if only for the delightful photographs of Miss Beatrice Lewisohn
in poses expressive of joy, fear, jealousy and other emotions, The Science and Art of Speech and Gesture (Daniel, 7s. 6d.) would be an attractive book. But the author, Miss O'Neill, has also provided us with a decidedly original and stimulating text founded on the teaching of that strange genius, Delsarte, who, " handsome, eloquent and fascinating, wielded an almost imperial sway over his little coterie of artists " in Paris at the beginning of the last century. Thought, emotion and sensation are said to be the three natures of man :
neither confounding the persons, nor dividing the substance." The enthronement of the brain as our paramount power is responsible for much evil : our unconscious and physical sides have a science and language of their own which require more study than they are commonly given. We may not agree with the author in her confident judgments on the meaning of certain expressions of the eye and hand, but it is at least curious and interesting to learn that she considers the thumb all infallible guide to character. In death, she says, the
thumb is always drawn into the palm (is there medical evidence
fur this ?), and in life a thumb which clings close to the hand is ever the sign of a disloyal or secretive personality. A series 14 exercises for poise and relaxation is given, and a quantity of ideas on the harmony of our composite nature are thrown out in staccato sentences. This little book may annoy, amuse, or amaze us, according to our prejudices or convictions.
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