{"collection":"philosophy-ethics","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_51328/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_51328","id":"gutenberg_51328","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/51328","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Category: Science - Biology","Hand","Phrenology"],"text":"Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this\n      file which includes the original illustrations.\n      See 51328-h.htm or 51328-h.zip:\n      (https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/51328/pg51328-images.html)\n      or\n      (https://www.gutenberg.org/files/51328/51328-h.zip)\n\n\n      Images of the original pages are available through\n      Internet Archive. See\n      https://archive.org/details/handphrenologica00lond\n\n\nTranscriber's note:\n\n      Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).\n\n      A carat character is used to denote superscription.\n      Characters following the carat and enclosed by curly\n      brackets are superscripted(example: C^{aine}).\n\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: Plate 1.\n\nElementary Hand.]\n\n\nTHE HAND PHRENOLOGICALLY CONSIDERED:\n\nBeing a Glimpse at the Relation of the Mind\nwith the Organisation of the Body.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nLondon:\nChapman and Hall, 186 Strand.\n\nM.DCCC.XLVIII.\n\n\n  \u201cLes hommes ne peuvent en quelque genre que ce soit\n  arriver \u00e0 quelque chose de raisonnable, qu\u2019apr\u00e8s\n  avoir en ce m\u00eame genre, \u00e9puis\u00e9 toutes les sottises\n  imaginables.\u201d\u2014FONTENELLE.\n\n  \u201cSi la nature, au lieu de mains et de doigts flexibles,\n  eut termin\u00e9 nos poignets par un pied de cheval; qui doute\n  que les hommes, sans arts, sans habitations, sans d\u00e9fense\n  contre les animaux, tout occup\u00e9s du soin de pourvoir\n  \u00e0 leur nourriture et d\u2019\u00e9viter les b\u00eates f\u00e9roces, ne\n  fussent encore errans dans les for\u00eats comme des troupeaux\n  fugitifs?\u201d\u2014HELVETIUS, _Sur l\u2019Esprit_.\n\n  \u201cManus sunt artium organa; sicut lyra musici, et forceps\n  fabri.\u201d\u2014GALEN.\n\n\nLondon:\nGeorge Barclay, Castle Street, Leicester Square.\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\nSince the time of JOHN INDAGINE, who published his \u201cArt of Chiromancy\u201d\nin 1563, but little progress has been made in the study of the hand\nas an indication of the physical and mental peculiarities of the\nindividual. In our time, by the publication of the classical work of\nSir C. BELL \u201cOn the Hand,\u201d public attention has been once more directed\nto the form, structure, and uses of this important organ.\n\nThe varieties in the structure and conformation of the human hand which\nare met with in different individuals have recently been investigated\nwith much success, both in France and Germany.\n\nIt is to D\u2019ARPENTIGNY, a translation of whose work[1] is now in course\nof publication in the \u201cMedical Times,\u201d that we are indebted for much of\nthe information we possess as to the mutual relation existing between\nparticular mental tendencies and certain definite forms of hand. By\nProfessor CARUS, of Dresden,[2] the views of D\u2019ARPENTIGNY have been\nin part verified, and at the same time considerably extended. He has\ncorrected much that was erroneous, and endeavoured to establish a\nscience of CHIROLOGY, founded upon the anatomy and physiology of the\nhand.\n\nI have availed myself freely of the materials collected by D\u2019ARPENTIGNY\nand CARUS, and have modified, corrected, or omitted their theories\nand statements when not in accordance with my own experience. Much\nnew matter has been added, and the whole arranged in a form which it\nis hoped may tend somewhat to contribute either to the amusement or\ninstruction of the Reader.\n\n_June 1848._\n\n\n\n\nTHE HAND\n\nPHRENOLOGICALLY CONSIDERED,\n\n_&c. &c._\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\n  \u201cThe form and posture of the human body, and its various\n  organs of perception, have an obvious reference to man\u2019s\n  rational nature; and are beautifully fitted to encourage\n  and facilitate his intellectual improvement.\u201d\u2014DUGALD\n  STEWART, _Moral Philosophy_.\n\nTHE BRAIN THE ORGAN OF MIND.\n\n\nFrom the time of Thales and Pythagoras to our own day the opinions\nof metaphysicians have been divided with respect to the mode in\nwhich ideas take their origin. Some, with Descartes and Leibnitz,\nhave contended that the faculties of the mind are innate\u2014that is,\nthat they originate solely from within; while others, with Locke and\nCondillac, affirm that they are acquired, and in all cases derived,\nfrom impressions received through the medium of the senses,\u2014\u201cNihil est\nin intellectu quod non prius fuerit in sensu.\u201d\n\nHowever it may be with respect to this controverted point, whether\nideas originate from without or from within, it is at least certain\nthat the manifestations of the mind, far from being independent\nof, are, on the contrary, closely linked and connected with, the\nconditions of matter. Hippocrates, when sent for by the Abderites to\ncure Democritus of his supposed madness, found him busily engaged in\ndissecting the brains of animals for the purpose of ascertaining the\norgans and causes of thought. That the brain is the organ through\nwhich the manifestations of mind are made known to us, was therefore\nsuspected by Democritus; and the accumulated experience of centuries\nhas rendered that a certainty which with him was but a mere conjecture.\nIn the language of an eloquent modern writer, \u201cWhere shall we find\nproofs of the mind\u2019s independence of the bodily structure,\u2014of that mind\nwhich, like the corporeal frame, is infantile in the child, manly in\nthe adult, sick and debilitated in disease, frenzied or melancholy in\nthe madman, enfeebled in the decline of life, doting in decrepitude,\nand annihilated by death?\u201d\n\n\nMIND AND OUTWARD FORM IN HARMONY.\n\nAdmitting, then, that the brain is the organ of mind\u2014the instrument\nby which we are rendered cognisant of our own mental operations\nand conceptions\u2014it must be evident that, for the purpose of making\nthem known to others, of carrying them into effect, certain other\nparts become necessary, the conception requiring instruments for its\nexecution. This important duty is intrusted to the care of the senses,\nand for this reason they have been correctly termed the hand-maidens\nof the intellect, as it is through their agency that the brain receives\nand transmits impressions. Hence the manifestations of mind are\nindicated and expressed by the outward form; for the senses can act\nonly through the medium of physical organs, and with these latter the\nactive phenomena of life must necessarily be in strict accordance.\nThus, from the external configuration of the body, or of some of its\nparts, we can legitimately draw conclusions respecting the degree\nand kind of mental power. Let us examine this proposition a little\nmore in detail. In his _Instauratio Magna_, Bacon relates that \u201cwhen\nhe was a young man at Poictiers in France, he conversed familiarly\nwith a certain Frenchman, a witty young man, but something talkative,\nwho afterwards grew to be a very eminent man. He was wont to inveigh\nagainst the manners of old men, and would say, that if their minds\ncould be seen as their bodies are, they would appear no less deformed;\nhe would also maintain that the vices of old men\u2019s minds have some\ncorrespondence and were parallel to the putrefaction of their bodies.\nFor the dryness of their skin, he would bring in impudence; for the\nhardness of their bowels, unmercifulness; for the lippitude of their\neyes, an evil eye and envy; for the casting down of their eyes and\nbowing their bodies toward the earth, atheism (for, saith he, they\nlook no more up to heaven as they were wont); for the trembling of\ntheir members, irresolution of their decrees and light inconstancy;\nfor the bending of their fingers, as it were to catch, rapacity and\ncovetousness; for the buckling of their knees, fearfulness; for their\nwrinkles, craftiness and obliquity.\u201d\n\nNow, without hoping to attain to the nice discrimination of this\ningenious young gentleman, we shall attempt to elucidate a few general\nfacts connected with this part of our subject.\n\nWith that spirit of observation for which they were so eminently\nremarkable, the ancients had long since remarked the constant\nconnexion of certain peculiarities of outward form with particular\nmodes of thinking\u2014a correspondence between the physical and mental\ncondition. It was in accordance with this view that Galen founded his\ncelebrated doctrine of temperaments. His distinction of the sanguine,\nphlegmatic, choleric, and melancholic temperaments, was based upon\nthe notion of the Greek philosophers, that there were four primary\nconstituents of the human body corresponding to the four supposed\nelements of nature, and that the presence of the one or the other of\nthese elements in excess occasioned the production of the different\ntemperaments. According to the definition of the able physiologist\nM\u00fcller, the temperaments are peculiar, permanent conditions, or modes\nof mutual reaction of the mind and organism, and they are chiefly\ndependent on the relation which subsists between the strivings or\nemotions of the mind and the excitable structure of the body. Even if\nwe may be disposed to contend that they are not absolutely _dependent_\non any particular constitution of the body, it must still be conceded\nthat they are at least _associated_ with certain peculiarities of\noutward organisation, by which they may be readily recognised; so\nthat the physical structure, the mental tendency, and the character\nof ideas, are always intimately connected. Thus persons of a sanguine\nor sensitive temperament are, for the most part, of moderate stature\nand _embonpoint_, with a smiling florid countenance, and light or\nchestnut hair. Their ideas, like their physiognomy, are all _couleur\nde rose_. Endowed with great excitability, they are easily moved; but\nimpressions are not durable, giving place quickly to other and newer\nemotions. Hence their life is made up of transitions\u2014now grave, now\ngay; now happy, now miserable: their feelings are perpetually changing,\nand impressions made upon their mobile minds become soon obliterated by\nsome fresh object of attention.\n\nThe phlegmatic, or elementary temperament, is characterised by a\npersistence during adult existence of the physical structure proper\nto early life. The body is loaded with cellular tissue and fat;\nthe muscles are large, but soft, and with indistinct outlines; the\ncountenance is pale; the physiognomy but little marked, and the\nfeatures not sharply defined. Such persons are unexcitable, their\nsensations are dull, and the modes of reaction which they determine\nslow and apathetic; their ideas are clear, but they possess neither the\nquickness of conception and imagination of persons of the sanguine,\nnor the energy of action and strong passions of those of the choleric\ntemperament. They love repose, and excel in occupations which demand\npatience and attention, of which they are possessed in a remarkable\ndegree.