eian paintings, as well as in the classic authors. The
significance of the action in the hand of the contemporary statue of
Sardanapalus at Anchiale is clearly _worthlessness_, as shown by the
inscription in Assyrian, "Sardanapalus, the son of Anacyndaraxes,
built in one day Anchiale and Tarsus. Eat, drink, play; the rest is
not worth _that_!"

[Illustration: Fig. 88.]

The bridegroom has left his mother to do the honors to the bride, and
himself attends to the rest of the company, inviting one of them to
drink some wine by a sign, enlarged in Fig. 88, which is not merely
pointing to the mouth with the thumb, but the hand with the incurved
fingers represents the body of the common glass flask which the
Neapolitans use, the extended thumb being its neck; the invitation is
therefore specially to drink wine. The guest, however, responds by
a very obvious gesture that he don't wish anything to drink, but he
would like to eat some macaroni, the fingers being disposed as if
handling that comestible in the fashion of vulgar Italians. If the
idea were only to eat generally, it would have been expressed by the
fingers and thumb united in a point and moved several times near and
toward the mouth, not raised above it, as is necessary for suspending
the strings of macaroni.

[Illustration: Fig. 89.--Quarrel between Neapolitan women.]

In Fig. 89 the female in the left of the group is much disgusted at
seeing one of her former acquaintances, who has met with good fortune,
promenade in a fine costume with her husband. Overcome with jealousy,
she spreads out her dress derisively on both sides, in imitation of
the hoop-skirts once worn by women of rank, as if to say "So you are
playing the great lady!" The insulted woman, in resentment, makes with
both hands, for double effect, the sign of horns, before described,
which in this case is done obviously in menace and imprecation. The
husband is a pacific fellow who is not willing to get into a woman's
quarrel, and is very easily held back by a woman and small boy who
happen to join the group. He contents himself with pretending to be in
a great passion and biting his finger, which gesture may be collated
with the emotional clinching of the teeth and biting the lips in
anger, common to all mankind.

[Illustration: Fig. 90.--The cheating Neapolitan chestnut huckster.]

[Illustration: Fig. 91.]

In Fig. 90 a contadina, or woman from the country, who has come to the
city to sell eggs