Daily Kennebec journal., 1902-04-26
0SJULATORY LORE,
Tn Nature, the Kinds and the
Causes of Kisses.
Aearned Discussion by Swedish
Professor.
Mat Poets Have Had to Say on the
Subject.

y IioNtI Dcoh tllttl lltto iNNNh'is iSSNNN |
rom the press is THE Kiss and Its
History written by DR.. Christopher
Nyrop. DR.. Nyrop holds the chair of
romance philology in the University OF
Sweden and has gone to classical au-
thors in this most novel research which
he has undertaken.
The book has created furore in Eu-
rope, having gone through two editions
in Denmark, and having been trans
lated into the German, Swedish, Rus
sian and English languages WlIllafn
Frederick Harvey, a lecturer IN Eng
lfsh at the University of Lund, Sweden,
is the author of the English translation.
Dr. Nyrop prefaces his book with the
words that Dante lends to Francesca
da Ramini to describe Paola's first
kiss:
For our delight We read of I.auncelot,
How him love thrallcd. Alone we were
suspicion near us. Ofttimes by that read
ing
our eyes were drawn toge ther, and the
hue
Fled from our altered cheek. But at one
Al,ud I'VE. we feel. When of that smile W.
read,
'Th. wished smile so rapturously kissed
BY one 50 deep in love, then he who ne'cr
From me shall separate at once my lips
All trembling kissed. The book and writ
CT both
Were loves purveyors.
The warning is here repeated with
the profoundest emphasis. But, it must
be added if you disregard the warning
you will learn more than you ever
dreamed of kisses given and taken in
all languages and in silence.
DR.. Nyrop divides kisses into five
groups-kisses OF passion, love, peace,
respect and friendship. But he ac-
knoWlcdges that these artificially
formed groups are inadequate and
often overlap one another"
Thus he has found in the exhaustive
and methodicai German dictionaries
more than thirty-1ive designations for
the different kinds of kissing. One of
these nach-kussen) making up for
kisses that have been omitted. or sup
plementing kisses" should strongly ap-
peal to him.Who has not enjoyed to the
fullest his opportunities The professor
learnedly discusses what IA kiss is.
How does the mouth produce a
kiss?' he asks, and answers:
"a kiss is produced by Il kind of
sucking movement of the muscles of
the lips, accompanied by Il weaker or
louder sound. Thus, from a purely
phonetic point of view, a kiss may be
defined as an inspiratory blabial
sound. which the English phoneticians
call 'lipclick.' that is, the sound made
by smacifng the lips.
This movement of the muscles, how
ever, is not of itself sufficient TO pro-
duee kiss. it being. as you know, en-
ployed by coachmen when they want
to start their horses, but it becomes q
kiss only when it is used as an express
sion of certain feeling, and when the
lirs are pressed against or simply come
into contact with a living creature.
\ Danish poet has thus delicateIy
described the sound of Il kiss: The
pl2sh of the waves against the pebbles
of the beach is like the sound of long
kisses"
OF the kiss in its gustative aspect
King Wenceslaus. of Bohemia, the old
minnesinger, vowed, after kissing his
sweetheart:
Just as a rose that opens it's calyx
when ii drinks the sweet dew, she Of
fercd me her sugar-sweet mouth
Poets everywhere rave about sweet
kisses and "sugary mouths" Of
mouths well formed and sweet to
kiss" Of lips soft red as coral
red as roses The wandering clerks
in the middle ages, the jolly Goliards,
swore that "On every maiden's lips the
kiss sits like a rose, which only longs
| to be plucked.'
1t seems indisputable to DIR. Nyrop
that a woman decidedly prefers to kiss
n man with beard. In support of this
he quotes among many other things
Roumanian ballad where young man
exclaims: Il am still too young to
marry. My beard has not yet sprouted
What woman. then, will care about
! kissing me?''
| In Germany and Holland there is a
| saying: "a kiss without beard is
| like an egg without salt" A French
writer of the present day goes so far
as to compare a kiss with those usually
harmless bullets which are exchanged
in modern duels: bah. Deux baisers,
| quest que celia? On les change CONNIE
des bales sans resultat ct l'honneur
| reste satisfait.''
But it does not appear that kisses.
once given, are really lost, like bullets
| that go wide. The Italians have a
proverb. "A kiss once given is never
lost. Kisses can be restored"
| A Danish couple, it is related, de-
| termined to break off their engage
ment. 1T is best, l suppose, that we
| return each others letters" said he. Il
think So too replied she, "but shall
we not at the same time give each
| other back all our kisses?" So they did
and renewed their engagement.
Every one, even the very young and
| the very old. will be intensely Interest,"
ed in the professors chapter on love
kisses--the very young in anticipation.
the very old reminiscently. How naive
is this German homage to the kiss as
the noblest thing in the world
Ny sweetheart's poor. but fair to behold; !;
What use were wealth: / cannot kiss
| gold. sA
The Greeks say that the kiss is the
key to Paradise. 1t preserves against
tevery i'll. mo i'll luck can betide mi
jwhen she bestows on me kiss" sayJ
!. old Colin Muset. 1t carries eternal lii !
! with it: ii even bestows the gift ft
eternal youth. If one can believe It
words of the Duke of Anhalt: III
Your mouth is crimson. over its SIT
portal
A kindly genius seems forever flovg |
Ii on that mouth kiss | were be~
ing. !.
Methinks / should in sooth becona"