\n\nIn individuals of the choleric, or motive temperament, the bony\nframe-work of the body is strong and much developed; the articulations\nare large and prominent; the muscles firm, with but little cellular\ntissue and fat; the physiognomy decided, with sharply-chiselled\nfeatures. Such individuals are remarkable for promptitude and energy of\naction; impetuous, passionate, and endowed with great determination,\nopposition only increases their endurance, and excites a proportionate\neffort to conquer it. In nature these temperaments are not frequently\nencountered pure and free from admixture, but mostly more or less\nmixed the one with the other. That must be held to be the most perfect\ntemperament in which they are all blended in such proportions that\nneither is in excess; \u201cin which moderate excitability is combined with\na due amount of energy of action; in which imagination is tempered by\nreason, and the ideas and conceptions are regulated by judgment, and\nrectified by reflection.\u201d Impressions thus do not react upon all in the\nsame manner. In some they are like figures traced upon the sand of the\nsea-shore, which are obliterated by the first advancing wave; they pass\naway together with the ideas to which they give rise, without leaving\nany, even the slightest evidence, of their existence. In others they\nare as characters deeply graven upon metal; arousing the attention\nwith an irresistible force, they enchain and captivate the faculties,\nceasing but to leave behind them a powerful and lasting impression upon\nthe mind.\n\n\nEFFECTS OF AGE, SEX, CLIMATE, ETC. UPON MIND.\n\nBy age, sex, locality, climate, and regimen the mental operations are\nlikewise powerfully influenced. By locality and climate we do not\nmean air and temperature merely, but the sum total of all influences,\nwhether physical or moral, by which in every place we are surrounded.\nThe bodily structure is undoubtedly and materially influenced by\nclimate. Of this the modern Hungarians afford a most convincing proof\u2014a\nrace of people of a fine physical conformation, and yet, as their\nlanguage and traditions attest, derived from the same stock as the\nbarbarous, deformed Ostiaks inhabiting the Uralian Chain, to whom,\nas we learn from history, they bore no slight resemblance, on their\narrival in the countries in which they are at present located. Climate\nmay thus affect the mind in two ways, by modifying the structure of\nthe body, and by the more direct action which it exerts upon the\nmind itself; and it is to these two causes that we must ascribe the\ndifferences in the form and habits, the government and laws, the\nsuperstitions and literature, of northern and southern nations.\n\nTo differences and modifications of structure constantly correspond\ndifferences and modifications in ideas and passions. The physical form\nand intellectual qualities are closely and mutually connected. Thus,\none individual may excel another in a given pursuit, this excellence\nresulting rather from a peculiar aptitude for, than from a particular\ndevotion to, its cultivation.\n\nThis aptitude, in many cases at least, is to be mainly referred to some\npeculiarity of structure in one or more of the organs of the senses;\nit is original, and without the particular organic conformation could\nnever have been acquired by centuries of practice and experience.\n\n\nBODILY SUFFERING DEPENDENT UPON ORGANISATION OF NERVOUS SYSTEM.\n\nTo differences in the degree of sensibility of the nervous system,\ntogether with the varying amount of the peripheral ramifications\ndistributed to the external surface, must be ascribed the different\namount of suffering experienced upon the application of inordinate\nstimuli to the nerves. The will is undoubtedly capable of exerting very\ngreat control over the manifestations of feeling called forth by such\npainful impressions upon sentient nerves. Of this Roman history affords\nus many notable examples. But it seems probable that the Romans were\nnot endowed with a nervous system so delicately organised as that of\nthe more highly civilised Greeks; witness the general structure of\ntheir language and their comparative inferiority in the fine arts.\nNeither heroism, nor philosophy, nor even religion, can prevent some\norganisations from exhibiting manifestations of great pain from\nimpressions upon nerves, which in others would occasion but a moderate\namount of suffering; a physical necessity compels them to manifest\nevidences of intense feeling; and thus, by a rude shock inflicted\nupon the nervous system, a mathematician may be at once recalled from\nthe contemplation of other spheres, or a metaphysician from the most\nsublime speculations on the nature and essence of the Deity.\n\nIn the lowest grades of society the general nervous sensibility is\nmostly obtuse; in the highest, on the contrary, it is frequently\nmorbidly acute: in the one case the mental manifestations are dull and\nobscure; in the other they may be brilliant, but are frequently wanting\nin strength and energy.\n\nIn his treatise on tropical diseases, Dr. Mosely observes, that\n\u201cNegroes are void of sensibility to a surprising degree. They are not\nsubject to nervous diseases. They sleep soundly in every disease, nor\ndoes any mental disturbance ever keep them awake. They bear chirurgical\noperations much better than white people; and what would be the cause\nof insupportable pain to a white man, a Negro would almost disregard. I\nhave amputated the legs of many Negroes, who have held the upper part\nof the limb themselves.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\n  \u201cSollt es wahr Sein....\n   Dasz die Menschengestalt, von allen sichtlichen Dingen\n   Ganz allein uns l\u00fcgt, dasz wir, was edel und albern,\n   Was beschr\u00e4nkt und grosz, im Angesicht zu suchen,\n   Eitele Thoren sind, betrogne, betr\u00fcgende Thoren.\u201d\n\n  G\u00d6THE.\n\nCOUNTENANCE INDEX OF MIND.\n\n\nTalleyrand was wont to say, that speech was given to man for the\npurpose of concealing his thoughts. Among mankind in general the\ncountenance may, with equal force, be said to represent a series\nof hieroglyphics by which the internal emotions of the mind may be\nreadily deciphered. Observe a child thrown for the first time among\na number of strangers. To some it will immediately, and as it were\ninstinctively, attach itself, while to others it will manifest the\ngreatest repugnance and dislike. Such first impressions are not the\nresult of reasoning, they spring from the quickness of perception\npeculiar to childhood; and the choice is in general not the less happy,\nalthough the reason may have had no effect in determining it. With a\nrapid glance a mere infant will seize the prevailing expression of\nthe physiognomy, and detect at once the mental constitution of those\nby whom it is surrounded; for pride and impatience, and kindness and\nbenevolence, are written on the plastic countenance in broad legible\ncharacters, though the many, with their blunted perceptions, may, to\na certain extent, have lost the key to their solution. Contrast the\nexpression of the physiognomy of some of the more celebrated among the\nancients, as exemplified in the collection of antique busts preserved\nin the museum of the Capitol at Rome. Compare the broad open brow\nand finely-chiselled features of Trajan, or the beauty, majesty, and\ngrace expressed in the countenance of either of the Antonines, with\nthe coarse, heavy, animal face of Vitellius, or the dull, morose\nexpression of Caligula or of Commodus,\u2014\n\n              \u2014\u2014\u201cWithout a ray\n  Of mind, that makes each feature play\n  Like sparkling waves on a sunny day.\u201d\n\nThe difference is as striking as that which we know from daily\nobservation to exist between the face of a rogue and that of an honest\nman; indeed, we are disposed to believe, with Benjamin Franklin,\n\u201cthat if rogues knew the advantages attached to the practices of the\nvirtues, they would become honest men from mere roguery.\u201d It was for\nthis reason, probably, that beauty of form and proportion were so\nhighly prized by the ancients; and when they prayed the gods to grant\nthem the beautiful with the good, was it not because by experience\nthey had found that in fact they were most frequently associated? In\nsupport of this position, we may cite the authority of Bacon, who, in\nhis Essay on Beauty, remarks, \u201cthat Augustus C\u00e6sar, Titus Vespasianus,\nPhilip le Bel of France, Edward IV. of England, Alcibiades of Athens,\nand Ismael the sophi of Persia, were all high and great spirits, and\nyet the most beautiful men of their time.\u201d Again, the physiognomy of\nthe passions affords us further proof that the emotions of the mind\nbetray themselves by peculiar corporeal phenomena,\u2014each having, as it\nwere, its own proper dialect. Notice the expression of the passions\nwhich follow each other in such quick succession, and are so forcibly\ndepicted upon the mobile countenance of an infant, even before any\nvoluntary movements can be executed by the feeble and powerless limbs.\nLook at a coward, his countenance blanched, and almost cadaverous,\u2014the\nheavy limbs drooping and powerless,\u2014the instruments of life paralysed,\nas though the fountain of existence were suddenly dried up. For grief,\ntake the testimony of Byron, where he describes its effects in producing\n\n  \u201cThe intersected lines of thought,\u2014\n   Those furrows which the burning share\n   Of sorrow ploughs untimely there,\u2014\n   Scars of the lacerated mind\n   Which the soul\u2019s war doth leave behind.\u201d\n\nRegard a man under the influence of a sublime or heroic thought, with\nhis head proudly elevated and nostrils dilated,\u2014he raises himself to\nhis utmost height; while, at the idea of infinity, or the prospect of\na boundless expanse, the arms are involuntarily extended as though he\nwould soar away into unlimited space. The impress of pride is stamped\nin the bold erect bearing, and that of fear in the drooping head and\ntimid step. So true is it that joy and sorrow, love and hate, pain\nand pleasure, virtue and vice, all betray themselves by their organic\nsigns, that when any of these affections are habitual, or frequently\nrecur, their external manifestations become permanently marked in the\nform; and it is in this sense that the habits and emotions of early\nyouth stamp the lineaments with a character never to be effaced,\nor which, in _many cases_ at least, are destined to endure through\nlife. Are we not then justified in concluding, that the kind and\ndegree of mental developement,\u2014the presiding thought,\u2014the ruling\nand predominating principle of life, is influenced by the physical\ntemperament and constitution, and that this latter is in its turn\nreacted upon by the mind?