Shakspeare makes the Duke of Norfolk say, "I spit at him--
call him a slanderous coward and a villain." So, again, Falstaff says,
"Tell thee what, Hal,--if I tell thee a lie, spit in my face."
Leichhardt remarks that the Australians "interrupted their speeches
by spitting, and uttering a noise like pooh! pooh! apparently
expressive of their disgust." And Captain Burton speaks
of certain negroes "spitting with disgust upon the ground."
Captain Speedy informs me that this is likewise the case with
the Abyssinians. Mr. Geach says that with the Malays of Malacca
the expression of disgust "answers to spitting from the mouth;"
and with the Fuegians, according to Mr. Bridges "to spit at one is
the highest mark of contempt."
I never saw disgust more plainly expressed than on the face of one of my
infants at the age of five months, when, for the first time, some cold water,
and again a month afterwards, when a piece of ripe cherry was put into
his mouth. This was shown by the lips and whole mouth assuming a shape
which allowed the contents to run or fall quickly out; the tongue being
likewise protruded. These movements were accompanied by a little shudder.
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