The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1879-12-03


greater or less degree, have been modified in
the direction shown by the right hand
In case of left-handed people this rule is
reversed. In short the passive hand exhib-
its the character from which the person is
growing; while the active hand indexes the
character as developed.
As to hands themselves:
Minutia, finish, elegance, work, belong to
large hands. Magnitude. grace, generalities
are the characteristics of small hands. Per-
sons with small hands see the whole,
themass and work for the grand effect,
and hence with long, free, graceful
stroke and with Independent rapid mo-
ton. The person with large hands
sees the parts, the factors, and works with
an eye to the perfection of each one, with an
exact and calculated stroke, and a careful,
steady motion.
The medium-sized hand. the one in fair
proportion with the body. is the one that will
naturally do or delegate the doing, as judg-
...ent or necessity may designate as best.
James B. Eads, who originated the great
| tubular steel bridge over the Mississippi at
St. Louis, and who secured the aid of CAPT
talists to build it, has very small hands.
Henry Flad, who worked out the details
| of construction and who calculated the details
of strain and tension, has very large and
very effective hands. The former conceived
the grand idea, and, both as an engineer and
as an organizer, dealt in comprehensive
statements made up of golden generalities,
while the latter filed these general plans full
of the needed sinews and nerves of detail.
The hands of several other prominent men
| are described but no words on paper can tell
| just how these typical hands Of typical charac-
tiers look. In the future edition of this re-
| markable work, if the author would illustrate
or give photographs of the hands of people
whose character is well known, the work
would gain great additional value.
These photographs should be all made, of
course, upon the same scale and should be
| arge enough to show all the eccentricities of
the hands pictured.
Coming from the general to the particular,
we leave the hand and arrive at the most
important element therein, the thumb.
In idiots, who are guided by impulse only
| the thumbs are small and often withered or
| deformed, and are usually concealed beneath
the overclasping fingers. Infants and feeble
minded persons in closing the hand double
| the fingers over the thumb. In both cases,
however, as intelligence dawns and as there
| is any exhibition of will or choice, the thumb
asserts its supremacy BY doubling over the
| fingers. When the premonitions of ansepi-
| leptic fit come on, the thumb becomes inert,
and during the spasm the thumb is usually
~
| the great darkness of death settles about the
| glazing eye the fingers shut over the thumb
and bury it.
One thing may always be certified, theper-
| son with thd three phalanges of the thumb
| full and strong and equally developed, will
| be no ordinary individual. Such a one win
| always be forcibly intelligent and effective.
| Rarely however, will such a one bear "a
| character of unmixed good or evil. Such a.
| thumb always belongs to one Of marked pow
| er, and usually to one who, W. ateyer bis
general character, has great physical strength,
| sensuous keenness, and dominating tenden-
| cies-great temptations, clear and decided
plans, indomitable perseverance.
As to the fingers: -a 3
Short fingers appreciate and. love magni-
tude grace, generalities; they see the mass,
Judge of the whole, and afterward perceive,
examine or appreciate the parts or particu-
lars. =
Long fingers, on the contrary, are charac-
| terized by minutla. elegance, finish; they per-
ceive the details, understand the parts ihdi-
vidually, and from them appreciate or esti-.
mate the mass or general effect. Z
Smooth fingers signify perception, intuition
and rapid determination. They want clear
statement illustration, testimony and Meta
phor. -.
Knotted fingers tell of logic, argument the
| why and wherefore, and thus and therefore,
| They demand premises, syllogisms and de-
| auctions. The first knot suggests order in
| ideas; the second, order in material things.
| Tapering fingers show the rule of the
| ideal, and love of that ideal sensously
pressed.
Stubbed fingers, the same size at ends as
at the palms. will indicate in good hands the
superior manipulation; in poor hands the plod
| der. -.isg
By far the most important part Of the
| science of palmistry is in the lines with.
which every hand is webbed. -.
The palm of the hand is traced with lines.
These lines play an important part in all
| systems of s.hand threading" The ancients
studied the lines ofthe hand long before they
paid any attention to mounts. The gypsies
| now give their palmistic divinations mainly
| from the lines. These lines have, like the
mounts, been dedicated to the principal DEF
ties, and, in later days to the planets. These
names, as well as those of a more strictly for
tune telling character, are not only inappro-
pirate, but most of them are misleading.
| The names adopted and used in this work
will, it is hoped, be somewhat an index to the
real meaning and value of these signatures"
of mans life, health, impulses and peculiar
mental endowments.
Besides several well defined and prominent
lines, the palm usually presents numerous
less CONSPICUOUS lines and marks. Even q
slight examination of any pair of hands. will
| show, as elsewhere stated that the lines in
one hand are not like those in the other; q
careful comparison will often prove that no
one line is exactly like its fellow-in the other
| hand.
The line of life is the broad, well-marked
line beginning between the thumb and the
index finger, and running around what is
called the ball of the thumb to the wrist.
This line is the most important one on the
ham,. and the manner of ascertaining the
! L l.f Il Of the line is