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188
The Speech of Monkeys
·
R. L. Garner
59
Having
discovered
the
sign
of
negation
among
the
Simians,
I
began
an
investigation
to
ascertain
how
far
it
could
be
found
among
the
races
of
mankind.
I
have
carried
my
search
far
beyond
the
limits
of
local
inquiry,
and
up
to
this
time
I
have
found
only
a
few
trifling
exceptions
in
the
use
of
this
sign
among
all
the
races
of
men,
and
those
few
exceptions
are
found
among
the
Caucasian
race,
and
appear
to
be
confined
to
Southern
Europe.
I
have
heard
that
among
certain
island
tribes
of
Polynesia
these
signs
are
reversed,
but
I
have
been
assured
by
two
officers
of
the
English
navy
and
two
of
the
United
States
navy,
who
have
visited
the
islands
in
question,
that
such
is
not
the
case.
Among
the
Indians,
Mongolians,
and
Negroes
I
have
found
no
noteworthy
exceptions.
I
have
inquired
among
mothers
who
have
raised
families
to
ascertain
when
they
first
observed
this
sign
as
an
expression
among
their
children;
and
from
the
consensus
of
opinion
it
appears
that
this
is
about
the
first
sign
used
by
infants
to
express
negation.
[Sidenote:
THE
POSITIVE
SIGN]
I
have
not
found
the
positive
sign,
or
sign
of
affirmation,
by
a
nod
of
the
head,
to
be
so
general,
yet
it
has
a
wide
range
within
the
human
family,
and
appears
to
be
used
to
some
extent
among
the
lower
primates.
Seeking
a
source
from
which
these
signs
may
have
originated,
I
have
concluded
that
they
may
arise
from
two
circumstances.
The
negative
sign
doubtless
comes
from
an
effort
to
turn
the
head
away
from
something
which
is
not
desired,
and
that
with
such
an
intent
it
has
gradually
crystallised
into
an
instinctive
expression
of
negation
or
refusal;
while
the
nod
of
affirmation
or
approval
may
have
grown
out
of
the
intuitive
lowering
of
the
head,
as
an
act
of
submission
or
acquiescence,
or
from
reaching
the
head
forward
to
receive
something
desired,
or
they
may
have
come
from
these
two
causes
conjointly.
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