The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1908-04-12
QUESTION: AND v

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS.
A good many years ego | had the privilege o.
listening TO a course OF lectures given by that emil
nent phllologlst Max M0lltf, On one occasion tht
interesting question came up for discussion as "a
What was the origin OF the universally VI the nod
OF the head for yes and the shake OF the head iOI
no, and recall that the lllustnous professor EN-.
phatlcally Endorsed the theory that Il could aSsur
edly be attributed TO the actions Of very young
children when food In some form or other Is offered
70 them II they don't happen. TO be hungry the
mouth Is Invariably turned away from m, approach
ing food and thus Is automatically started HE germ
OF the shake Of the head for no. On the other hand
llthey are hungry they endeayOr to move the mouth
toward the approaching food, The muscles OF a
chld's neck are Of course unable 70 Keep the head
In a particularly nrm position, aud thus Is also
started the germ OF nOddlng the head for yes.
This conotlSon Is based on the following simple
reasoning: lnasmuch as the two motions are com
mon TO all natlonalltles and lnasnluch as no one eau
definitely assert when he or She commenced the
practice, there Is only one inference to be- made,
e, Lhat we all begin y at 40 age too early TO real
Ice what we are doing, hence infancy. while the one
thing which Is common to all Infancy Is food, The
whole thing Is certainly a very pretty and plauSl.
BILE theory, but scientific events move In such rapid
sequences nowadays that pretty and plausible
theories are apt TO get somewhat sadly punctured,
! shall be glad 70 learn II recent investigators have
any additional light TO throw upon SO Interesting
q problem. II, J. 4, HULsE.
The trouble with the explanation Is that It IL
based upon q deficient premise, namely. the uni
versatility OF tho two gestures, for convenience
10 be desc bed as the nod Of assent and the shake
OF ~negatiOn. hut these gestures are not By any
means universal among the primitive races. Vey
considerable tribes OF savage men. 80 remote as 10
avoid any suggestion OF Accommodation,
use the head gestures 10 exactly the contrary
sense to that familiar with US, the shake standing
for assent aud thr nod for %ncgatlon, This Is OBJ
served In parts OF Polynesia, generally throughout
Aelanesla and frequently In Africa. Yet other
peoples attach no such Specification TO the head
gestures and express the yes and no sense with
the hands, such being the usage Of many Of the
Aborlglnals OF Australia. Then, too, In the case
Of the nod gesture, whatever lis sense may be,
It Is not a simple gesture but rather two, In one the
motion may be claSsed as down up, In the other
as uptown. The latter gesture, In which from a
state OF rest the head goes up nrSt and then down,
commonly with a sharp outward thrust OF the chin
At the peak Of the upward movement, Is as common
a n~eEation sign as the shake Of the head, and Is
found among our own peoples who practise the
down.up sign OF assent. 10 the food theory Of
the origin Of these signs there Is a grave objection.
In infancy, when II is proposed that the sense
value Is impressed upon the gesture, II Will be
recognized that the food source a]ppro1lmates the
hIed point both spatlally and Internationally.
Any head gesture, whether nod or shake, equally
tends 10 remove the infant mouth from the food
source, and such removal Is essentially lncom-
patble with the theory as proposed. Since the
death Of Col. Gauick Mallery the nterestlng theme
Of gesture and sign language has lacked a com.
petent exponent.
Who we're the early Episcopal ministers OF New
York city, Was a Rev. John Schroeder among
them' n 80, would like Information about him,
nellus Schroeder, a miniature painter IN New York.
and II he had had pictures on exhibition IN tho
these tHo brothers Will be appreciated.
J. r. PIERsoS.
The Rev. John Frederick Schroeder Is scarcely
20 he ClaSSed among the early Episcopal leaders
I'm this city. for he was indicted to his first charge
In New York in 1894 as a Curale Of Trinity. Born
at Baltimore April \, 1900. he was graduated from
Princeton at the age Of 10, passed thence to the
General Theological Seminary, then at New Haven,
and was admitted TO the priesthood In 1893. After
serving at Trinity for fourteen years he went to
Europe. and on his return In 1889 resigned from
that parish. He opened a school for girls, ST.
AIMS Hall, at Flushing, which followed his later
movements, to the reCtory OF the Church Of the
CruclHIion IN New York In 1876 and 10 that Of st.
Thomas Church In Brooklyn in 1859. Shortly
before his death, February "a. 1857, he resigned
bis last charge. He was a nuent writer, author OF
many works both clerical and lay and at the time
OF his death was engaged upon the Life and Times
OF Washington" which was left to other hands to
complete, or his brother, the painter In miniature,
no record Is found.
Could you give me any Information and the
names VI books published. II any. concerning
Thomas y. Rice. the original Jim Grow" or Of
Joseph Sweeney, who visited England after Rice
e. Enc r. s' Hsrp 5@4nE y SGReSrs SMITHS nlSEe' .pls sSRSii O. gol ei
man" or Of Horace Lingard, or II you know OF
any others OF the same period about 1880 to 1900
who visited England from the States and sang
niger and other comic Songsl W., T.. IMks.
It is hoped that some reader win open this par.
tlculsr chapter OF the history OF mlnstrelsy. the
nrst Yankee invasion Of England and the capture
Of the island by the practitioners Of Jump Jim
Crow. After 1870 or thereabouts this style OF
dramatic art had become wholly naturallzcd In
Great Britain and has since pursued a course OF
development entirely independent Of the growth
and decline Of Niger mlnstresy in Il home land.
In England the art has altogether left the stage,
has reverted TO the type Of the strollers and is most
energctically prosecuted as an al .frnsco entertain
ment at such seaside resorts as Margate.
To %seltleS dispute will you kindly M in the blank
in the following quotation. - who htsltatts is
lost, and also give me It's original sOurce' Several
books OF quotations have been searched. but |
have been unable TO md this one. f.. T., CORsA.
4 considerable library OF books OF quotations
avoids the phrase, which may be derived from
Eunpides, VINO wrote Ares hates those who
hesitate The saiue thought is most eplgram.
matlcaly pointed in the distant FlIIsn proverb
-Malua marusa,' 70 hesitate Is to be lost,
sdsil ~ E.cS;y ca!!s.d - 30 " 20" "Hu t.'
me know through your column 10 what Individual
or hrm In New York may write In the matter Of
passenger carrying sailing ships from New York
20 san francisco. II any such there are, and also
N you will state whether or not the New York and
San Francisco Packet Line Is stll In existence
II. L. ID.
The old packet business. the regular sailings
around the Horn. Is hut a memory. Nowadays
the deep water ships are few and they are not pro.
ylded with passenger accommodations. Under