of the country, while some localities have signs that others do not. In this it but follows the natural course of any other language and we have localisms in signs as well as speech. To this class belong the occasional slang signs with which a deaf person occasionally intersperses his talk, but with a few exceptions such signs are not given in the following list.
The manner and emphasis have much to do with the significance of a sign. The degree of a quality is thus often indicated as well as the mood and feeling of the speaker. And it goes without saying that the expression must indicate joy or sorrow, fun or seriousness, and both the eyes and face must reflect the character of the idea expressed. One may express the idea of quietness by simply laying the fingers on the lips. But when the same finger is thrown violently against the lips with a rebuke expressed in the face, it becomes "keep still," while with an impudent or threatening look it may express "shut up." The facial grimaces, however, and the "mouthing" affected by some, are in no way a part of the sign and the habit is to be strongly condemned.
There are certain signs of importance, such as the tense signs and sex signs, which are added to the simple sign. Thus the signs for "now," "past," and "will" are used with all verb signs to indicate time, and "finished" is used to designate the complete tenses. "One" and "many" are added or prefixed to mark the singular and plural, while "male" and "female" indicate "sex." Others of this class are the progressive sign and the auxiliary verbs.
In connection with its incompleteness and imperfection when compared with written or spoken language, it should be remembered that the sign language was originally designed as a means of educating young deaf children and the vocabulary was therefore limited. Its usefulness has gone far beyond this first purpose, and incomplete and imperfect though it may be, it is, in the hands of its masters, a most beautiful and expressive language, for which, in their intercourse with each other and as a means of easily and quickly reaching the minds of the deaf, neither nature nor art has given them a satisfactory substitute.
In spite of the fact that it has been discarded from the school room and efforts made to relegate it to the past, the Sign Lan-
