Respecting progression from right to left or left to right on
the toes, there is no general law with which the author is familiar. Many
tribes never use the toes in counting, but signify the close of the first
10 by clapping the hands together, by a wave of the right hand, or by
designating some object; after which the fingers are again used as before.
One other detail in finger counting is worthy of a moment's notice. It
seems to have been the opinion of earlier investigators that in his passage
from one finger to the next, the savage would invariably bend down, or
close, the last finger used; that is, that the count began with the fingers
open and outspread. This opinion is, however, erroneous. Several of the
Indian tribes of the West[17] begin with the hand clenched, and open the
fingers one by one as they proceed. This method is much less common than
the other, but that it exists is beyond question.
In the Muralug Island, in the western part of Torres Strait, a somewhat
remarkable method of counting formerly existed, which grew out of, and is
to be regarded as an extension of, the digital method. Beginning with the
little finger of the left hand, the natives counted up to 5 in the usual
manner, and then, instead of passing to the other hand, or repeating the
count on the same fingers, they expressed the numbers from 6 to 10 by
touching and naming successively the left wrist, left elbow, left shoulder,
left breast, and sternum.
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