Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1889-08-28
THE RIGHT AND THE LEFT.
WHY is THE RIGHT HAND USED
IN PREFERENCE TO THE LEFT?

Opinions of Learned Men the Habits
OF the Observation-Disclosures That Writing
Was Done with Either Hand-Charles
Reade's Support OF Ambidexterity.
Every little custom or peculiarly has q
history attached to it; and it would he sur
/, prising, therefore, If 50 curious problem as
the general Use Of the right hand in prefer
ence to the left had escaped notice It IS, as
matter Of fact, an old subject, and one that
has furnished scope for great deal Of wild
theorizing. Even the derivation Of the term
left has been a source OF much controversy.
Archbishop Trench says the ''left' hand Is 50
called because it is left unemployed SO much.
! In that view he does not receive much sup
I port; indeed, his conclusion has been sturdily
/ opposed.
/ The question as to whether our ancestors
] were what we call dexter" handed may bs
answered emphatically in the affirmative.
| All are agreed on this point. But were the
! ancient Hebrews left handed people! Dr.
! trlenmeyer has given an interesting and
/ learned lecture to prove that they were.
/ Most Of the Aryan people write from the
left 20 the right Of the sheet OF paper, and in
their books the lines run IN the same Clirec-
( ton. Host of the Semitic people, on the con
trary, write from right to left Instead OF
regarding this essential difference as mere
characteristic of habit. kept up by that rev
erence for tradition hich IS deeply rooted in
the Semitic mind, Dir. Erlcnmeyer thinks
that the direction taken hY 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 writers OF
the Old Testament, and probably the earlv
Talmudists after them, naturally wrote with
their left hands, and would have found it diff
fcult, il not impossible, TO write with the
other hand. Dir. Erleumever says no has
found striking confirmation Of the theory in
the Talmud, and cites passage which insists
that certain special prayers and inscriptions
are always to be written with the right hand
and not with tho left. AS the execution OF
this exceptional work was difficult, ard re-
quired time and patience it is implied that
the process of writing with tho right hand
wac q departure from the ordinary method
then In vogue.
History, however, wes 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 toe FhpHcian characters Of
the Moabite stone, which characters date
from about the year 900 3. c. The insc.1T-
ton 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 tho practice Of writing from right
to left came into use about the time OF Ezra,
when probably the square form of the He
brew Characters began. ''fhe earliest Greek
Inscriptions, nearly allied with tee Fhn-
l..
from right 70 left; otaers from left TO right.
Others, again, sbow how tho difference be- +
tween the two mstEo6s wa bridged over by
the Immediate practice of writing alter
patelT--like an OK ployring-a1rs, therefore,
called BoustropEelcn writing
TIE net result cf tbs Interesting contro-
versy seems to be that the orcieut Hebrews
were approximately ne3r Charles Beade's
ideal, namely, either handei, OF, rather,
that they did not solely cCrIiae Themselves 70
the education Ct TIE right hand. But TIE
question asked nowadays IS; SIS the uso Of
the right hand, f. rrefsrsnco % the LEFT,
natural, or Is IL acquired p
Aristotle strongly contends that ia this. az
in all other instances, tbs oTggns Gf tho right /
SIDE ara mere powerful than those on ths isft.
Plato, however, ridicoies the idea thai ire /
Use Of the right hand Is natural. and attn +
butes the weakness q the Iost s3ds 70 tie bsd /
habit estsblis2e1 ~ nurses aud u1others
Finally, several doctors say there Is 70
anatomical difference IN ire tpyo hands
Here a conflict Il Gnt1cr4tles VITO ven !
gelEcai Though IL . C.. fcr IL O. SIX, IA !
and dec-is where ''4o1ec-B d.saETee,H certain /
conclusions are 60 obTloas tbsz they vii &C I
cur 70 saybooy after a ltt3e rejection. u 4
the first place. Il the us Il Fsat We ell tl.s
dexter hand. In ITsfsre1cc % TIA left, wers
an original ingtiaV~', 81 a4sn alike would I!
be Tight ha-1r, d-theTe eoald ba 10 exception. /
TIE fact taat there arc exceptions rgsyes con
eigsivsly TIA. TIE Partially fo- tEs right had
Is acquired.
There sse.ss no reasoa % d0s4bs that tas I
left SIDE might be e3rcaxsed eozals- a. w.EI "a 4
tee right n cases q accaieas, tee Isft hsad I
l. ofrso Insde 70 Do -o-k taas WIS forr-ex.-
rnolopoi-zed By ths dexter band AMI tee
s4ecial sxceiiencs Which 70. sefrpousut.y i
cksrScserEzss psrzor1ua-ces uas1s- s-.cl d.sl- 4
Guilty is notori5uz OF sckeoir1szt~x VITO 4
Tss torn wishoci right hzae, tes foEowfrs i
azzz1sing eYiZrazn was @rtt:ea:
zA7-ga q tEy riE1: had E2su.e kasa se-ees
--@s
Z.s-. sal tsoz =r..cz: IA 10 hz.a tazss ~
f-e
Il tl.is particular case tie der.s- band
cozld not hETs bsen r4lzseSs: tzt even xnea
!: - 49, ~ szz3 so5n too1rsss accustomed
g - lew dlstas
Aazrszs hass-a. WIN CREE s=G-zad lo7y
rezs-ss1s- dls-osszoa O. s1ssssszzter.ty. -4s
@. oE41lacs fz@< EasE4knz eza. czs.as % All
essn'zfsily wll b e.sAax h4azoa- Thai a. .
lsozzstss - tE4sn hsash hzlss.A = @s2eas fran
tee sto-T tsa! 9. sslT EG~la Lsa1sssr. ~so
- ore osos@sso1 dsra 1eyris rad ~ith ca
- r.sss 3 -e rszcs eta