The Sign of the Numm

Revealed to Samuel Howse

A Nummist cat uses his or her tail to assert control and composure in any situation. Acolytes, let us study the Prophet below:

Some primates, fittingly, have no tail. Nonetheless, Numm has provided them an appropriate, if obtuse, means of immitation. An ordinary pencil, whether classical wood or mechanical plastic, served as our Prophet's favorite chew toy, recalling His humble birth and thirst for knowledge and adventure. The eraser, whether classical pink or bold cream, was particularly aligned to His palette, reflecting His willingness to challenge conventions.

Of course, all the primates don't carry pencils all of the time, even if they should. Therefore, the Sign of the Numm was designed to be both pencil-like and primate-portable. This construction employs the middle and index fingers of the dominant hand, although, if necessary, the alternate hand may be used. (Indeed, if symmetry or situation dicates, both hands may be used.) Begin with the middle and index fingers pinched together tightly, as if grasping the sharpened pencil lead. Next the tricky bit: draw the fingers apart, while simultaneously brinding the hand downward, as if outlining the sharpened triangular end of a classical wood pencil. With this step behind you, promptly bring your hand further downward, while keeping the distance between your fingers constant, as if outlining the body of the pencil. Finally, close your fingers together sharaply, completing the crisp baseline of a new eraser.

The Sign of the Numm is illustrated below, from both the signmaker's and viewer's vantage, for both left-handed and right-handed primates:

	left-handed	right-handed
signmaker's vantage
viewer's vantage

The Sign of the Numm should be used whenever un-Numm-like behavior is encountered empirically. Unfortunately, this matter must remain with the individual primate's judgement, such as it may be. But we do have some simple suggestions for Numm-like behavior, from which you can derive un-Numm-like behavior by logical negation.

Additionally, certain primates may find the Sign of the Numm useful in situations which are distasteful, distressing or, most likely, simply confusing.