The Portage County Democrat. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1859-05-04
aRAyENNA, OHIO.
pENcIL1Ees By LAMp-L1eHr.
IN. wsaaing Rlng.

AAe AWS uu4nS9 hink' 80 - ff-s .si
We have never just understood, or perhaps
appreciated the symbolic value that is attach
ed to the wedding fager ring, and many times
have questions been propounded in our hear.
ing. iouching this very point. A contempo-
rary journal has been discoursipg upon this
topic and with regard to the wedding and
engagement rings, their intimate connection
with affairs OF the heart their proper locality
uponithe band and fingers, thus observes: y
--.Much ingenuity has been expended in the
endeavor to discover on which hand and which
finger the ,Oedding ring was placed; the Jews
havesa tradition that Mary, when she espoused.
Joseph. received the ring on ber middle finger
hence no Jewish woman wears her bridal
ring there, but always on the fore6pger; st.
Ambrose. 10 one of his sermons. calls the third
finger the finger for the ring; Macrobius gives
the nursery games of the fingers, in the times
of the Romans; and the third finger is called
.annularis;' the low Norman name for the
same finger is John of the seals In the ar,
cient ritual of marriage, among the Papist
English. the ring was placed on the top of the
thumb OF the left hand, with the words. in the
name of the Father then on the foreHnger.
with the words, and of the Son;i then on the
middle finger, and of the Holy Ghost;' finally.
on the ring finger, the third, with the closing
word Amen The ancient Greeks used this
finger, also, because they believed neYve to
run directly from this finger to the heart; LIE
yinusi saysaib is. not a. nerve hut an artery;
others that il Is not ansartery but Uein; and
modern science shows that there is nothing of
the kind in existence. The right hand is the
hand of power; hence the ioife wears the ring
on theIeff hand. The third finger ia the only
recognized ring finger; oil who wear rings of
ficialIy wear them on that finger; though it is
true that the statues of the gods had their
signets on the fore6nger, both in Greece and
in Italy; this is on the right hand. But, both
on account of convenience andlong established
custom, the left hand is generally considered
the ring hand; and the least finger of that
hand holds the ring. Lempius says the same
finger was called .Med,cus, for, on account OF
the virtue it derives from the heart, the old
physicians would minge their medicaments
aud potions with this finger, because no venom
can stick upon the very outmost part of it,
self to his heart Some married women are
SO particular, so superstitiously rigid in theil
notion respecting the wedding.ring, that they
will never, even. for moment, take it off theil
finger; extending.it it would seem, the expires
aiou; still death US two do part even to this
golden pledge of matrimony.
.Gimmcl rings Tor gemini riDgs) are rings o.
twin or double hoops, which play one within
another, like links Of chain. The parts are
kapparently free, yet are inseparable, formed
for uniting yet complete only in union; the
hoops form but one ring, and this species wal
the earlier style of betrothing or engagement
ring-the lover putting ms finger in one. ths
lady in the other, they thus linked their for
tunes and their loves. - These hoops vere
sommetimes composed one of gold. the othe
of silver. These rings we're sometimes cale,
joint-rings; they are now seldom seen. Th
brass rings in which thea mariners cenpas
hangs are BY sailors called gimbals; this seem
to be the only instance 10 which the word i
still used Il - md - 7as-s5 !. =
aThe Social Element in Man =. ts9s ss
Renders solitude under restraint one of tt
most severe, penalties it is possible TO ip6i,
upon ahuman being. An incident iustratH
the effect of solitary confinement may n,
+ come amiss. Count Gonfaloniere. giving a
account of his prisouexperience,s says: 4Fiftee
years existed in a dungeon ten feet square
n During six years ] had q companion; .durir
nine was alone never could rightly di
tinguish the facelof him who shared my cal
tiyity in, The eternal twilight Of our cell III
first year we talked necessarily together; v
related our past lives our joys forever gon
4 over aud over again. The next year we cor
municetedito each other. our thoughts an
-e&it1 ,sgSstaa e.