\n\nPARTICULAR PARTS OF ORGANISM INDICATIVE OF MODE OF LIFE AND MENTAL\nTENDENCY.\n\nWe have next to inquire, whether that which is undoubtedly true with\nrespect to the whole does not also obtain with respect to a part?\nwhether, in fact, from the examination of a small portion of an\norganism\u2014an extremity, for example\u2014we should be enabled to determine\nthe nature, mode of life, and mental tendency of the being to which it\nbelonged? For a satisfactory solution of this important question we\nmust appeal to the testimony afforded by the animal world.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\n  \u201cBestimmt Die Gestalt die Lebensweise des Thieres\n   Und die Weise zu leben sie wirkt auf alle Gestalten\n   M\u00e4chtig Zur\u00fcck.\u201d\u2014G\u00d6THE, _Metamorphose der Thiere_.\n\nCORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN FORMS AND HABITS OF ANIMALS.\n\n\nThe most simple observation renders at once apparent a correspondence\nbetween the external form of animals, the general direction of their\ntendencies, and their habits.\n\nLet us examine this question at somewhat greater length. From the\nage of Aristotle to the present time, zoologists have arranged\nthe almost countless tribes of animals into a number of groups or\ndivisions, more or less related in general habits and structure. All\nthe classifications which have been hitherto proposed may be referred\nto one or the other of two general principles. Either the colour of\nthe blood (Aristotle), the conformation of the heart (Hunter), the\narrangement of the nervous system (Owen), or some other peculiarity of\n_internal_ structure, has been selected as the basis of arrangement;\nor the animal creation has been grouped according to certain definite\ncircumstances connected with outward form and configuration. As\nregards their internal organisation, the variations in the structure\nand arrangement of the nervous system affords by far the best means\nof classifying animals, and the whole animal world has accordingly\nbeen divided into five primary divisions. We have already endeavoured\nto prove that the manifestations of mind are only made known to us\nthrough the medium of corporeal organs, whatever may be the nature of\nits essence. By the state of the nervous system volition is modified or\ncontrolled, the operation of the senses accelerated or retarded, the\nmuscular movements rendered feeble and uncertain, or strong, vigorous,\nand energetic; in fine, the chief manifestations of life, thought,\nvolition, and independent motion, are all regulated by the condition\nand structure of the central nervine masses.\n\n\nAPPENDAGES TO THE TRUNK A KEY TO THE ENTIRE ORGANISATION AND HABITS OF\nANIMALS.\n\nThe appendages to the trunk, like the arrangement of the nervous\nsystem, furnish also a leading peculiarity of structure, and they may\nbe selected as the basis of a classification founded upon outward form.\nFor the most part, destined either for the purposes of locomotion,\nor to assist in the procuring of food, they must of necessity be in\nperfect accordance with the nervous and nutritive systems. Hence\nthe capacities, powers, and general habits of an animal, must be in\ncorrespondence with this part of its organisation; so that when we\nare acquainted with the form and arrangement of the extremities of an\nanimal, a key is thereby afforded to its entire organisation. Both its\nexternal configuration, its mode of life, and its internal structure,\nmust harmonise, and be in accordance with the arrangement of the\nextremities. Its breathing and vascular apparatus, its nutritive and\ngenerative systems, are thus all indicated to us; and from a knowledge\nof one particular we may safely and surely predicate the nature of the\nrest.\n\n_Annelida._\u2014Thus in the worms (_Annelida_), creatures exhibiting but\nfew of the higher manifestations of life, we find the appendages\nto the trunk in their simplest form,\u2014that of fine, minute bristles\nattached to the several rings or segments of the body. In the sea-mouse\n(_Aphrodita_), their bristles attain a somewhat higher developement,\neach of them being connected with a distinct elevation, or mammillary\nprocess, with which it is, as it were, articulated.\n\n_Myriapoda._\u2014In the Centipedes, the first evidence of a well-formed\nextremity makes its appearance in the form of numerous articulated legs\nterminated by simple points. These legs, rudimentary in the lowest\nspecies (_Iulid\u00e6_), in harmony with their retiring habits and vegetable\ndiet, are divided into distinct joints, and provided with proper\nmuscles, in the strong and carnivorous varieties (_Scolopendrid\u00e6_). In\nthese latter animals, the ventral nervous ganglia are also increased\nin size, in a ratio proportioned to the higher and more complex\nstructure of the appendages to the trunk.\n\n_Insects._\u2014In insects, creatures distinguished by so many and such\nadmirable instincts, and endowed with such active powers of locomotion,\nthe appendages to the body, both legs and wings, are perfectly and\nbeautifully formed. The former, six in number, are attached to the\nthree first thoracic segments of the body, composed of distinct\narticulations, connected by ligaments and muscles, and furnished\nwith a series of minute breathing tubes, or tracheal ramifications,\nextending throughout their entire substance. The latter\u2014the wings\u2014vary\nmuch in their number, form, and arrangement; and it is upon characters\nfurnished by them that the nearest approximation to a perfect\nclassification of insects\u2014that of Burmeister\u2014is based. Thus, the legs\nare typical of the class, the wings characterise the orders.\n\n_Arachnida._\u2014In the spider tribe (_Arachnida_) the legs, in their\ngeneral structure, resemble those of insects; but they are eight in\nnumber, and, in addition to them, these creatures are provided with\nremarkable claw-like appendages to their jaws\u2014mere organs of feeling\nin the mites, but strong and powerful instruments of prehension in the\nscorpion tribe.\n\n_Crustacea._\u2014The crab and lobster tribe (_Crustaceans_) are likewise\naccurately characterised by the appendages to the trunk, the number and\ndisposition of these parts having been employed by Milne Edwards for\nthe purpose of dividing these creatures into a number of orders.\n\n_Mollusca._\u2014Among the mollusks, the classes are nearly all named from\nthe peculiarities in form or the position of the feet. We have the\nbarnacles (_Cirrhopoda_), animals with six pair of articulated flexible\narms, composed of a series of small pieces studded with minute hairs,\nand which form, when they are extended, a species of net by means of\nwhich the animal catches its prey. The _Branchiopoda_\u2014creatures such\nas the _Terebratula_\u2014with two long fleshy arms placed near the mouth,\nwhich are hollow, muscular, and disposed in spiral folds. We have the\n_Tunicata_, such as _Ascidians_ and the _Conchifera_, as the oyster and\nmussel, beings which are destitute of members, and all but incapable\nof locomotion. The _Gasteropoda_, of which the slug and snail afford\nfamiliar examples, and that are furnished with a locomotive apparatus\npeculiar to the whole class, and termed the foot or ventral disc. The\n_Pteropoda_, nearly allied to the _Gasteropoda_ in their internal\norganisation, but differing from them in the possession of two broad\nfleshy expansions, resembling fins, which are attached to the side of\nthe neck, and are well adapted for swimming. And, lastly, we have the\n_Cephalopoda_, such as the nautilus and cuttle-fish, creatures with\nnumerous strong muscular arms attached around the head, and in some\nspecies provided with sucking discs, by means of which they are enabled\nsuccessfully to attack and capture the strongest and most active prey.\nIn all these instances we clearly see that the appendages characterise\nthe class, and that, from an acquaintance with their number and\narrangement, a naturalist could readily come to a conclusion as to the\naffinities, structure, and general habits of any animal in the series.\n\n_Fishes._\u2014The fishes are divided into two great natural orders\u2014those\nfurnished with a bony skeleton and those in which the framework of the\nbody is cartilaginous. The former division are distinguished by the\npossession of a swimming bladder, and by the nearly equal developement\nof the parts corresponding to the extremities\u2014the pectoral and ventral\nfins. The pectoral fins, situated immediately behind the head, are\npresent in all the osseous fishes, traces of them being found even\nwhere they might be supposed to be entirely wanting, as in the eel;\nthey do not, however, attain any very considerable size, rarely\nequalling, and never surpassing, the magnitude of the ventral fins.\nIn the cartilaginous fishes, on the contrary, not only in those which\nordinarily remain quiet at the bottom of the water, as the skate, the\nsole, the flounder, and other flat fishes, but even in the active and\nvoracious sharks we find no swimming-bladder. In these cases, its\nplace is supplied and its duty performed by the enormously developed\nanterior member or pectoral fin, which greatly surpasses the ventral\nfin in size; and it is by means of the active movements of this large\nhand that these creatures raise themselves from the bottom of the water\nto the surface.\n\n_Reptiles._\u2014In the class of reptiles the characters afforded by\nthe form of the extremities are not less important. Of the four\norders into which this class is divided, one\u2014that of the serpents\n(_Ophidia_)\u2014is altogether destitute of members, with the exception of\nthe rudimentary traces of extremities met with in some few species\n(_Anguis_, _Bimanes_, and _Seps_). In another order, that of amphibious\nanimals (_Batrachia_), as the frogs, toads, &c., the extremities\nare still typical of certain peculiarities of organisation. Some of\nthese creatures may be said to remain in an imperfectly developed or\nembryonic condition during their whole existence. Instead of breathing\nin adult life by means of lungs, as do the more perfectly organised\nof the _batrachia_, they retain throughout existence that peculiar\nstructure of the respiratory apparatus\u2014the branchial tufts\u2014which\nin the latter are present but in the embryo condition. In those of\nthe amphibious animals which breathe by means of permanent branchia\n(_Perenni-branchiata_), such as the _Lepidosiren_ and the _Proteus_,\nthe extremities are either mere filamentary appendages, or at most\nbut very imperfectly-formed organs, and always typical of their\ncomparatively inferior organisation; while, in the higher species,\nthat is, those provided with lungs, and losing their branchi\u00e6 in the\nadult state (_Caduci-branchiata_), as the frog, the salamander, &c.,\nthe extremities are well formed and perfectly developed. The third\norder of reptiles\u2014that of the lizard tribe (_Sauria_)\u2014is made up of\nmembers very dissimilar both in their appearance and general habits. In\nthe aquatic crocodiles the toes are connected by means of a membrane;\nlike ducks and other aquatic animals, these creatures are web-footed.