Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1886-04-09
WHAT THE HAND DENOTES.
ODD THEORIES ADVANCED BY A
PROFESSOR OF PALMIsTRY.
Telling Peoples Characteristics by
the Shape of Their Hands Inn
Dortance ofthe Thumb

'Chiromancy or the science of palm
istry.n said Il professor recently to lie.
porter for the New York Nail and Er-
press, lis of very ancient origin" 1t is
Il science which enables us to divine
character. past events and destiny from
the shape, the knuckles and the Lines of
the hands. II is generally acknowledge d
that bumps on the head indicate certain
characteristics of human nature. The
color Of the hair and eyes, the form OF
the mouth and nose, the shape of the
eyes and ears, are infallible indications
of temperament We therefore claim that
character can be read just as easily from
he marks'a and lines on the hands. No
two persons hands are alike"
You claim, thea, that the lines on
he hand are not formed by folding them
Dr by workf'
Certainly. Nature places them there
Is she does the lines on the forehead. Palm
stry is divided under two heads-chi-
romancy and chirognomy. The former
'elates to the hand and its markings the
latter to types Of hands. BY chirogno-
my we tell the dispositions, procliyities,
rharacters and occupations Of those with
EhOm we are thrown in contact by the
nere shape of the hands. All hands are
divided under seven categores-the ele-
mentary or large-palmed, the necessary
Or spatulated the artistic or concal, the
useful or square, the philosophical or
knotty, the psychic or pointed and the
mixed hand. If the palm Of the hand is
meager and narrow, it shows weak dis
position, wanting in versatility If it rs
supple and of thickness and size in pro-
portion with the fingers and the rest of
the body, it denotes aptitude and bright
hess Of idea. If, though still supple, the
mould and general developments are too
marked and gross, it denotes sensuality
and egotism, and if it is too big and too
fat, it indicates a character void of re-
finement.n
''Do the fingers denote any particular
character?'
eyes. They are either smooth or
knotted. If your second joints-those
nearest the nNils.-are developed. YOU
have a well-ordered mind; if both Joints
are developed, this orderliness and meth
od are more pronounced. With both
joints developed, you will be tidy,
punctuaI, systematic and methodical in
your course of action. If neither Joint is
developed, your natural tendency will be
toward art and your course of action will
be rather inspired than reasoned out ;
you will be guided by fancy and senti-
ment: good taste belongs to knotted fin
gers, natural grace to smooth All fingers
have the third pha!ange, that which bears
the nail, either pointed, conical, square
or spatuated. Take two hand. both
spatnlated, but one smooth and the other
knotty; both will appreciate things real
and physical, but one will succeed by in
spiration and the one with knotty fingers
by calculation. Take a subject having
smooth fingers ending conically, like a
thimble. You will find the fine arts
sculpture, vigorous painting, imaginative
poetry, or love of the beautiful and love
of independence. If the hand, instead
OF being smooth, lie knotty, you will
find the same tendencies, but with more
moral force and character. If the knot
ted fingers have the outer phalange
square and pointed, they indicate love
OF the stern truth, poetry of reason,
logic. That is what we call a philoso-
phic hand, more theoretical than practi-
cal. A hand having the third phalange
very pointed and drawn out indicates
lieality, religion, poetry of soul and
heart, alteration of the beautiful, desire
for love and liberty. We call this a psv-
chic hand. A hand that is hard and stiff,
and has a difficulty in opening to its full
extension, indicates 0bStinacy and stub
bornness. A large hand indicates love
of detail, u medium hand takes in de-
tails, but also appreciates entirety among
musical people. The most correct and
learned physicians have square fingers.
Instrumentation, whether it be the art of
performing or composing for instruments
is invariably found in spatulate fingers,
while singers nearly always have the
third phalange knotted."
"What of the thumb, Professor"
"The thumb is the most essential part
of the human hand Without it the fingers
would be comparatively useless. 1t is the
thumb that constitutes the great differ
ence between the hand of man and the
foot of an animal In the thumb lie the
indcat ons of mans will and intellect.
People who are DO n idiots come into the
world either without thumbs or with their
thumbs quite abortive and useless. A
baby, before it can exercise its will, it is
always OBJ erved, keeps its fingers closed
over Is thumb. A reasoning man in-
variably closes his thumb over his fingers.
If the second or outer rhalange of your
thumb be narrow, mean and short, your
will is weak one, you arc prone to be
guided by Others. Large thumbs indi-
cate independence and tendency
toward despotism. Any one with smooth
fingers and small thumb has an in
born tendency to poetry and art, though
he may not have talent to cultivate
them"
"Will you explain to me the peculiari-
ties of the various hands you have men
tioned"
"The elementary hand is the first.
The characteristics of this hand are
thick, stiff fingers; short thumb, gen.
orally turned back, large, broad and
thick palm, very hard. This is the
hand of laborcr or stableman. Such
subjects understand nothing but the
grossly material aspect of things; they
are inaccessible to reason. Such hand
betrays heaviness of soul, sluggish
imagination and complete indifference.
The spatulate hand denotes resolution.
The spatulate hand possesses the instinct
of self-preservation highly developed,
and he rules the world of beings material
by natural intelligence. People with
spatulate fingers make excellent colo
nlsts, for they are not rendered fiighty
by tastes for poetry and art. The artistic
hand hos three tendencies. They are the
hn.,l ...r;AL n..,.,II ..r;Ah !.