Evening journal., 1889-08-22
THE RIGHT AND THE LEFT.
WHY Is THE RIGHT HAND USED
IN PREFERENCE TO THE LEFTf
Opinions of Learned Men on the Habits
of the Ancients- Evidences That Writing
Was Done with Either Hand-Charles
Reade's support Of Ambidexterity.


of the Ancients- Evidences That writing
Was Done with Either Hand-Charles
Reade's support of Ambidexterity.
Every little custom or peculiarity has a
history attached 20 it; and IL would be sur
prising, therefore, if so curious a problem as
the general use of the right hand in prefer
ence TO the left had escaped notice It is, as a
matter Of fact an old subject, and one that
has furnished scope for a great deal of wild
theorizing Even the derivation Of the term
left has been a source OF much controversy
Archbishop Trench says the cleft" hand is 50
called because it is left unemployed so much
n that view he does not receive much sup
port. indeed, his conclusion has been sturdily
opposed
The question as TO whether our ancestors
were what we call dexter" handed may be
answered emphatically in the affirmative
All are agreed ON this point. But were the
ancient Hebrews a left handed peoplel Dr.
Erlenmeyer has given an interesting and
learned lecture TO prove that they we're
Most of the Aryan people write from the
left 10 the right Of the sheet OF paper, aud in
their books the lines run in the same direc-
ton. Most Of the Semitic people. on the con.
trary, write from right TO left Instead of
regarding this essential difference as a mere
characteristic Of habit, kept up by that rev
erance for tradition which is deeply rooted in
the Semitic mind, Dr. Erlenmeyer thinks
that the direction taken by the hand Of a
Semitic scribe was due to physiological cause
namely that the left hand was the better
Of the two--and insists that the writer's Of
the Old Testament and probably the early
Iglrludists after them, naturally wrote with
their left hands, and would have found it diff
acult, If not impossible, TO write with the
other hand. DR.. Etenmeyet says he has
found striking confirmation Of the theory in
the Talnud, and cites passage which insists
that certain special prayers and Inscriptions
are always to be written with the right hand
and not with the left AS the execution of
this exceptional work was difficult, and re-
quired time and patience, it is implied that
the process Of writing with the right hand
WAS departure from the ordinary method
then in vogue.
History, however-as was pointed out soon
after the publication of the doctors lecture
does not support this ingenious theory The
most ancient forms Of Semitic letters within
our reach are the Phnnician characters Of
the Moabite stone, which characters date
from about the year 800 B. c. The inscrip-
tion in this instance reads from left to right,
as we do In the present day. A learned cor
respondent Of The British Medical Journal
states that the practice of writing from right
20 left came into use about the time OF Ezra,
when probably the square form Of the He
brew characters began. "The earliest Greek
Inscriptions, nearly allied with the Php-
aician, are" he adds, sometimes written
from right to left; others from left to right
Others, again, show how the difference be-
tween the two methods was bridged over by
the immediate practice Of writing alter
nately-like an OK plowing-and, therefore,
called Boustrophedon writing"
The net result of this interesting contro-
versy seems to be that the ancient Hebrews
were approximately near Charles Reade's
ideal. namely, "either handed or, rather,
that they did not solely confine themselves to
Uhe education OF the right hand But the
question asked nowadays is; is the use OF
the right hand, in preference TO the left,
natural, or is it acquiredf"
! Aristotle strongly contends that in this, as
in all other instances, the organs Of the right
side are more powerful than those on the left
Plato, however, ridicules the idea that the
use OF the right hand IS natural, and attri-
| butes the weakness OF the left side 10 the bad
tlabAt N0NtDAAnhtN nl anu LuOiutfa.
Finally, several doctors say there Is no
anatomical difference in the two hands
Here a conflict Of authorities with a ven
geancel Though Il is not for us 30 step In
and decide where doctors disagree certain
conclusions are 50 obvious that they will oc-
cur to anybody after a little reflection In
the first place, il the use Of what we call the
DEXTER hand, in preference TO the left, were
an Original instinct" all men alike would
be right handed-there could be no exception.
The fact that there are exceptionsp proves con-
elusively that the partiality for the right hand
is acquired
! There seems no reason TO doubt that tho
left side might be educated equally as well al
the right. In cases Of accident, the left hand
Is often male to do work that was formerly
lnonopolzed by the dexter hand; and the
| special excellence which not infrequently
characteIizes performances under such diff
Guilty is notorious OF a schoolmast2- who
was born without right hand, the following
amusing epigraln was written;
Though of thy right hand nature hath beref
| thee.
Right well thou wrtest with the hand that's left
thee.
In this particular case the d9zter hand
could not have been missed. but even wher
| it is, the left hand soon becomes accustomed
to its new duties
Charles Reade, who once started Ions
newspaper discussion on ambidexterity, wa.
Of opinion that mankind can, ought 10 and
eventually win he either hanGed That it q
possible to train both hands is evident from
tho story told Of Sir Edwin Landseer, VIII,
on one occasion drew a deer's head with on,
hand while he was drawing landscape with
the other. Again, Professor Edwin Morse
Of Salem, Mass, could draw simultaneously
and that, too, before an audience, two diff
lerent objects with either hand, or he woul,
draw an object with one hand and at th
same time write the names of the parts o
the object with the other.
Further examples of this ambidextrou
work could be given, but they are not neces
sary, since in every day life we can SO
abundant proof Of what is possible in thi
direction. Piano players and orennists, 70
instance, have to train both hands Talin
these and many other circumstances unde
consideration, there can be no doubt tha
children could be taught To use both hand
with equal freedom and facility, and. pei
haps, II they were left to themselves, tn
result would ba just the same But it IS in
perativo that child should be taught to cal
dress, play and write as quickly as possibl,
This Is patent. To teach a child to do a
these things with both hands would tax
nearly. If not quite, twice as long as with on
hand only and, therefore, as a matter Of ea
pedieney, the latter course is generally adopt
ed, and It must be admitted that, taking a
things into consideration, it Is the more jud
cious one On the ground Of economy {
time, then, It is extremely doubtful whethe