\nThe alligator, so nearly allied to the crocodile in structure and\nhabits, with the exception that it is more terrestrial in its nature,\nis furnished with a foot the toes of which are only webbed in half\ntheir length, the other half being free and unconnected by membrane,\ntheir amphibious mode of life being indicated by their foot. If we\ncompare the foot of these creatures with that of the true lizards,\nthe difference of structure will be found to be considerable. The\nfoot of the true lizard is provided with five toes to both the fore\nand hind members, while attached to the hinder members of crocodiles\nand alligators we find but four toes. The toes of the lizard are not\nconnected by a membrane, but are separate, and armed with nails,\nfor these creatures live on land, and have need of well-constructed\nlocomotive organs to enable them to catch their active prey. Among\nlizards, that remarkable animal the chameleon, that is provided with\na particular structure of the skin, whereby its change of colour\nis effected, is distinguished by the possession of a member, the\nstructure of which is not less peculiar. The toes are arranged in\ntwo packets, which are capable of being brought into opposition\u2014a\nstructure admirably adapted to the mode of life of the animal\u2014the\nclimbing of trees and shrubs in pursuit of insects. The ichthyosaurus\nand plesiosaurus, creatures of the lizard tribe which have now become\nextinct, are both characterised by the form of their extremities.\nThe former has four members like paddles, each composed of nearly a\nhundred small bones of an irregular polygonal shape and arranged in a\npavement-like form. The latter has also four paddle-shaped extremities,\nbut the number of bones of which each is composed is much less than in\nthe ichthyosaurus\u2014not above fifty, the pieces being at the same time of\na different shape, and not arranged in a tessellated form.\n\n_Birds._\u2014Among birds the foot is a most important organ, serving\nat once for support, prehension, and locomotion. Its modifications\nare accordingly very numerous, and ornithologists have employed the\ncharacters presented by it as a basis of classification. Scopoli, in\nhis Introduction to Natural History (1777), proposed a systematic\ndistribution of birds into two divisions founded upon the form of the\nscales covering the foot; thus, some are furnished with scales, small\nand polygonal (_Retepedes_), while others (_Scutipedes_) have the\nlegs covered in front with unequal semicircular plates. So, again,\nin the division of birds proposed by Nitzsch, viz. into the aerial,\nterrestrial, and aquatic, the foot will at once serve to indicate the\ndifferent orders. We will proceed to examine the special characters\nafforded by the foot of birds in each of the groups or orders, adopting\nthe classification of Kirby, one of the most recent.\n\nIn the first order, the birds of prey (_Raptores_), which includes the\neagle, the vulture, the owl, &c., for the purpose of striking their\nquarry, and of securing it by a firm grasp, a strong muscular foot is\nnecessary, and we consequently find that the foot is provided with four\nshort muscular toes, three placed before, and one behind, all armed\nwith long, sharp, hooked talons, those of the thumb and innermost toe\nbeing the longest, as the great duty of grasping is mainly performed\nby them. The claws are also capable of being drawn back, they are\nretractile like those of the cat; and the scales upon the upper surface\nof the foot, as well as the skin covering it below, are strong and\ntough for the purpose of protecting the member from the attacks of the\nliving prey upon which these creatures feed. The foot is also broadly\nmarked, the kind of marking and the size of the scales being especially\ncharacteristic of the different genera and families. In the vultures,\nwhich from their feeding on carrion do not require such strength of\nfoot, we find a notable deviation from this general character, the toes\nbecoming longer and slighter and the claws much weaker.\n\nIn the second order of birds, the perchers (_Passeres_ of Linn\u00e6us),\nwhich comprehends sparrows, thrushes, larks, &c., the foot is\nconstructed for another and a very different purpose. Its chief office\nis to support the bird in a horizontal position upon the boughs\nand branches of trees and shrubs; hence the foot is long, the toes\nslender, very flexible, and armed with long, straight, weak claws,\nwhich are not at all retractile. All the birds of this order possess\nfour toes, one of which, the hind toe (_hallux_), is placed straight\nout behind, the others being in front, and those situated externally\nare connected to the middle ones at their bases. The scales covering\nthe foot are regularly disposed, and as they are not needed for the\npurpose of defence, they are thin and tender, resembling ordinary scarf\nskin. Even in the shrikes,\u2014the birds of prey of this order, who feed\nupon living creatures and use the foot for securing them, the claws\nare not sharp, nor is the foot formed in such a manner as to ensure\na very secure grasp, and we accordingly find that they merely press\nthis organ upon their prey for the purpose of holding it. In a few\nother families of this order, as the todies, the kingfishers, &c., the\nfoot is called upon to assist in feeding, and we consequently find\ncertain modifications of structure indicative of this office. In order\nto strengthen the foot and to secure a firmer grasp, the external and\nmiddle toes are united almost to the apex, and the strength of the hind\ntoe is considerably increased.\n\nIn the third order, the climbers (_Scansores_), or, as they have been\nsometimes termed, the yoke-footed, to which the woodpecker and the\nparrot tribe belong, the structure of the foot is modified for the\nimportant purpose of enabling the creature to support itself in all\npositions upon the stems and branches of trees. In order to effect\nthis the foot is made strong, short, and muscular, the claws sharp\nand curved, and the toes are placed in a very different position to\nthat which they occupy in other orders, two of them being situated in\nfront and two behind. By such a disposition, a strong, secure grasp is\nafforded; and thus it is that most birds belonging to this order are\nenabled to climb in a vertical position, and to effect movements like\nanimals of the monkey tribe. In general these birds move very awkwardly\nupon a level surface, but in one or two species the structure of the\nfoot is so modified that they can run upon the ground with great speed.\nThis is the case with the travellers\u2019 friend of South America, and\nwith the ground parrot of New South Wales; and these creatures have\naccordingly slender toes so constructed, that one of the two placed\nbehind can be brought in front at will, so that a larger and more\nsecure basis of support is thus afforded.\n\nIn the fourth order the scratchers (_Rasores_), to which the common\nfowl, the pheasant, and the pigeon belong, the foot is adapted for\nan instrument of active locomotion, as well as for the purpose of\nprocuring food by scratching in the earth. Hence we find it strong,\nwith a long muscular leg, and four toes, three before and one behind,\ncovered with broad scales and armed with short claws. The thumb, so\nnecessary for perching and climbing, is in birds of this order short,\nrudimentary, and attached high up in the leg, so that the whole foot\nbeing placed flat upon the ground, affords a very firm support to the\nanimal.\n\nIn the fifth order of birds, the runners (_Cursores_), to which the\nostrich, the emu, and the cassowary belong, the structure of the foot\nis wholly that of a powerful instrument of locomotion. The leg is\nlong, the thigh strong and muscular, and the foot short and compact.\nThe toes which never exceed two or three in number, and of which\nthe second is the largest, are placed all in front, and armed with\nvery short claws, or, as in the African ostrich, with the outer toe\ndestitute of a claw. The scales are limited to the upper surface of the\nfoot, the under surface being flexible and occupied by an elastic pad\nupon which the member rests. Such a conformation of limb, which would\nbe wholly useless for perching or climbing, is admirably fitted for\nrunning\u2014witness the swiftness of the ostrich\u2014a creature equalling and\neven surpassing the fleetest horse in speed.\n\nIn the sixth order, the waders (_Grallatores_), or stilt birds, as\nthe stork, the crane, the heron, &c., the leg is long and slender,\nand the foot weak and covered with shield-shaped scales. The toes,\nfour in number, are long and straight, three being placed anteriorly,\nand a shorter one (wanting in the plovers and lapwings) behind; they\nare frequently palmated at their base, as in the stork; or, as in\nthe middle claw of the heron, toothed or notched like a saw; while\nsometimes they have a narrow-winged appendage, running along the side,\nas in the sandpipers. In search of their food, insects and small fish,\nthe individuals of this order frequent marshy places and shallow\nwaters, and many of them, as the stork and heron, are remarkable for\nthe unerring certainty with which they strike and seize their small\nfinny prey.\n\nIn the last order, the swimmers (_Natatores_), called also web-footed\nbirds, to which the goose, duck, and gull belong, the foot is modified\nto assist in swimming. The legs are short; the four toes, all placed\nin front, are united by a broad membranous expansion, and armed with\nclaws, the thumb being likewise brought in front, so that a greater\nextent of surface may be given to this oar-like member. A foot\nthus constructed would be wholly unsuited for perching, running, or\ngrasping, but it is well adapted to the wants and habits of these\naquatic birds.\n\n_Mammals._\u2014It is but in animals who suckle their young (_Mammalia_)\nthat the extremities attain their greatest state of developement, and\nit is in the higher orders alone that they become useful as organs of\nprehension, their office being limited in most of the lower tribes to\nsupport and locomotion. In the lowest order of the series, or whale\ntribe (_Cetacea_), the members, in the number of pieces of which they\nare composed, bear a considerable resemblance to the fins of fishes,\nthough they are somewhat differently constructed, according as the\nanimal may be destined exclusively for an aquatic existence, like the\ncommon sperm whale, or be more or less herbivorous, and consequently\nterrestrial in its habits, like the dugong. In the former case, the\nextremities are converted into broad paddles adapted for swimming, and\nthe feet are webbed; in the latter, the members are better developed,\nthe toes being free, and furnished with nails at their termination.