Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1883-10-28
FATE IN THE FINGERS.
Variations Of the Fingers and the
Significance of Each Type.
TPall Mall Gazette.


People who reject as fanciful the distinc-
tons of Spuizheim and Lavater still believe
that man with big brow is likely to he
clever, and a man with strong chin to be
determined Ordinary people do lot get the
same suggestions from the hand, and yet il
may be capable of afforiing 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, where
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. It is said that
they indicate dreamy DISPOSE ton, ten
dency to poetize 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 have 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 be found in Moliere, Poussin,
Vauban, and Turenne. It is pity that we
have no living examples Portrait painters
century ago had a fashion OF taxing tie face
from the sitter and the hands from Il favori;o
model Vandyck's warriors, diplomat.sts,
and courtiers had all prec:sc-y The same Kind
Of fingers.
The fingers may be even more than square.
They may be spatulous, widened and rounded
at the end ike chemists blender or an
artists palette knife. This is a very practi
cal hand indeed, widely removed from the
dreamer and the visionary, the hand of a
man fond Of movement and Of action, the
hand of q man fond of horses and dogs, and
hunting and warfare, or, il he is more peace
able, of commerce and mechanism, man Of
order and cOntliyance, a merchant, a
financer, 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. Hen 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 lee interesting to test this by exanin-
ing the bands 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 ara
now getting into the region of the fantastic,
it is only fair to the professor that his state
rnent be heard and be tested. There is
ranged across the palm Of the hand a series
of little cushions or hills one at the base of
each finger, but 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 love of
power coupled with desire to shine, great
gayety, some pride, Il tendency to supeTSti-
ton, and g fcndness Cor nature II 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 contro! his life, as it shows
the extent OF his prudence and the proba-
bility of his success. But if the mound be
praternatural, we are to look for silence and
solitariness-a Hamlet kind of disposition,
verging On asceticism. The third finger,
however, supplies US with moro cheerful re-
Elections 1t is the finger of the arts. IL
shows the presence Of genius and the proba-
bility of fame The man with large mound
near lis third finger will be amiable end hope
ful-a delightful companion and an excellent
friend. But il the mound be excessive, the
results are disastrous. il love of Dotoriety
converts the life into vainglorious exist
ence with tendency TO avaIice and Il GER
tain direction toward envy.
Lastly we come to the little finger. It is
the finger of invention, OF industry, of quick
ness, of ingenuity-the finger, probably, that
makes Us 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 rs it indicates sharp
practice, disastrous acutcness, dishonorable
trickery, aud love Of evasion.