During the past two years the present writer has devoted the intervals
between official duties to collecting and collating materials for
the study of sign language. As the few publications on the general
subject, possessing more than historic interest, are meager in details
and vague in expression, original investigation has been necessary.
The high development of communication by gesture among the tribes
of North America, and its continued extensive use by many of them,
naturally directed the first researches to that continent, with the
result that a large body of facts procured from collaborators and
by personal examination has now been gathered and classified. A
correspondence has also been established with many persons in other
parts of the world whose character and situation rendered it probable
that they would contribute valuable information. The success of
that correspondence has been as great as could have been expected,
considering that most of the persons addressed were at distant points
sometimes not easily accessible by mail. As the collection of facts
is still successfully proceeding, not only with reference to foreign
peoples and to deaf-mutes everywhere, but also among some American
tribes not yet thoroughly examined in this respect, no exposition of
the subject pretending to be complete can yet be made. In complying,
therefore, with the request to prepare the present paper, it is
necessary to explain to correspondents and collaborators whom it may
reach, that this is not the comprehensive publication by the Bureau
of Ethnology for which their assistance has been solicited. With this
explanation some of those who have already forwarded contributions
will not be surprised at their omission, and others will not desist
from the work in which they are still kindly engaged, under the
impression that its results will not be received in time to meet with
welcome and credit. On the contrary, the urgent appeal for aid before
addressed to officers of the Army and Navy of this and other nations,
to missionaries, travelers, teachers of deaf-mutes, and philologists
generally, is now with equal urgency repeated. It is, indeed, hoped
that the continued presentation of the subject to persons either
having opportunity for observation or the power to favor with
suggestions may, by awakening some additional interest in it, secure
new collaboration from localities still unrepresented.
It will be readily understood by other readers that, as the limits
assigned to this paper permit the insertion of but a small part of the
material already collected and of the notes of study made upon
that accumulation, it can only show the general scope of the work
undertaken, and not its accomplishment. Such extracts from the
collection have been selected as were regarded as most illustrative,
and they are preceded by a discussion perhaps sufficient to be
suggestive, though by no means exhaustive, and designed to be for
popular, rather than for scientific use. In short, the direction to
submit a progress-report and not a monograph has been complied with.