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

Ieopie WHO T6JoCC as Iancl1ul the QiSClIlC-
lions of Spurzheim and Lavater still believe
that man with q big brow is likely to be
clever, and man with a strong chin to be
determined. Ordinary people do Lot get the
same suggestions from the hand, and yet il
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, 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. 1t is said that
they Indicate dreamy disposition, ten
dency to poeti2e and speculate. Men With
such hands are enthusiasts aud orators, have
the gift of imagination very prodigaily 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 1t eessary alliance. The fingers
may be sleek and the Ups may be square.
And this combination gives us another: class
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 rhy TIM. and the
the types are to be found in Moliere, Poussin,
Vauban, and Turenne 1t is 2 pity that we
haveno living examples. Portrait ,ainters a
century ago had a fashion of taxing Tie face
from the sitter and the hands from = t>yori;o
model. Vandyck's warriors, dic!o-a&.ists,
and courtiers had all precisely the same kind
Of fingers.
The fingers may be even more than square.
They may be spatulous, widened and rounded
at the end like chemists blender or an
artists palette knife. This is q very prac5i-
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 man fond Of horses and dogs, and
hunting and warfare, or, If he is more peace
able, Of commerce and mechanism, Il man Of
order and continuance, q merchant, a
fnancieT or, it may he, only a church war
den. The spatulous hand is generally found
supplied with large finger knots; hut where
the fingers have no predominant joints the
artistic character prevails. Zen 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 il painfully develops
the knots OF the fingers. Lastly, there is
general rule that large hands deal best with
details and short ones with genera! effect. It
would be interesting to test this by exanin-
ing the hands OF the royal acadeniicians.
But the art descends into minuter detail.
Each Of the fingers has its special character
=. e
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
nlent be heard and he tested. There is
ranged across the pain Of the hand q 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. II tho
mound is large, its owner will have Il love of
power coupled with a desire to shine, great
gayety, some pride, & tendency TO supersti-
ton, and q fonGness for nature IL the
mound be wanting, the life is one without
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. BIT if the mound be
preternatural we are to look for silence and
soiitarness--a Hamlet kind Of disposition,
verging on asceticisn. 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-
lility of fame. Theman with q large mound
near his third finger will be aTliable end hope
! ful-a delightful companion and an excellent
/ friend But If the mound be excessive, the
results arc disastrous. 4 love of notoriety
converts the life into vainglorious exist
ence, with a tendency to avarice and j 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 nation Of sbop-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 acuteness, dishonoTabie
| trickery, aud n love of evasion.
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