The austere old Rabbis only recognised three kinds of kisses, viz.: those of greeting, farewell, and respect. The Romans had also three kinds, but their classification was essentially at variance with the Rabbis’: they distinguished between _oscula_,[2] friendly kisses, _basia_, kisses of love, and _suavia_, passionate kisses. The significance of these words is clearly expressed in the following lines:-- Basia coniugibus, sed et oscula dantur amicis, Suavia lascivis miscantur grata labellis. But the Romans’ division is by no means exhaustive; kisses are and have been actually employed to express many other feelings than those above-mentioned. That kisses in this book are arranged in five groups, viz., kisses of passion, love, peace, respect, and friendship, is chiefly due to practical considerations; for, to be precise, these artificially-formed groups are inadequate, and, besides, often overlap one another. A modern French writer reckons no less than twenty sorts of kisses, but I find in German dictionaries over thirty different designations: _Abschiedskuss_, _Brautkuss_, _Bruderkuss_, _Dankkuss_, _Doppelkuss_, _Ehrenkuss_, _Erwiderungskuss_, _Feuerkuss_, _Flammenkuss_, _Frauenkuss_, _Freundschaftskuss_, _Friedenskuss_, _Gegenkuss_, _Geisterkuss_, _Handkuss_, _Honigkuss_, _Inbrunstkuss_, _Judaskuss_, _Lehenskuss_, _Liebeskuss_, _Mädchenkuss_, _Minnekuss_, _Morgenkuss_, _Mutterkuss_, _Nebenkuss_, _Pantoffelkuss_, _Segenskuss_, _Söhnungskuss_, _Undschuldskuss_, _Vermählungskuss_, _Versöhnungskuss_, _Wechselkuss_, _Weihekuss_, _Zuckerkuss_, etc., etc. In German the verb itself, “to kiss,” is varied in many different ways, _e.g._, in Germany one may _auküssen_, _aufküssen_, _ausküssen_, _beküssen_, _durchküssen_, _emporküssen_, _entküssen_, _erküssen_, _fortküssen_, _herküssen_, _nachküssen_, _verküssen_, _vorbeiküssen_, _wegküssen_, _widerküssen_, _zerküssen_, _zuküssen_, and _zurückküssen_. We must give the Germans the credit of being thorough, and in the highest degree methodical and exhaustive in their nomenclature, for can we conceive a more admirable word than, for instance, _nachküssen_, which is explained as “making up for kisses that have been omitted, or supplementing kisses”? However, on the other hand, it cannot be denied that they are at the same time awkward and tasteless in their expressions; a word such as _ausküssen_, which, for instance, is used in the refrain: _Trink aus! Küss aus!_ seems to me to smack perilously of the ale-house. We have now seen what a kiss is; but before proceeding to investigate the different kinds of kisses, their significance in the history of civilisation, and treatment in poetry, it still remains for us to reply to some of the ordinary queries regarding the nature and characteristics of the kiss.