Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1880-08-20
Mysteries of the Hand.

The art of divination by the baud and
the handwriting has received fresh
impulse from recent publication. 1t
has been languishing in Europe for
years. Even the gypsies are dropping
il for the more profitable occupation Of
rebbing hen.roosts; and of late have
missed the standing advertisement in a
Dublin paper promising you an accu-
rate analysis of your character and des-
tiny in return for o specimen of your
handwriting and two shillings' worth of
stamps.
There are various other modes of
livination, facial expression, for in.
stance, and phrenology. Most profess
eoss keep to one alone; I believe there
u sort Of trade courtesy among them
which keeps each out of the others
domain. 1t would be considered un.
professional for o gentleman who feels
your bumps to draw any conclusion
from the color Of your eyes.
This good old rule, founded on prin-
ciple of live and let live, has, however,
been set aside by y Frenchman, NJ.
Desbarolles, who has Just published
learned treatise called Mysteries of
che Hand: Complete Revelations"
This book is likely to make great stir
in Paris, and the Figaro has given q
whole page Of extracts. M. Desbar-
olles is not quite fair with as, at least
u We pin him to the letter of his title,
Tor he mixes up ali the trades of divin-
alton. II he cannot judge you by the
hand. he will Judge You by the hand
writing. If he has seen neither your
hand nor your handwriting, he will sum
up from view of your head and if all
these means are wanting, he will get
year photograph and make it the very
window of your soul. There is NO get
ting away from Desbarolies; he is the
philosOphic detective of conscience;
whom he has made mp his mind to have
yea, should say the very best thing
Veuld be to surrender at once.
Desbarolles flies ct high game. Most
u his instances are drawn from the OBJ.
eeEvation OF well-known living men
Ne has tested the character of Dumas
ME- by all his methods, and though Bis
Darck did not give him the same oppor-
tsnities. he has read him off beautifully
rom his photograph and from fac
smile OF his handwriting. Dumas
va g tractablea as the 'possum of Amer
Inn fable. When he heard that Des-
bar0lies wanted him, he came down" at
ene. The professor accordingly let him
- - lightly a. he could. His study
N4ayetematic. He gives us what other
padHJe have said OF the character of
Dumes and what Dumas himself SAYS
Of IL, and then he shows how it ia all
Scn6r@ed by the independent testi.
mony ofYthe signs. g. He is q willful,
impetuou$ boy" wrote the old father,
and sometimes we quarrel and he
xuks away from me like second prod
igal son. Whenever he does that I at
once buy calf and begin to fatten it,
because know he will be back in a
few weeks. Hedees come back; we en-
brace and ere friends. Ill.natured peo-
PIE say he returns for the calf, but
know better than that" Now, by q
coincidence queer, the hand of Dumas
confirms every word of the above.
NOR 70 this all; every conclusion of old
hemdrum common. sense about him is
esntirmed by chiromancy and its kin.
dIcd sciences. It is not encouraging
Tor common sense.
He is philosophic writer" we arc
accustomed to say. "How could he
p otherwise ?" cries Desbarolles
look at the knot on the middle finger
Inst below the nail; it is the intense
desire to get ct the bottom of every.
snlng, above all OF metaphysic mystery
he has the critical spirit "OI
Sosr.e, says Desbarollss; "observe
me shghtest unevenness in the line oil
me nail Just where it joins the flesh
saas 10 criticism or nothing" It is de.
hehtfui and all our other poor guesses
. truth are established in the same an
tnoEitatlve way. We have humbly be.
Loved. Tor example. that Dumas is con.
eeaentious and laborious in his peculiar
KIND OF work. According to the
Ie.gth OF his fore-finger," says Desbar
o!les. "he cannot possibly be nythine
else. Again, he looks q long way
Anead. Now, what says Desbarolles
Prophecy is marked as clearly as DOS
aDie on these two hands, else what il
the meaning of the two islets in the
neighborhood of his line of life? You
donbt their evidence; we'll, what do you
think OF the other island-a sort of ap
pendix for proof-on the right hand
near the mount of tho moon? The
mount OF the moon means water. The
vster has always been associated with
the communications of persons gifted
with second sight. Scott, in the Mon
astery, places the first apparition of the
White Lady on the borders of a stream
The prophetic gift of Dumas is in the
nature OF an intellectual second sight
hence the significance of his Mount Of
the Moon" All. what q fine thing il
book Learning! Yes, Dumas is certainly
. seer, tor years ago, Is Desbarolies re,
minds 10, he went 30 far as to affirm
that William of Prussia was one of the
most ambitious princes of his time
Cases OF this kind are not to be explained
On any theory of mere judgment OF
good luck; and but for Desbarolles with
his Mount of the Noon and the rest,
they might be enough to revive the be.
lief In sorcery.
Still more refreshing is the way in