Sixth Attitude.—­This is one-third crossed.  It is an attitude of great respect and ceremony, and is effective only in the presence of princes.

[Illustration]

Seventh Attitude.—­This is the first position, but the legs are farther apart.  The free limb is turned

[Illustration]

to one side; both limbs are strong.  This denotes intoxication, the man overwhelmed with astonishment, familiarity, repose.  It is a double fifth.

Eighth Attitude.—­This is the second, with limbs farther apart.  It is the alternative attitude.  The body faces one of the two legs.  It is alternative from the fact that it ends in the expression of two extreme and opposite sentiments; that is, in the third or the fourth.  It serves for eccentricity with reticence, for menace and jealousy.  It is the type of hesitation.  It is a parade attitude.  At the same time offensive and defensive, its aspect easily impresses and leaves the auditor in doubt.  What is going to happen?  What sentiment is going to arise from this attitude which must have its solution either in the third or fourth?

[Illustration]

Ninth Attitude,—­This is a stiff second attitude, in which the strong leg and also the free one are equally rigid.  The body in this attitude bends backward; it is the sign of distrust and scorn.

[Illustration]

The legs have one aspect.  If, in the second, the strong leg advances slowly to find the other, it is the tiger about to leap upon his prey; if, on the contrary, the free leg advances softly, the vengeance is retarded.

The menace made in figure 3, with inclination of the head and agitation of the index finger, is that of a valet who wishes to play some ill turn upon his master; for with the body bent and the arm advanced, there is no intelligence.  But it is ill-suited to vengeance, because that attitude should be strong and solid, with the eye making the indication better than the finger.

[Illustration:  Criterion of the Legs]

[Illustration.  Criterion of the Legs]

Chapter VIII.

Of the Semeiotic, or the Reason of Gesture.

The Types which Characterize Gesture.

The semeiotic is the science of signs, and hence the science of the form of gesture.  Its object is to give the reason for the forms of gesture according to the types that characterize it, the apparatus that modifies it, and the figures that represent it.

There are three sorts of types in man:  constitutional or formal, fugitive or passional, and habitual.

The constitutional type is that which we have at birth.

The passional type is that which is reproduced under the sway of passion.

The habitual types are those which, frequently reproduced, come to modify even the bones of the man, and give him a particular constitution.