Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1869-11-19
THE rpucArIoN OF THE HAND.

PEOPLE, with lew uutOftuuatc ONCVP.
tons, have each two hands We should
not mention this fact were II not that In
the education of youths, only one seems
toh be generally considered. Children are
told 20 hold their knives IN the right hand
when cutting their food, and when this
necessary operation is completed, 10 lay II
down and use their forks while eating,
sin employing the right hand. The only
.fnrther instruction they receive In regard
20 the left hand, is 10 keep II clean in com
mon with the right hand, and not to get
into the habit Of thrusting 1t into their
pockets. They are taught that whenever
one hand only is required, the preference Is
Ito be given 10 the right Thus the left
hand Is, with the large majority of people,
u comparatively useless member, employed
only to supplement the other in all man
ual operations.
Without pausing,to inquire into the ori.
gin Of this senseless custom, IL is sufficient
for our purpose 10 say that IL has no foun-
dation In the anatomy of the hand, or IN
any natural peculiarity of the human
mind. To the auatomist both hands are
alike gifted by nature, and constitute most
beautiful and complex machines. SO
much does the power and dominion OF
man over inferior animals, crude mato.
'rials, and natural forces, depend upon the
hand, that were 10 possible TO deprive the
human race Of this important member,
md put in its stead n mere paw, or hoof
il might well be asserted that man would
soon find common level with the beasts,
notwithstanding his superior intellect
This assertion, Of course, does not admit
the possibility of using the foot as sub
stitute for the hand, which has been sue
cessfully done in several remarkable in
stances.
gba,,ld nY.t NJ ,,,r o,.o,,,,,1;.t,a.l I,,,1,
keepers, editors, or any other class of pro-
fessional men, accustomed all his life to
write with his right hand only get that
hand crushed by an accident on his way
home some evening, the Inconvenience,
loss of time, and perhaps loss of lucrative
position that would be likely TO accrue be.
fore he could recover its use, or in case of
its total.los before he could acquire the
art Of writing with his left hand, would be
q serious matter, Many young man
found the loss of the right hand serious
matter during the recent war, and many
another has thanked God while submit
ting to the surgeons knife, That il was
only the left arm that had TO be sacrificed
AS well might we teach children to hop
about on the right foot, TO keep the left
eye closed, aud TO stop the left car with
cotten, as 70 teach them to magnify the
value OF the right hand Mt the expense of
the left. Nor, in renouncing this absurd.
ity, would 1t be necessary to violate exist.
ing social convcntionaltics. The fork
may be held.in the right hand when eating,
and the knife may take its place in cutting
food. These are small matters, observed
only for conventional reasons In driving
on country roads wo always turn out "a
the right, but on that account we do not
consider SPAWN on horses left leg any
less serious than one on his right leg
The first thing, then, 20 be considered In
the education of the hand Is the establish.
ment of both hands on an equal footing.
We may next pass to the consideration of
its uses and structure
The hand is essentially the organ of
touch. Few people appreciate the vast
amount of Information we obtain through
this one avenue to the mind what sub
tile ideas of texture and quality in material
of comparative weight, of unseen motion
and temperature, are obtained solely
through the sense of touch. Fewer still
appreciate to what an extent this
sense can be educated. The blind
substitute 1t for sight and arc enabled
to gain ideas, and perform fcats of
manual skill through its exercise
which are indeed surprising to those who
see. Surgeons cultivate this sense till by
laying finger upon an artery throbbng
uuuer stratum OF oVcrlaying tissues,
they can judge how deep TO make the in.
clsion over it, without enlarging the blood.
vessels. Moreover, all very skillful sur.
surgeons use the knife in either hand with
equal facility
Such nicely of touch is essential in nll
very nice and delicate manipulations
And here let us note u fact first brought &c
our notice by n very skllnl GormaI
matchmaker to wit, that the practice o
Furnishing children with the rattan or ierul,
on the hand, prevalent in many of oui
schools, must necessarily be detrimental
to this sense, 1t was his custom whel
taking his children to school, to reQucs
the teacher to adopt some other mode o
punishment than this barbarous method
explaining that as his children were to b,
bred to the art of Matchmaking, il was cs
scntal, that their dclicacy of touch shoult
remain unimpaired While we do not in
tend to discuss hero the much dcbate(
question OF the necessity of corporal pun
lshmenl, IN the training of children, w,
Will say that II such punishment is eve
needed, nature seems to us to have pro
Vlded Tor the emergency, aud that no aeh
cate nerves, muscles and bones need be en-
uangered in its administration. ..er
We should extend this article too much
were we to attempt minRte analysis o
the nanui but we assert That the mos
complete education and deyclopmcnt a
its powers can only be obtained through
perfect knowledge OF its parts, and tlci
offices, This tact has been appreciated b
at least one OF the authors of piano fort
methods now in use in the schools. an
aso py private music teachers; and in Ion
experience and observation upon the sui
iect We have found that pupils propre,
much more rapidly both in music and Der
manship, who are first prepared by
KnoHledge OF the structure Of the hant
ana by special exercises calculated 1
ueveiop the weaker muscles and to rende
each independent of the others. In tn
education of the fingers, the first thing IN
instructor has to surmount, is not onl
natural but artificial inequalities in thei
strength and mobility, The fingers are no
naturally OF equal power, and the relatiy
disability OF the weaker ones is increase,
Dy tne employment of the stronger, an,
disuse of the weaker ones. In Tho nlav
ing of musical instruments, il is necossnT
TO eliminate Inequalities of power and rem
DER INC fingers, as nearly as may be, of eoua
power, without weakening the naturall,
stronger ones In other words the weaI
nhgefs should be as relatively strong a
is natural, while all ought to be mucI
stronger than any would be without
thorough course of education.
II is fact known to all good teacher
that excellence in penmanship--oase an
rSpldlty being assumed as indisdensabl
clements OF excellencc-is only ohtaine
Dy nrst securing proper position for th
hand and arm while holding the nen. A
teachers must have observed how dinlcu
OF attainment a proper position is wit
the majority of pupils, One pupil finds
impossible to tieN the thumb properl
without aiding the feeble muscles, th,
called almost for the first time into pla
by gnpping the pen as though il were
bepmched in two Another braces II
hand by sticking out the third and fourt
nngers upon the paper, and almost droI