\n\nOf those orders of _Mammalia_ which are provided with four members\u2014the\nordinary quadrupeds\u2014some are furnished with a foot which appears to\nbe entirely without toes, their place being supplied by a mass of\nhorny tissue\u2014the hoof. This is the case with the ruminants\u2014animals\nthat chew the cud\u2014as the cow, and with the horse; but in the latter,\nas the name of the order implies (_Solidungula_), the hoof is solid,\nwhile in the ruminants it is cleft; and hence by some naturalists these\nlatter animals have been termed _Bisulca_. Some slight differences\nare perceptible in the construction of the feet of ruminants: thus\nthe chamois, the antelope, and other of the deer tribe, are furnished\nwith an additional toe, which, projecting backwards, affords a firmer\nsupport to the body. In the thick-skinned animals (_Pachydermata_) the\ntoes can hardly be said to be free, being still partially enclosed in\nthe tough skin. It is from characters afforded by the foot that several\ntribes of animals belonging to this order are mainly characterised:\nthus the elephant has five toes to each foot, the rhinoceros three,\nand the hog and hippopotamus four. Among those of the mammalia which\nare characterised by the presence of four members with distinct and\nseparate toes and nails, but few are furnished with a true hand\u2014that\nis, a member with a thumb capable of being brought into apposition with\nthe other fingers. Carnivorous animals have either a foot with sharp\nrecurved and retractile claws, as the cat and tiger, or with straight\nblunt claws, not retractile, as the bear; or the feet are small, almost\ncompletely enveloped in the skin, and furnished with a membranous\nexpansion connecting the toes, as in the aquatic seal and walrus,\nor river-horse: but in all these animals, although the fore-legs may\nbe more or less employed as instruments of prehension, they are not\nused for the purpose of conveying food to the mouth. In some of the\ngnawing animals, as the squirrel, the anterior extremity commences to\nassume the function of a hand; and in a few of the kangaroo tribe,\nsuch as the opossum, the hinder extremities are provided with a thumb\ncapable of being brought into apposition with the other toes. The hand\nof bats, which serves these animals not merely for flying, but also\nsupplies the place of eyes and ears, enabling them to avoid objects\nduring the obscurity of night, is furnished with a sense of touch\nextremely delicate. It is in man and the monkey tribe only that we\nmeet with a true and perfect hand. In the latter, both the fore and\nhind extremities are constructed upon the same general principle as\nthe hand of man; and hence these animals have been styled four-handed\n(_Quadrumana_).\n\n\u201cIn man the upper members are disposed in a manner the most favourable\nfor the exercise of their functions as organs of prehension and of\ntouch: the fingers are long and flexible; they have all, with the\noccasional exception of the ring-finger, separate movements, which\nother animals (even those provided with hands) have not; the thumb,\nwhich is apposable to these latter, is longer in proportion to the\nfingers than in monkeys, and consequently can more readily apply itself\nto the extremity of their palm or surface, and better seize small\nobjects. The nails, which are large and flat, cover the back part only\nof the extremity of the fingers, so as to furnish a support to the\norgans of touch without in the least depriving them of their delicacy.\nThe entire hand can execute rotatory movements the most extended; and\nto the arm which supports it is afforded a solid attachment by means of\na large shoulder or blade-bone and a long collar-bone.\u201d The statement\nof Milne Edwards,[3] then, does not appear far removed from the truth,\n\u201cThat the faculties of the _Mammalia_ are the more elevated in\nproportion as their members are the better constructed for prehension\nand for touch.\u201d\n\n\nUSE OF A KNOWLEDGE OF THE FORM OF APPENDAGES TO TRUNKS IN GEOLOGY.\n\nA knowledge of the form of the appendages to the trunk of animals is of\ngreat service to the geologist, for it has been well and truly said,\nthat the organic remains imbedded in rocks are as medals struck in\ncommemoration of the great revolutions which the earth has undergone,\nand so small a portion as the extremity of an animal is sufficient to\nindicate its nature, and to enable us to ascertain the class and order\nto which it belongs. Let us take a few examples. Some fossil bones\nwere discovered by General Washington near his seat in Virginia. Mr.\nJefferson, by whom they were examined, stated that they had belonged\nto an enormous carnivorous animal, which from the size of its claws he\nnamed the _Megalonyx_. Upon an examination more carefully conducted by\nCuvier, it was found that in the paw the second bone of the toe was\nsymmetrical, while in animal feeders furnished with retractile claws it\nis curved, and not symmetrical; the first bone, too, was the shortest,\nwhereas in the lion and others of the feline tribe it is the longest.\nWhence Cuvier was led to conclude that the creature in question was a\nsloth of large dimensions, which fed only upon plants.\n\nUpon another occasion, from a careful consideration of the form and\nsize of a toe found in the Palatinate, near Eppelsheim, Cuvier was able\nto determine that the animal to which it belonged was of the edentate\ntribe of _Pangolins_. It was from an examination of the hand that\nCuvier decided upon the nature of the _Pterodactylus_. This curious\nanimal partook of the nature of both the reptile and the bird. Like\nthe bird, it was furnished with a long neck and a horny beak, but in\nits jaws and teeth it resembled the crocodile. It had not, however,\nlike the bird, feathered wings without fingers to strengthen them, nor\nhad it a wing in which the thumb alone is free, like that of the bat.\nInstead of the bony pieces of all the fingers being equally prolonged,\nthe second finger only was extended to a great length, and from it the\nwing spread out, the other fingers being short and furnished with nails\nlike the toes of ordinary animals. Collini, its discoverer, supposed it\nto be of marine origin; Soemmerring contended that it was a mammal; but\nits true place in the animal series was first assigned to it by Cuvier,\nwho has satisfactorily shewn that it is in fact intermediate between a\nbird and a reptile.\n\nA knowledge of the form of the extremities of animals has been of great\nservice to pal\u00e6ontology in another way\u2014in proving the existence of\ncertain species of animals at given periods of the earth\u2019s formation,\nfrom the print of their footsteps left upon the sand or other\nmaterial of the strata while it was yet in a soft state. Such traces\nwere first observed by Dr. Duncan in Dumfries-shire. On examining a\nsandstone quarry, he found these prints not on one only, but on several\nsuccessive layers of the stone; so that they must have been made at\nperiods distant from each other. Similar impressions have been since\nobserved in the Forest marble-beds near Bath, at Hessburg in Saxony, in\nthe State of Connecticut, and in some other parts of the world.\n\n\u201cThe marks found in Dumfries-shire, of which there were as many as\ntwenty-four upon a single slab, formed as it were a regular track,\nwith six distinct repetitions of each foot, the fore and hind feet\nhaving left different impressions, and even the marks of the claws\nbeing discernible. They appear to have been made by some animal of the\ntortoise kind. At Hessburg the impressions were discovered in quarries\nof grey and red sandstone alternating; and the marks were both larger\nand more distinct than those found in Scotland. In one the hind foot\nmeasured twelve inches in length, and the fore foot always appeared\nmuch smaller than the hind. From this circumstance, and from the\ndistance between the two being only fourteen inches, it is conjectured\nthat the animal was a marsupial like the kangaroo, and it has been\ntermed by Dr. Kaup _Chirotherium_, from the supposed resemblance of the\nfour toes and turned-out thumb to a hand. In the State of Connecticut,\nnear Northampton, footsteps differing exceedingly in size have been\nfound in inclined strata of sandstone. They were evidently made before\nit assumed its present position. The marks are always in pairs, and the\ntracts cross each other like those of ducks on the margin of a muddy\npond. One is of the length of fifteen or sixteen inches, and a feathery\nspur or appendage appears to have been attached to the heel, eight or\nnine inches long. The distance between the steps is proportioned to\ntheir length, but in every case the pace appears to have been longer\nthan that of the existing species of birds to which they approach\nnearest\u2014the ostrich, and the animal must consequently have been\nproportionably larger. How much larger he was than the ostrich may be\ngathered from this, that the large African ostrich has only a foot ten\ninches long, less than two-thirds that of this bird, and yet stands\nnine feet high. These proportions would give a height of fourteen feet\nto the extinct animal.\u201d[4]\n\nThe characters afforded by the foot have recently enabled Mr.\nStrickland to determine that the dodo, a bird now extinct, is not\nrelated either to the gallinaceous birds,\u2014the vulture or the ostriches\nas some have conjectured,\u2014but is closely allied to the pigeons.\n\nFrom this cursory examination of the animal world we may gather the\nimportant conclusion, that from the structure of an extremity we may\nobtain a complete insight into the entire organisation of an animal;\nand thus the paws furnished with sharp retractile claws of the lion\nindicate at once to a naturalist its strong teeth, its powerful\njaws, and its muscular strength of limb; while from the cleft foot\nof the cow, the complicated structure of its stomach, the definite\npeculiarities of its jaws, and its vegetable diet, may with equal\ncertainty be predicated.\n\nThus, as Paley justly observes, \u201cIn the swan, the web foot, the spoon\nbill, the long neck, the thick down, the graminivorous stomach, have\nall a relation to one another, inasmuch as they all concur in one\ndesign, that of supplying the occasions of an aquatic fowl, floating\nupon the surface of shallow parts of water, and seeking its food at\nthe bottom. Begin with any one of these peculiarities of structure, and\nobserve how the rest follow it. The web foot qualifies the bird for\nswimming, the spoon bill enables it to graze. But how is an animal,\nfloating upon the surface of pools of water, to gaze at the bottom\nexcept by the mediation of a long neck? And a long neck is accordingly\ngiven to it. Again, a warm-blooded animal, which was to pass its life\nupon water, required a defence against the coldness of that element.