Hence the quinary form of
counting, however widespread its use may be shown to be, can in no way be
claimed as the universal method of any stage of development in the history
of mankind.
In the vast majority of cases, the passage from the base to the next
succeeding number in any scale, is clearly defined. But among races whose
intelligence is of a low order, or--if it be permissible to express it in
this way--among races whose number sense is feeble, progression from one
number to the next is not always in accordance with any well-defined law.
After one or two distinct numerals the count may, as in the case of the
Veddas and the Andamans, proceed by finger pantomime and by the repetition
of the same word. Occasionally the same word is used for two successive
numbers, some gesture undoubtedly serving to distinguish the one from the
other in the savage's mind. Examples of this are not infrequent among the
forest tribes of South America. In the Tariana dialect 9 and 10 are
expressed by the same word, _paihipawalianuda;_ in Cobeu, 8 and 9 by
_pepelicoloblicouilini;_ in Barre, 4, 5, and 9 by _ualibucubi._[326] In
other languages the change from one numeral to the next is so slight that
one instinctively concludes that the savage is forming in his own mind
another, to him new, numeral immediately from the last. In such cases the
entire number system is scanty, and the creeping hesitancy with which
progress is made is visible in the forms which the numerals are made to
take.
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