Morgan County Democrat. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1886-1943, 1930-09-18
IDEAS VARY AS TO
JUST WHAT is KISS
Seenos Somewhat to Depend
on individual.


Is wild honey. A kiss is something
that means nothing till it means too
much. But, after all, what is it? And
how did 1t get that way.
We began by asking all the dis
ciples Of flaming youth we could find,
Gwen Bristow tells US, in the New
Orleans -Picayune. "A kiss Is
like a three-ring circus" said one.
tits awfully thrilling, but you don't
know just what's going on" Another,
after thinking minute, gave us this
definition: "a kiss is the consumma-
tion of an electric contact wherein
the negative becomes positive" A
third questionee answered without
hesitation: II can't say just what 1t
is or why it's so exciting, but know
that 80 and 44-1OO per cent of the
thrill comes in the 80 and 44-1OO per
cent of a second just preceding 1T"
Another young man gave us an ap-
pealing look and wouldn't answer.
Then he took an envelope from his
pocket and wrote across the back,
Millions L'Allegro line 135.' We
looked up the line, which Is part OF
passage referring to music, the words
Of which are: "Of linked sweetness
long drawn out"
Strangeeas 1t seems, there are thou
sands Of people on earth today who
have never been kissed, and they don't
seem to mind it. We are not referring
to persons less than twelve years old,
either. Also, there are thousands and
thousands Of couples who fell in love
and were married in bygone days and
who never kissed each other. King
Tut never kissed a girl Jacob never
kissed Rachel, nor did Isaac kiss Re.
becca; and it is highly probable that
David never kissed Bathsheba, for the
kiss Of lovemaking was unknown to
the ancient Egyptians and the early
Hebrews.
The pedigree of the site that binds
goes back to the earliest days Of AS
syria and ancient India, for sweet
hearts of those nations knew all about
kissing. The most ancient forerunner
of the kiss, however, is much older
the custom still in vogue among abo-
riginal peoples-nose rubbing.
1t began with the idea that the ex-
hailed breath is an emanation Of the
soul, and the aboriginal sweethearts
who rubbed noses believed that in
mngling their breath they were
mingling their souls. This is still the
kiss of the Eskimos, who use nose
rubbing to express everything that we
express by a kiss, and it is also the
universal salutation Of African tribes
and some Of the primitive clans OF
Australia. it is significant, however,
that when western people come among
nose rubbers the latter are quick to
adopt the civilized kiss.
The kiss on the lips, instructive as
it seems to us, is really product OF
the highest civilization. Uncivilized
people don't know anything about 1t.
Also the kiss of lovemaking is as pc
culiar to the white race as blue eyes
and skyscrapers. The Africans have
never heard OF 1t, except where white
people have come to live among them;
the American Indians knew nothing
about kisses till they spied on pale
face sweethearts; and to this day
japanese sweethearts do not kiss each
other. The kissing scenes in Ameri-
can movies are always cut out before
the films are sent to Japan, for the
Japanese think they are immoral.
The Egyptians of pyramid days
seem to have been ignorant Of the
kiss, so it is not surprising that the
ancient Hebrews, who brought most
Of their civilization from Egypt, ap-
pear likewise to have known nothing
about this mode Of lovemaking.
The Hebrews knew about the kiss
! of honor, given on the hands or the
feet, and possibly the kiss Of royal
recognition on the forehead, but 1t Is
said that none of their authentic rec
ords show any knowledge Of the kiss
on the lips; the only Bible passage
that might be construed as referring
to q kiss on the lips Is classed as a
mistranslation and Is corrected in the
American revised version.