The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1874-03-13
VOL. XIX, NO, 33.
PalmistrY.


A Mr.. Desbarrolles has compiled al
ingenious manual of palmistry, in which
he combines the results of personal oh
seryation with a mass of information
derived from the gypsy tribes. His book
which is entitled " The Mysteries Of th,
Hand" attracted much attention il
France when first published. It in,
cludes chirognomony, or the judging oi
the character by the shape of the hand
and fingers, as well as palmistry, which
relies chiefly ON the lines and divisions
of the palm of the band. Simple rules
of Interpretation are given. The left
hand is regarded as the most favorable
for the study. 1t has three principal
lines. The line of life, which runs
around the base of the thumb, betokens
early death or longevity, according to
I the distance it marks toward the wrist
The line of the head begins beside that
of life, between the thumb and fore
finger, and crosses the palm horizon
tally. When long and we'll defined, it
indicates intellectual power. When it
ends in the centre of the palm, it de-
notes stupidity. When it extends to
the edge of tho, hand, it intimates too
much calculotion, 4. e., meanness,
link of a chain, il shows lack of the pow
er of concentration. When bifurcated,
one end continuing and the other turn
ing downward, il denotes double-deal-
ing and deceit. The line of the h art
goes from the base of the first finger
across the palm to the edge of the little
finger, parallel to the line of the head.
This line Indicates an affectionate dis
position and a good memory. 1t also
includes the imaginative, poetic, artistic
and other like qualities. When pale or
very wide, it may signify the absence of
these qualities, or the presence of the
corresponding defect. Fingers longer
than the palm denote want of common
sense. A palm longer than the fingers
shows the prepond erance Of matter over
mind. When equally divided, or nearly
so, the spiritual and material tenden-
cies are justly balanced. Fingers are
classed as pointed, square-topped and
square-shaped; these last having little
pads of flesh on either side. Artists,
poets, extremely sensitive and impulsive
persons, and those in whom ideality is
prominent, have pointed tops. Scien-
tifc, self-contained and practical people
have square-topped fingers. Material
udJuEeS anu iilOb0 WIlO iONc DOubJ that
have the spade-shaped fingers. The
possessor of pointed fingers may take to
science, but he will invest it with a po-
etic charm. The same fingers may take
to art, but under their touch art will be
vulga' lied and made commonplace. In
a quarre some character, the nails turn
up In a timid character, they turn
down. Patience and endurance are in
dicated by hollow palm. The thumb
is treated as the most important part of
the hand The joint with the nail rep
resents the will. The second division
stands for the reasoning faculties. The |
base signifies the animal instincts. |
These different types of hands and fin- |
gers are never found unalloyed, and so
the character is generally pronounced
"mixed." Indeed, the whole system
seems to partake of this quality. But
it has it's attractions, new, rtheless, for |
some sensible people, many of whom
will, no doubt, be glad to avail them.
selves OF the brief suggestions offered |
here.