We should also bear
in mind that new and highly peculiar tricks, in association with certain
states of the mind, are known to have arisen in certain individuals,
and to have been afterwards transmitted to their offspring, in some cases,
for more than one generation.
Certain other gestures, which seem to us so natural that we might
easily imagine that they were innate, apparently have been learnt like
the words of a language. This seems to be the case with the joining
of the uplifted hands, and the turning up of the eyes, in prayer.
So it is with kissing as a mark of affection; but this is innate, in so far
as it depends on the pleasure derived from contact with a beloved person.
The evidence with respect to the inheritance of nodding and shaking
the head, as signs of affirmation and negation, is doubtful; for they
are not universal, yet seem too general to have been independently
acquired by all the individuals of so many races.
We will now consider how far the will and consciousness have come
into play in the development of the various movements of expression.
As far as we can judge, only a few expressive movements, such as those just
referred to, are learnt by each individual; that is, were consciously
and voluntarily performed during the early years of life for some
definite object, or in imitation of others, and then became habitual.
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