\nSuch a defence is furnished to the swan in the muff in which its body\nis wrapped. But all this outward apparatus would have been in vain if\nthe intestinal system had not been suited to the digestion of vegetable\nsubstances.\u201d[5]\n\nAnd, again, of the mole: \u201cThe form of the feet fixes the character of\nthe animal. They are so many shovels; they determine its action to\nthat of rooting in the ground; and every thing about its body agrees\nwith this destination. The cylindrical figure of the mole, as well as\nthe compactness of its form, arising from the terseness of its limbs,\nproportionally lessens its labour; because, according to its bulk, it\nthereby requires the least possible quantity of earth to be removed for\nits progress. It has nearly the same structure of the face and jaws\nas a swine, and the same office for them. The nose is sharp, slender,\ntendinous, strong; with a pair of nerves going down to the end of it.\nThe plush covering, which, by the smoothness, closeness, and polish of\nthe short piles that compose it, rejects the adhesion of almost every\nspecies of earth, defends the animal from cold and wet, and from the\nimpediment which it would experience by the mould sticking to its body.\nFrom soils of all kind the little pioneer comes forth bright and clean.\nInhabiting dirt, it is of all animals the neatest.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\n  \u201cSome animals have horns, some have hoofs, some talons,\n  some claws, some spurs and beaks; man hath none of all\n  these, but is weak and feeble, and sent unarmed into the\n  world. Why?\u2014a hand, with reason to rise it, supplies the\n  place of all these.\u201d\u2014RAY.\n\nFORM OF EXTREMITIES DIFFERS IN INDIVIDUALS OF THE SAME SPECIES.\n\n\nSir J. Barrow states of the Hottentot that there is not an animal among\nthe numbers that range the wilds of Africa, if he be at all acquainted\nwith it, the print of whose foot he cannot distinguish. The print of\nany of his companions\u2019 feet he would single out among a thousand.\nThat particular species of animals can be distinguished by their feet\nappears, then, an undoubted fact; and it is not less true than that\nmodifications in the form of the extremities are met with among animals\nof the same species. Thus the male frog is distinguished from the\nfemale by the presence of a more fully-developed thumb and the addition\nof a velvety, cushion-like substance to its outer surface, by means\nof which he is enabled to grasp the latter more securely, and ensure\nthe fecundation of the eggs. The land-frog (_Hyla_) differs from the\ncommon frog (_Rana_) in possessing a viscous disc at the extremity of\neach toe, so that this animal can readily mount the branches of trees\nin search of prey. The courage of the falcon is estimated by the form\nand disposition of the wing feathers, and that of the fighting cock by\nthe conformation of his foot. But it is to the hand of man,\u2014the emblem\nof his vast superiority over all the lower animals, that we would more\nparticularly invite attention. The hand of man, like the appendages\nto the trunk of animals, has a certain definite relation with his\nwhole organisation. As Sir C. Bell observes, \u201cThe possession of an\ninstrument like the hand implies that there must be a great part of the\norganisation which strictly belongs to it concealed. The hand is not\na thing appended, or put on to the body, like an additional movement\nin a watch; but a thousand intricate relations must be established\nthroughout the whole frame in connexion with it.\u201d\n\nThe form of the hand, like that of the entire body, is materially\ninfluenced by age, sex, and race; and it is not less affected by the\nparticular kind of organisation, the mental disposition, and the\ntemperament of the individual.\n\n_Age._\u2014In the minute germ, or embryo of a month, the form of the hand\nresembles that of one of the lower animals. It puts on the appearance\nrather of a respiratory organ than of an instrument of prehension,\nand, being completely destitute of fingers, presents a great analogy\nin form with the fin of a fish. As the little being increases in size,\nthe fingers become gradually developed. They at first appear as small\nbud-like projections attached to the perfectly-formed palm. By degrees\nthe several pieces of the fingers become more and more elongated,\nand at length attain their perfect length and shape; though, even at\nbirth, the relative size of the palm, compared with the fingers, is\nconsiderably greater than in the adult. During infancy and childhood\nthe hand retains, to a certain extent, the same character, the hand\nof the child being soft and thick, with a broad palm and short\nrudimentary fingers. With the period of puberty it attains its perfect\ndevelopement, and acquires characters which it preserves throughout\nmanhood. As old age creeps on the hand loses its softness and pliancy,\nit becomes hard and insensible, and its vigour, like that of the\nmind, may be said to be gone. \u201cLe cal de la main, presque toujours,\njette une ombre sur l\u2019esprit,\u201d says D\u2019Arpentigny. Politics, science,\nliterature\u2014whatever active intellectual pursuit the mind formerly\ndelighted in, commences at this period of life to lose its former\ncharm, to be succeeded by a love of quiet rural occupation. In the\nlanguage of the author just quoted, \u201cIt is when our stiffened hands,\nbecome, as it were, ossified and nearly insensible, afford a faithful\nimage of our impoverished intelligence, that we are the most ruled by\nthis mania for agricultural pursuits.\u201d\n\n_Sex._\u2014The sexes differ as much in the form of their hands as they\ndo in the figure of the skeleton, and in the general habit and\nconformation of the entire body. As Carus observes, \u201cHe must be but a\nsuperficial observer of mankind who could not at once recognise the sex\nfrom a simple inspection of the hand. The hand of woman is smaller,\nmore delicate, and much more finely articulated than that of man; it\nhas a softer palm, and joints which are but slightly prominent. The\nhand of man, on the contrary, is large, firm, and broad, is furnished\nwith strong projecting joints, and a hard wide palm, together with a\nlarge thumb, with a strong convex ball or root.\u201d Here, again, we find\nthe physical structure in harmony with the mental disposition\u2014the firm,\nstrong, broad hand of man being indicative of his active, energetic,\nreasoning mind; and the soft, narrow, delicate hand of woman,\nsymbolical of her sensitive, yielding, contemplative character.\n\n_Race._\u2014We have not yet obtained sufficient data to enable us to\nascertain any thing very definite respecting this part of our subject.\nWhether the hand of races springing from the Caucasian stock presents\na form essentially different from that of people originating from the\nMongolian,\u2014whether the hand of the Negro races resembles or differs\nfrom that of the American tribes, must be determined by the future\ninvestigations of intelligent and observing travellers. From the\nfew observations that have hitherto been made, it would appear that\nin the American and Mongolian races the hand is characterised by a\npreponderance of the motive element over the sensitive, the member\nbeing large and coarse, with the bones, muscles, and joints, strongly\ndeveloped. As regards the dark-coloured races we know that they differ\nsomewhat from the white in the texture of their skin: it is coarse\nin its structure, provided with a larger number of sebaceous glands,\nand covered by a thicker layer of cuticle, so that the sentient\nterminations of the nerves being less exposed its general sensibility\nmust be considerably less than that of the skin of white people.\n\nBut the hand not only affords us characters by which the age and sex\nmay be determined, it is likewise an index of the general habit of\nbody, of the kind of temperament, and of the mental tendency and\ndisposition.\n\n\nHAND, INDEX OF HABIT OF BODY AND TEMPERAMENT.\n\nThe general habit of body, and the kind of temperament, we determine\nfrom certain general signs deduced from the hand. We observe the\nstructure of the skin\u2014whether it be fine or coarse in its texture,\nwhether it be hard and unyielding, or soft and elastic. We note\nthe quantity of fat and of cellular tissue; and this enables us to\nform a judgment respecting the degree of _embonpoint_, and we have\nalready abundantly proved that a man of a soft, lax habit, with an\nabundance of cellular and fatty tissues, differs in mental tendency and\ndisposition from one of firm, tense fibre, in whom the bones, muscles,\nand articulations, are strong and prominent. Thus, a soft, thick hand,\nloaded with fat, denotes little energy of character, and a soft,\nyielding, inactive disposition; while, on the contrary, a thin, firm,\nbony, or muscular hand indicates a rough, active, energetic nature.\nWith respect to the texture of the skin\u2014a hand possessing a delicate\nand highly-sensitive skin is accompanied by a similar structure of the\ntegumentary envelope of the entire body, and is always associated with\nan excitable organisation, with a highly sensitive, mobile disposition.\nA coarse, dry texture of the skin denotes a preponderance of muscular\nforce over sensibility, and a character more remarkable for solidity\nand resolution than for imagination or vivacity of conception. The\nhand partakes of the nature of the whole body; when the latter is\ngracefully and symmetrically formed, with its several parts in nice\nadaptation and co-ordination, the former shares its perfection and is\nconstructed after the same general plan; and we accordingly find that\na powerful, athletic individual is furnished with a large hard hand,\nwith its joints or articulations strong and prominent, and a delicate,\nsensitive person, with a small, narrow hand, with its joints small and\nbut slightly prominent.\n\n\nHAND, FOUR PRIMARY FORMS OF, CONNECTED WITH PARTICULAR MENTAL\nTENDENCIES.\n\nIn order correctly to determine the more particular signs of the mental\ndisposition which may be drawn from an examination of the hand, we\nmust first take into consideration the special physiological functions\nof the organ. On the one hand, it is the most delicate instrument\nof feeling,\u2014the organ of touch, by means of which we judge of so\nmany properties of bodies; on the other hand, the finest and most\nskilful instrument of motion and of prehension; and it may likewise be\nregarded as the organ of art. A hand rather below the average size,\nand of which the skin is soft and delicate, the fingers long, and\nprovided with numerous cuticular ridges, which are indicative of a\nlarge number of the sentient papill\u00e6 of touch, the bony portion but\nslightly developed, and the joints not prominent, is admirably adapted\nfor an organ of sensation, but by no means suited for an instrument\nof motion; while, on the contrary, a size rather above the average,\ntogether with a massive, bony, framework, strong muscles and tendons,\nand large joints, are the characteristics of a powerful instrument of\nprehension\u2014of a hand in which sensation is sacrificed to motion.