The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-06-01
THE AMERICAN HAND.
1t is Distinctive and Possesses Features
That Other Hands Do Not.

That Other Hands Do Not.
From america.
What shall say of the diStinctively Amer
lean hands For there is distinctively
American hand, just as distinctive as those
of the Ethiopian, the Chinaman, the Ger
man or the Hindu. In his curious work,
LA Science de la Main" D'Arpentigny
quotes the strange description of lie Yam
hee contained in Michel Chevaher'S Let
tres sur PAmeriQue du Nord" (of which a
translation was published in Boston in 1889
and concludes: I'm nation such as this
there cannot exist any but hands which are
Spatuate and fingers which are square,
tie was partly right and par,ly wrong.
When first | encountered tho racially
American hand l was almost alarmed. |
thought / had found a new and unique spe-
clmen overwhelming in its contradictions.
The specimen belonged to Henry Ward
Beecher, whose hands l overhauled one
sunny afternoon on the deck of the Etruria
as we made for the States together at the
close of his lecture tour in Great Britain.
The hand, of which | have a drawing,
was of medium size, inclining to large; the
palm thick and heavy, the consistency firm,
neither hard nor soft; the thumb rather
long {. e., reaching almost to the first phal
anN Of the foretingerl, its two phalanges
being of equal length and the outer phal-
anX pointed. The fingers were large and
very square, the joints not very prominent,
the outer or nailed phalanges long, the nails
round and iRclning to shortGesS tho lower
phalanx thick. Here was a surprising col
lection of anomalies for chiroSophlst So
presuming it to be unique specimen, 1
made very careful drawing thereof and
notes thereon
But hardly had ! settled down to steady
swing OF hand reading when | made aquaint
discovery, to wit that this was the distinct
lively American hand--seven out of ten
hands that were presented to me, whether
male or female presented this, to me here
tofore unknown, collection of contrasting
formations. TEoir significance is interest
ing as a sketch of the American character
The size of the hand indicates q capacity
for Synthesis combined with analysis, "a ca
pacity to seize the meaning of an entire
subject and anaIyize It's details with equal
rapidity; the palm gives sensuality and love
OF pleasure, the consistency gives great
mental activity and love of exercise-when
other people are taking it: il a word, a love
of the display of physical energy, which we
do not ourselves practice The thumb de-
notes an equal amount of will power and
common sense, neither overriding the other
The fingers again show love of pleasure
and luxury, combined with intense order,
regularity and arrangement, and spirit or
lmpulSlVe calculation III may be allowed
the paradox a tendency to act promptly
on an impulse and anaiyze the cause and
effects of ones actions afterward, SO as to
make ones action, however hasty, inure to
ones own good. Dominating the entire
character is q keen intuition and good ma
tured spirit of criticism, shown by the long
pointed or comic tips with the short, round
nails.
1t took mo month before 1 could con
trast and combine these characteristics so
as to arrive at clear comprehension of the
average American personality, and during
that month | made some grand enemies,
who have never forgiven me! Indeed, had
it not been that | had had Henry Ward
Beecder's hand TO ponder over before | ar
rived, ] should probably have been so rat
tied" by the type as to despair of ever prop
erly diagnosing it.
l have derived much pleasure-and some
pain-from it, but to 1t | owe one of my
sublimest American experiences. My thirty
second fool-girl stenographer entered on her
| tered, seated herself and rendered to me 1.-THE
| distinctiveiy American hand" Motioning
my stenographer to take her seat at my el-
bow, as usual, | began: 'YOu see, your hand
is AZ tue same time square and conlc-a con-
tradictiOa. y"
My gentle stenographer deliberately typed
the following heading to my description:
"You sec, Heaven is sublime to stare at,
and comic-what an affiictionm
She had provided mo with problem far
handler to solve than the distinctively Amer
lean hand.