As it appeared to me at one time improbable in a high degree
that so complex a gesture as shrugging the shoulders,
together with the accompanying movements, should be innate,
I was anxious to ascertain whether the blind and deaf Laura Bridgman,
who could not have learnt the habit by imitation, practised it.
And I have heard, through Dr. Innes, from a lady who has
lately had charge of her, that she does shrug her shoulders,
turn in her elbows, and raise her eyebrows in the same
manner as other people, and under the same circumstances.
I was also anxious to learn whether this gesture was practised
by the various races of man, especially by those who never have
had much intercourse with Europeans. We shall see that they act
in this manner; but it appears that the gesture is sometimes
confined to merely raising or shrugging the shoulders,
without the other movements.
Mr. Scott has frequently seen this gesture in the Bengalees and Dhangars
(the latter constituting a distinct race) who are employed in the
Botanic Garden at Calcutta; when, for instance, they have declared
that they could not do some work, such as lifting a heavy weight.
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