The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1883-10-06
FATE IN The FINGERS.
Variations of the Fingers and the
Significance of Each Type.


lions Of Spurzheim and Lavater still believe
that a man with a big brow is likely to bs
clever, and a man with a strong chin to be
determined. Ordinary people do not get ths
same suggestions from the hand, and yet it
may be capable of affording them. The
French professor says it is. We shall see
what are the rules he lays down.
To begin with the fingers. The variations
of these are not numerous, and any hand
may be referred to one of some three or four
types. These are the pointed fingers, WHARF,
the finger tips are small and conical and the
fingers themselves sleek and soft They are
no uncommon possession, and admit of no
doubt when they are found. 1t is said that
they indicate a dreamy disposition, a ten
dency to poetic and speculate. Men with
such hands are enthusiasts aud orators, have
the gift of imagination very prodigally be-
slowed upon them, but at the expense of COM
mon sense and knowledge of the world. Such
hands are claimed for Shakespeare, Schiller,
and Goethe, and certainly by Victor Hugo
and George Sand.
With the soft fingers and the conical tips
there is no necessary alliance. The fingers
may be sleek and the tips may be square.
And this combination gives us another class
of character. Here we AVE the tendency to
art and poetry, but better under control.
These are instructive rather than magma
tive. The fine frenzy gives place to an eye
for symmetry and an ear for rhythm, and the
the types are to befound in Moliere, Poussin,
Vauban, and Turenne. 1t is a pity that we
have no living examples. Portrait-painters a
century ago had a fashion of taking the face
from the sitter and the hands from a favorite
model. Vandyck's warriors, diplomatists,
and courtiers had all precisely the same kind
of fingers.
The fingers may be even more than square.
They may be %spatulous, wideneda and rounded
at the end like a chemists blender or an
artists palette knife. This is a very practi-
cal hand indeed, widely removed from the
dreamer and tine visionary, the hand of a
man fond of movement and of action, the
hand of a man fond of horses and dogs, and
hunting and warfare, or, if he is more peace
able, of m and mechanism, a man of
order and c~ontrivance, a merchant, O
hnancier, or, it may be, only a church war
den. The spatulous hand is generally found
supplied with large finger knots; but where
the fingers have no predominant joints the
artistic character prevails. Men act from
impulse rather than from knowledge or rea-
son. 1t is not laid down, however, that the
tendency of rheumatism is to convert poets
into politicians, though it painfully develops
the knots of the fingers. Lastly, there is a
general rule that large hands deal best with
details and short ones with general effect. 1t
would be interesting to test this by examin-
ing the hands of the royal academicians.
But the art descends into minuter detail.
Each of the fingers has its special character
istic, and a system of NEUROLOGICAL nomen-
clature has been adopted, based on the at
tributed distinctions. The fingers known to
US as first, second, third and little, are called
respectively Jupiter, Saturn, Apollo and
Mercury, and if it is thought that we are
now getting into the region of the fantastic,
it is only fair to the professor that his state
ment be heard and be tested. There is
ranged across the palm of the hand a series
of little cushions or bills, one at the base of
each finger, but a little way from the thumb.
Character lies in these, and the character
may be told by their examination.
The first finger indicates ambition. If the
mound is large, its owner will have a love of
power coupled with a desire to shine, great
gayety, some pride, a tendency to supersti-
ton, and a fondness for nature. If the
mound be wanting, the life is one without
dignity, the tastes are common, and the man
is narrow, selfish and interested. The second
finger is said to control his life, as it shows
the extent of his prudence and the proba-
bility of his success. But if the mound be
preternatural, we are to look for silence and
solitariness-a Hamlet kind of disposition,
verging on asceticism. The third finger,
however, supplies us with more cheerful re-
Elections. 1t is the finger of the arts. 1t
shows the presence Of genius and the proba-
bility of fame. The man with a large mound
near his third finger will be amiable end hope
ful-a delightful companion and an excellent
friend. But if the mound be excessive, the
results are disastrous. A love of notoriety
converts the life into a vainglorious exist
ence, with n tendency to avarice and a GER
tain direction toward envy.
Lastly we come to the little finger. 1t is
the finger of invention, of industry, of quick
ness, OF ingenuity-the finger, probably, that
makes us a nation of shop-keepers. 1t is the
finance finger, and an excessive mound might
even be found among the less attractive types
of the British bankrupt, as it indicates sharp
practice, disastrous acutepess, dishonorable
trickery, aud a love of evasion.