Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1910-04-21

According to Mrs Kendall, the act
ress, in her Rambling Roses lee.
ture a few weeks ago in London:
To seal a kiss is natural. To buy
one is stupid. Two girls kissing is
a waste OF time. TO kiss ones Sis
ter is proper. TO kiss ones wife is
an ob igation. To kiss an ugly wo-
man is ga'lantry.
ITO kiss an old, faded woman is
devotion. To kiss young, blushing
girl is-quite a different thing. To
kiss ones rich aunt is hypocrisy
kissing three girls on the same day
is extravaganza.
Like many other good things the
origin of kissing is wrapped in the
mists of antiquity. IT'S certain, .
says Steele, nature was it's author
and that it began with the first court
ship
Many and various have been the
definitions given to the kiss.
Oliver Wendell Holmes says: "a
kiss is the twenty-seventh letter of
! the alphabet. The love labial that
requires two pairs of lips to utter.
Shakespeare calls kisses "seals of
love" Gerald Massey likens kiss to
the golden sunshine" Coleridge
called them notwithstanding while
Miss Nellie Marshall thought the
kiss "the~ fragrant breath of summer
flowers"
Some Unique Definitions.
\ Two anonymous writer's give the
following definitions: What is a
kiss? Nothing divided by two.
What is a soldiers definition of a
kiss? A report at headquarters"
Grashaw says that ''kisses are
the messengers of love-" DeLevis
has it that "a kiss is the door that
opens the citadel OF the heart" and
"A kiss is at once the token of bold
ness, confidence and Affection says
Nephus.
According to G.. D. Prentice: when
two hearts are surcharged with loves
electricity a kiss is the burning con-
tact, the wild, leaping flame of love S
enthusiasm
One author divides kisses into eight
classes, as follows: The kiss of pas
sion; the parental and filial kiss;
the kiss of affection always between
women) the devotional kiss; the
kiss of treachery; and the fieshly,
evil kiss
In the Bible we find many idyllic
passages OF beauty concerning this
tenderest of all the caresses, and
among the ancient Jews kissing the
beard was common practice, and
with them, as now, in the Roman
Catholic Church, kissing the feet was
a sign of homage. Friendship or re-
gard was shown by kiss on the
mouth. In pagan worship the kiss
was part of the religious ceremoni-
ais. and any one who did not
throw kisses at the statues of the
gods (Hosea XIII:2) or to the sun
and moon was considered not only
wanting in reverence, but an out-and-
out atheist
Speaking Of throwing kisses by the
hand Leopold Wagner says: "Eques-
trian artists, acrobats and other va
riety performers invariably made
their obeisance to, and acknowledge
the plaudits of the audience by kiss
ing an extending the hand: or, in
the case of females. both hands, in
addition to bending the knee This
was the Roman mode of saluting the
statues of the gods. the Emperor,
and other exalted persundges. Char
ioteers in the circus likewise saluted
the populace with the whip-hand as
they few around the arena; but act
ors in the theater kissed both hands
and bent the knee"
Kiss Early Popularity.
kissing is, in many ways, a method
of showing obeisance to a superior.
Thus the vassa1 knelt before the
Prince and respectfully saluted mis-
hand, his feet. or in paroxysm of
self-abasement, the humble servitor
devoutly kissed the dusty imprint of
the royal foot. kissing the hands
was instituted by the early Roman
rulers as mark of subsection I'm
der the rule of the Caesars this Gus
tom was kept up only for while;
as. conceiving the idea that the pro-
per homage due to their exalted sta
ton called for less familiar methods
of obeisance, the privilege of kissing
the Emperors hand was reserved as