\n\nIn the former case, we may with certainty predicate a mind mobile,\nimaginative, and inclined to abstraction,\u2014a mind employed chiefly on\nsubjective phenomena; in the latter, the mind is rather objective in\nits action than subjective, operating powerfully upon the external\nworld, whether by arms, agriculture, or the mechanical arts: the former\nhand we term sensitive, the latter motive.\n\nIn the highest and most perfect form of hand, thin, delicate, conical\nfingers are combined with a moderate-sized palm and a well-developed\nthumb,\u2014both the sensitive and motive parts are in nice and accurate\nadaptation; the instrument being thus rendered capable of executing\nwhatever the intellect may desire: such a hand we term \u201cpsychical.\u201d\nIn the lowest form of hand, the member retains throughout adult\nlife the character which it presented in infancy, and it strikingly\nresembles the hand of those of the monkey tribe most nearly allied\nto man in their organisation and outward form,\u2014a hard, thick, palm\nbeing joined to short, rudimentary fingers: such a form of hand we\nstyle \u201celementary.\u201d It is mostly associated with a crude, undeveloped\nstate of the intellectual powers. Thus, by tracing the normal\ndevelopement and the anatomy and physiology of the hand, we have\nobtained four definite types of formation founded upon anatomical and\nphysiological characters, and corresponding to a certain extent to\nthe temperaments,\u2014the psychical as the highest form, the elementary\nas the lowest, and, as intermediate forms, the sensitive and the\nmotive. The sensitive is characterised by softness, delicacy, and a\nrounded form,\u2014by a member adapted by its structure for an accurate\ndiscrimination of the external world, and for a delicate organ\nof sensation; the motive, by great developement of the muscular,\ntendinous, and osseous structures, and exercising its objective\ninfluence by virtue of its active movements and its physical force; the\npsychical uniting the perfections of both the sensitive and the motive\ntypes, the elementary without the excellencies of either.\n\nWe pass on to a somewhat more detailed examination of the several parts\nof the hand. It may be considered as made up of the palm, the thumb,\nand the fingers.\n\n_Palm._\u2014As regards the palm, we have to notice its size, thickness,\nand degree of hardness; its temperature, degree of dryness, and the\nfurrows by which it is marked. In all the lower animals the palm is\nlarge, thick, and hard. Hence D\u2019Arpentigny views the palm as indicative\nof the physical appetites or animal propensities, and of the degree and\nintensity of the mental affections to which they give rise. Thus, when\nthe palm is narrow and thin, the temperament is feeble, the imagination\nwithout force, and the mind rather subtle than comprehensive; when its\nsize and thickness are in harmony with the proportions of the thumb and\nfingers, sensual impressions easily excite the mind, but a salutary\ncontrol is exercised by reason and imagination; when it is large in\ncomparison with the fingers, sensuality and egotism predominate;\nand lastly, when it is large, thick and hard, the animal faculties\npreponderate over reason, and the passions, unrefined by imagination,\nhave full and uncontrolled sway. A moist, warm, rosy palm denotes\nhealth, youth, delicate sensibility, and energy of the vegetative\nfunctions. Thus Shakspeare in \u201cOthello,\u201d speaking of the hand of\nDesdemona,\u2014\n\n  \u201cThis hand is moist, my lady.\n\n        *       *       *       *\n\n   This argues fruitfulness and liberal heart;\n   Hot, hot, and moist. This hand of yours requires\n   A sequester from liberty, fasting, and prayer,\n   Much castigation, exercise devout;\n   For there\u2019s a young and sweating devil here\n   That commonly rebels.\u201d\n\nIn febrile diseases, the palm is hot and dry; and the same obtains when\nthe vegetative functions are languid, or in exhaustion from debauchery\nor other causes. As Shakspeare has it in the \u201cTwelfth Night,\u201d\u2014\n\n  \u201c_Maria._ Now, sir, thought is free: I pray you bring\n  Your hand to the buttery bar, and let it drink.\n\n  _Sir Andrew Aguecheek._ Wherefore, sweetheart? What\u2019s\n  your metaphor?\n\n  _Maria._ It\u2019s dry, sir.\u201d\n\nAccording to the old chiroscopists, the life-line\u2014that is, the furrow\nat the line of demarcation between the ball of the thumb and the\npalm\u2014measures by its length the term of existence; it is certainly\nmore strongly marked in strong and healthy than in weak and sickly\npersons. A pallid or yellowish colour of the furrows marking the palm\nis indicative of disease.\n\n_Thumb._\u2014The thumb deserves particular notice in treating of the hand.\nIt is the presence of a thumb that imparts to the hand of the higher\nanimals its character of superiority. It is the higher developement\nand greater mobility of the human hand that render it so much more\nperfect than that of the ape: \u201cL\u2019animal sup\u00e9rieur est dans la main,\nl\u2019homme est dans la pouce,\u201d says D\u2019Arpentigny. The thumb being,\nthen, the characteristic element of the human hand\u2014the part last\ndeveloped and most strongly typical of its superiority over that of\nthe lower animals, the perfect formation of this part of the hand\nmust be regarded as a sign of the character of the species being well\nmarked,\u2014of a strong, active individuality; while the reverse obtains\nwhen it is small and rudimentary. The ball of the thumb is made up\nof strong muscles, and in it the motor function of the hand is, as it\nwere, concentrated. It is the _mons Veneris_ of the old chiroscopists;\nthe expression of \u201cla volont\u00e9 raisonn\u00e9e,\u201d of decision, perception, and\nthe logical faculty, according to D\u2019Arpentigny, who confirms the old\nopinion above alluded to, remarking, \u201cAimer c\u2019est vouloir, et vouloir\nc\u2019est aimer.\u201d Persons with a small thumb are ruled by the heart,\nthose with a large by the head. The motive hand is always furnished\nwith a large thumb, and hence, probably, the origin of the term, from\n_domare_, to rule (Italian), _Daumen_ (German); power and objective\nforce being imparted by it to the hand.\n\nThe Romans applied the term _pollex truncatus_ to a person who, for\nthe purpose of avoiding military service, cut off or mutilated his\nthumb\u2014hence our word _poltroon_. It was by the position of the thumb\nthat spectators determined the fate of conquered gladiators; if it were\nraised, life was spared, if it were depressed, it was a sentence of\ndeath. In the Anglo-Saxon laws, it is ordained that mutilation of the\nthumb shall be punished by a fine of twenty shillings, and that of the\nmiddle finger by a fine of four only. In La Vend\u00e9e, a large thumb is\nstill thought to be indicative of a dabbler in the forbidden mysteries\nof the black art. Biting the thumb was formerly held to be expressive\nof insult and defiance; thus Shakspeare in \u201cRomeo and Juliet,\u201d\u2014\n\n  \u201c_Samson._ I will bite my thumb at them; which is a\n               disgrace to them if they bear it.\u201d\n\n_Fingers._\u2014Having fully examined the palm and thumb, we have next to\ndirect our attention to the four fingers\u2014to their length, their general\noutline, the size of the joints, and the shape of the pieces of which\nthe fingers are made up,\u2014the phalanges, more especially of the terminal\none.\n\nProminent joints evince great development of the bony and muscular\nstructures of the hand; they indicate a motive and prehensive organ.\nPersons with such fingers, according to D\u2019Arpentigny, are remarkable\nfor their love of order and arrangement, for a mind prone to analysis\nand reasoning, and for actions regulated by the calm dictates of\njudgment, and not impelled by the sudden inspiration of enthusiasm.\nSmooth, even fingers, on the contrary, with a regular outline and\narticulations but slightly prominent, denote that the nervous system\nis more developed than the bony and muscular, and that the member is\nendowed with fine sensibility. Such an individual will be more or less\nswayed by imagination, will act rather from the impulse of the moment\nthan from reason and experience, will be rather disposed to view things\nas a whole than to consider in detail their several parts,\u2014in fact,\nwill be furnished with a mind with more of imagination and synthetical\ntalent than of reason or logical ability. The joints become more\ndistinctly marked as age advances. In fine, says D\u2019Arpentigny, \u201cMan\nbecomes the more orderly, the less credulous, and the more logical, in\nproportion as the articular prominences become more strongly defined.\u201d\n\nThe last phalanx, or terminal piece of the fingers, may terminate in\neither of three ways. It may be rounded, cushiony, somewhat enlarged\nas it were; it may be square and flattened; or it may be delicate,\ntapering, and conical. The enlarged, rounded, cushiony-terminated\nphalanx, characterises \u201cthe doigts en spatule\u201d of D\u2019Arpentigny, or, as\nwe shall term them, \u201csensitive fingers.\u201d It indicates a great number\nof the delicate papill\u00e6 of touch, and serves to denote a sensitive\nhand. The square terminal phalanx mostly accompanies the motive and\nelementary form of hand; and the tapering, conical extremity, the\npsychical. It is a remarkable fact, that among all nations the figures\nof saints, angels, and divinities, should have been invariably figured\nwith delicate, tapering fingers. The hands of witches, demons, and\nsorcerers, have likewise been delineated with elongated fingers; but\nthey are rough, thin, and bony, and armed with long nails or claws,\nlike the toes of the lower animals.\n\n_Nails._\u2014We must say a few words upon the nails,\u2014parts corresponding to\nthe horny skeleton of invertebrate animals. They are sometimes long and\nnarrow, as in the psychical hand: sometimes short and broad, as in the\nelementary type; and sometimes square and strong, as in the motive, or\nthey may be brittle or thickened, or otherwise diseased. In consumptive\npeople they become curved, somewhat claw-like. If the characters which\nthey furnish be in accordance with those which are indicated by the\nother parts of the hand, they are thereby doubly confirmed; if the\ntwo differ, they mutually render each other less positive. Thus an\nelementary hand with long, slender nails, must be looked upon as having\na decided tendency to assume a higher type of organisation, while if\nthe nails be broad and short like the fingers, the signification is\nthereby the more confirmed.\n\n\nFORM OF HANDS.\n\n1.\u2014_The Elementary Hand._ See Plate I.