Page:The art of kissing (IA artofkissing987wood).djvu/9

Rh Roots of Kissing.— Havelock Ellis, in Appendix A to volume IV of his Studies in the Psychology of Sex, has done most toward establishing the origins of kissing. The kiss as we know it, the tactile or touch kiss (as distinguished from the more widespread olfactory or smell kiss) is a specialized development of the sense of touch. The same is largely true, as Ellis points out, of the whole expression of physical love: the sexual embrace itself may be spoken of as a method of obtaining, through a specialized organization of the skin, the most exquisite and intense sensations of touch. The tactile kiss is confined to man, and largely to the civilized European man; but its roots go far below him, in the long upward climb of life.

Even as low as the insects, as Ellis points out, manifestations resembling the kiss are found. Thus snails and other insects, during their active mating, caress each other with their antennæ. Among birds, the bills are used for touches and caresses which partake of the nature of the kiss. Many mammals have touches and lickings, during the love episode, which are of kindred nature. Dogs, especially, smell, lick, and gently bite their mates. Yet too much significance must not be seen in these phenomena, since all our senses are merely extensions and specializations of the primitive sense of touch.

To travel closer to the immediate ancestors of our kiss, consider the baby. He regards his most reliable witness, in every case, as his tongue. Anything that his tongue can reach, or