Stránka:book 1922.djvu/186

15^ The Book of Woodcraft "S" was a serpent hissing. It is but little changed to- day. We may also record our Sign Language in picture-writing, as was the custom of many Indian tribes, and we shall find it worth while for several reasons: It is the Indian special writing; it is picturesque and useful for decoration; and it can be read by any Indian no matter what language he SOMl InI>IAnScQVT PlCT0aKAPH5 Sunrise «n« sun or d»j sy»i-'^5'et Moon ovn)o»illi f^^^ speaks. Indeed, I think it probable that a pictograph inscription dug up 10,000 years from now would be read, whether our language was understood or not. When the French Government set up the Obelisk of Luxor in Paris and wished to inscribe it for all time, they made the record, not in French or Latin, but in pictographs. IktNnU imx Tkvn4i.r] if Sunittj ■maun I ('S(C .^.. f.,. + vi. "b viii^ ^^- m^ en. trvL It is, moreover, part of my method to take the boy through the stages of our race development, just as the young bird must run for a send-off, before it flies, so pictography being its earliest form is the natural first step to writing.