\u2014Fingers thick, and without\nflexibility, palm large, thick, and hard, thumb rudimentary, and\nfrequently bent somewhat backwards, skin coarse in its texture, nails\nshort and thick. In countries where such hands abound, the people\nobey habit and instinct rather than reason. The sensations are dull\nand inactive, the imagination is without force, and the character\napathetic; for the extremities of the nerves being deficient in\nsensibility, the impressions conveyed to the brain are wanting in\nintensity, and the ideas to which they give rise are consequently\nneither clear nor vivid. \u201cAux mains \u00e9l\u00e9mentaires, en Europe le\nlabourage, le soin des \u00e9tables et la longue suite des travaux grossiers\nauxquels suffisent les confuses lumi\u00e8res de l\u2019instinct. A elles la\nguerre, en tant qu\u2019il ne s\u2019agit, que d\u2019arroser machinalement de la\nsueur un sol \u00e9tranger. Enferm\u00e9es dans le monde mat\u00e9riel elles ne se\nrattachent gu\u00eare \u00e0 l\u2019ensemble politique, que par l\u2019\u00e9l\u00e9ment physique.\nLes convictions se ferment en elles dans une sph\u00e8re inaccessible au\nraisonnement, et leurs vertus tiennent le plus souvent \u00e0 des facult\u00e9s\nn\u00e9gatives.\u201d\n\nElementary hands abound in the north of Europe. The individuals\ncharacterised by them are always superstitious; witness the Lappes,\nthe Finns, and the Icelanders. By misfortune they are overwhelmed. In\nIndia, where they do not naturally exist, they have been artificially\nproduced in a particular caste\u2014the Parias\u2014by political and social\ninstitutions. They have been abundant among every people at the dawning\nof their civilisation; they raised the pyramids in Egypt and the\nCyclopean structures in Italy, and are described as existing in a rude\nstate of society in the literature of various nations: witness the\nPolyphemus of the Greeks, the Melib\u0153us of the Latins, the Caliban\nof Shakspeare, and the Sancho Panza of Cervantes. This form of hand\ncan unquestionably be produced by premature hard labour, but it is\nfound among the upper classes likewise, where manual labour cannot be\nsupposed to have given rise to it. Physiologically it must be looked\nupon as an arrest of developement, its main bulk, like the member of\nthe lower animals and of the human f\u0153tus, being made up of the solid\npalm. It must hence be regarded as a primitive form of the member, as a\nrudimentary, and consequently an imperfect organ.\n\nTransitions from the elementary to other forms of hand are frequently\nmet with. Thus, when the fingers become elongated and somewhat\nthinner, and the texture of the skin finer, the hand may be said to be\nintermediate between the elementary and sensitive type, while long,\nhard, bony fingers indicate an approach towards the motive type. And\nthus it is that intelligence is more readily to be attained by persons\nwith elementary, than a fine sensibility by those furnished with a\nmotive hand, or great energy in objective action by those provided with\na sensitive.\n\n2. _The Sensitive Hand_ (see Plate II.) is rather below than above\nthe average size, palm soft and narrow, fingers thin and delicate,\nwith the extremity plump, rounded, and cushiony, thumb thin and small,\nskin fine and very vascular, nails narrow and semi-transparent. This\ntype of hand may be looked upon as essentially feminine. It denotes\na highly-sensitive frame, and a delicately-organised nervous system.\nThe nervous ramifications distributed to the surface of the body being\ncovered only by a thin layer of cuticle or scarf-skin, are easily\nexcited by impressions from without, and as readily transmit their\nexcitement to the central organs, thus occasioning a prompt and vivid\nflow of ideas.\n\n[Illustration: Plate 2.\n\nThe Sensitive Hand]\n\n(_a._) _The Artistic Hand_ of D\u2019Arpentigny is a variety of this type.\nIt is characterised by a moderately-developed palm, long tapering\nfingers, very flexible, and a small thumb. It has for its object\nthe worship of material beauty, is disposed to view things through\na romantic medium, is fond of leisure, of liberty, and of change;\nis at once bold and timid, humble and vain, exalted and depressed,\nenthusiastic and desponding. The charms of a quiet, regulated, domestic\nlife possess but little attraction for such persons, who, with much\noriginality, have equal fickleness of character. \u201cEn France nos arm\u00e9es\nsont pleines de mains artistiques de tout genre; elles leur doivent le\ncaract\u00e8re de mobilit\u00e9 aventureuse, insouciante, pittoresque; cet \u00e9lan\nfulgurant et prime sautier, qui les distinguent. Elles s\u2019accommodent de\ntout et sont propre \u00e0 tout. On les enl\u00e8ve par la parole.\u201d\n\n(_b._) A gradual transition is afforded from this to the motive type by\nmeans of _the spathulate hand_, which partakes both of the motive and\nsensitive character.\n\n_The spathulate hand_, when fully developed, is furnished with smooth\nfingers, with a rounded, cushiony termination, and a large thumb. It\ndenotes a love of corporeal movement, and of active occupation\u2014of\nhorses, dogs, and field-sports; it prefers the useful to the\nagreeable, and is not content, like the elementary hand, with the\nmerely necessary, but demands abundance. It is distinguished by an\nappearance of simplicity and frankness of character, and likewise by\nits chastity; so that Diana or Cyrus the Younger may be said to be\nits representatives. It is a native of the North, is more common in\nScotland than in England, in England than in France, and in France than\nin Italy or Spain. Wherever it is the prevailing type, as in England\nand America, the political institutions are free. It is essentially\nProtestant. \u201cAmoureuses de l\u2019art, de la po\u00e9sie, du roman, des myst\u00e8res,\nles mains pointues veulent un dieu selon leur imagination; amoureuses\ndes sciences et de la r\u00e9alit\u00e9, les mains en spatule veulent un dieu\nselon leur raison.\u201d So that it may be truly said that the people of\nthe north are physically Protestant, and those of the south Catholic.\nIt must also be remarked, that before the revocation of the Edict of\nNantes the Protestants of France were likewise its chief manufacturers;\nfor the same spirit that led them to embrace Protestantism impelled\nthem to the cultivation of mechanical and scientific pursuits. It\nprefers size and regularity to beauty, opulence to luxury, and that\nwhich excites astonishment to that which pleases. In private life its\nmotto is, \u201cChacun pour soi.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: Plate 3.\n\nThe Motive Hand.]\n\n_The Motive Hand_ (see Plate III.)\u2014Above the mean size, fingers with\nprominent joints, of an average length, and strong, thick, and bony,\nwith a square tip; palm of a mean size, hollow, and tolerably firm;\nthumb large, with the muscular root strongly developed. This form\nof hand cannot exist without a strong, massive developement of the\nbony and muscular system. It is essentially the hand of man, as the\nsensitive is that of woman. Hence, in the female sex, it indicates\na masculine energy of character: witness the hardy peasants of\nSwitzerland and the Tyrol. In both sexes it denotes a preponderance of\nthe masculine or reasoning mind over the imaginative faculties. Hence\nit loves form and arrangement, possesses a strong instinctive feeling\nfor right and authority, and a profound respect for established forms;\nprefers an aristocracy to a democracy, and the known to the unknown;\ntakes a delight in organising, in classifying, in systematising, in\nsubjecting thought to opinion, and man to his fellow-man. Devoid of\noriginality, and with but little imagination, it moves only in the old\nbeaten path, and its belief is limited to that which it is capable of\ncomprehending.\n\nPartaking of the character of the motive and psychical type, we have\na mixed intermediate form, termed by D\u2019Arpentigny \u201cthe philosophical\nhand.\u201d\n\n(_a._) _The Philosophical Hand_ is somewhat smaller than the motive;\nthe fingers have large joints, and are somewhat tapering at their\ntip; the palm is large and elastic, the thumb also large, with its\ntwo phalanges nearly equal in length. Such was the hand of Locke, of\nCondillac, of Descartes, Malebranche, and Leibnitz. It denotes a love\nof absolute truth for its own sake, and of speculations respecting the\nnature of life and the origin of things. It adopts opinions only upon a\ncareful investigation, and reason is its only recognised guide.\n\n[Illustration: Plate 4.\n\nThe Psychical Hand.]\n\n_The Psychical Hand_ (see Plate IV.) is at once the most beautiful\nand the most rare. Compared with the stature it is small and delicate;\nthe fingers are thin, without articular prominences, and long and\ntapering; the palm is of average dimensions, the thumb well formed and\nbut of moderate size. Persons with such a hand are led by ideality;\nsoul is for them every thing; great interests alone move them; in\nreligion and politics they are tolerant. In literature, Milton,\nKlopstock, and G\u00f6the, are their representatives. Loving the ideal and\nthe sublime, they oppose to the school of Voltaire and Hume that of\nLamartine and Chateaubriand. Among the Greeks, Plato is their type.\n\nD\u2019Arpentigny says of these hands: \u201cElles attachent, elles ajoutent,\naux \u0153uvres du penseur, comme l\u2019artiste \u00e0 l\u2019\u0153uvre de l\u2019artisan la\nbeaut\u00e9, l\u2019id\u00e9alit\u00e9; elles les dorent d\u2019un rayon de soleil, elles les\n\u00e9l\u00e8vent sur un pi\u00e9destal, elles leur ouvrent le porte des c\u0153urs;\nl\u2019\u00e2me, oubli\u00e9e et laiss\u00e9e en arri\u00e8re par les mains philosophiques,\nest leur guide,\u2014la v\u00e9rit\u00e9 dans l\u2019amour, et la sublimit\u00e9 leur but, et\nl\u2019expansion leur moyen.\u201d\n\nThis form of hand is met with among all classes of society, but is\nrarely the prevailing one among any people. In Asia, it is most common\nin India; and in Europe, in Germany.\n\nThus to the spathulate and motive hands appertain matter and reality,\nthe useful and necessary arts, the action and theory of things, and the\nknowledge of facts; to the sensitive and psychical hands the boundless\nideal world\u2014the fine arts, sublime poetry, and abstract intellectual\nphilosophy.\n\n\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[1] La Chirognomonie; ou, l\u2019Art de Reconna\u00eetre les Tendances de\nl\u2019Intelligence, d\u2019apr\u00e8s les Formes de la Main. Par le C^{aine} S.\nARPENTIGNY. Paris, 1843.\n\n[2] Ueber Grund und Bedentung der verschiedenen Formen der Hand in\nverschiedenen Personen. By Dr. C. G. CARUS, Physician to the King of\nSaxony, &c. &c. Stuttgart, 1846.\n\n[3] P. 237.\n\n[4] Brougham on Paley\u2019s \u201cNatural Theology.\u201d\n\n[5] Natural Theology: ch. on \u201cRelations.\u201d\n\n\nLondon: George Barclay, Castle Street, Leicester Square.","title":"The Hand Phrenologically Considered: Being a Glimpse at the Relation of the Mind with the Organisation of the Body","tradition":"philosophy-ethics","translated_text":null,"word_count":13911}