The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1869-05-27
VOL. VINO. ~.
me Right and the lea.

" " f"Nsfi 'uiopSh the conYplu1OnS OF
custom and the traditional usaces Of
men, the reasoos foreyery day habits
thatseeIn so natural as not to deserve
notice, much less investigation but as
nothing is created without an. object. SO
We may assume tlist there Is a reason
for those Of the habits Of onr kind
which, being general, escape notice or
criticism, but which II isolated by the
practice. of individuals only. would
arouse attention and awaken inquiry
Among these habits node are more
marked or provocative of Investigation
than the habit Of prefering the right
haod or side to the lell. .In meeting an
obstacle 10 walking il is easier TO turn
70 the right than the left; 10 Ascending
staircases We prefer 70 take the fiaht
side, although that side may not have
arall for the hand, to assist the riser
we test the weight Of ap object by tax
ing il IN the fight hand, and if we
attempt the test with the LIFT we fnd
the result, as felt by the muscles, to BE-
very ditfarent from that by the right
hand trial So, in hundred WAYS we
always show our preference Of the right
over che left,
Its enough TO account for this pre-
ference to say that General custom and
personal habit make il imperative. To
De sure, civilized and enlightened peo.
pie, generally, are careful to Instruct
their children to use the right hand
rather than the left; but this may Be
because manual instruments for per.
forming all descriptions Of work are
constructed with view to be used by
the right hand. Il lis possible, however,
that what may be considered the cause
IS only result Of some organic law that
demands this sacrifice of the left in pre-.
terencet to the right, This view receives
color from the fact that even among
savage and uncivilized people the right
Is preferred. Among them, as among
ourselves, the proportion Of the left
handed men is small The Beniamites
| were considered odd by the children of
Israel for their peculiarily Of being left
handed. Either in ancient or modern
times the proportion Of left handed men
was always small. M ~ >
Why does man lost or a plain. where
there are 10 guides for his course, make
circle in bis efforts to 90 forward. tim
ing always to the lsitl 1t may be Said
because the left'being the less used side
and, therefore, less developed and weak.
er, must give way to the SUPERIOR eper.
gy OF the right; but this reason does
not hold good, because ve walk with
our feet and not with our hands. and
the feet are educated alike. We are
ambidexters as regstd our feet In
military evolntions we are taught to put
the LETT foot first2-to start off with the
left foot; but in the dance We are In,
structed to start off with the right. Be
sides, we know Of a person left handed
from his infancy, who, being lost ii
the snow storm 10 Scotland. wandered
u ecpcentric circles, or spirals, for
more than two hours, before being re-
lieped, turning always 70 the left. Am
bldexters, or those who can use equally
we'll either hand, generally prefer d
employ the right even when using an
instrument not specially designed for
the right hand Those who, like gym.
nasts, or pugilists, have to use the left
with equal facility with the right hand
are compelled 10 submit 70 1 severe
course of discipline 10 attain equal force