Sacramento daily record-union., 1889-06-09

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third joints long and pointed, the thumb
| small and well shaped. Possessed of q
| psychic hand, you are guided by the ideal
by the sublime and by the soul, but YOU
| will never become a leader in any enter
prise-you will be raised above such am.
bitions.
'Some enthusiasts on the subject have
| claimed these hands as the exclusive in.
heritance of the nobly born; but let me
assure you," says Mr.. Heron-Allen, ''that
this is a great mistake, for the psychic
hand is found among all classes"
The artistic hand seeks Imagination and
| art everywhere; useful hands seek arrange
ment and rule; philosophic hands seek
human reason; to the psychic hand is re-
served the privilege of q search after ethi-
cal reason in its highest development. But
alas! beautiful as this hand is, innately
grand as it is, its impracticability keeps it
back in the great race of life. Unfortunate,
is it not, to possess psychic hand?
The hand that is clever at innumerable
pursuits, but seldom excels greatly in any
one, is the mixed hand. The owner of
such hand usually has an unlimited ca
pacity for making ''the best of il" and a
general Indifference stands in the way of
excellence in any one line. 1t would seem
that with knowledge of this. science-if
it can be called so-one could read, mark
and learn from many hands the events of
many lives and the dispositions of ones
acquaintance.
Before investigating this subject had
not thought of the Importance of the
thumb; had not even read that Sir Isaac
said of it that gin default of other proofs
the thumb would convince me of the ex-
istence of God"
The old Romans used to denote a coward
by the words police tiuncatuS "a man with
his thumb cut Off, term which had its
origin in the practice of certain slaves who
used to cut off their thumbs to avoid be-
ing sent to the wars. And it is from this
phrase that the word "poltroon" is de-
rived. In the thumb lie indications OF
will and intellect. People who are born
idiots come into the world either without
thumbs or with their thumbs quite abor-
tive and useless. In the gladiatoral dis
plays the thumb, either by its erection or
depression, gave an indication of the will
of the old Romans concering the fate OF
the gladiator. People whose thumbs are
small are sentimentally inclined, and they
act more on impulse than reflection. A
large thumb indicates independence and
presence of power, but power born of
force, not of charm. Any one having
smooth fingers and small thumb has an
Unborn tendency to poetry and art, though
he may not have the talent to cultivate
them. A large-thumbed mechanic, for ex-
ample, may bring himself to write poetry,
but a small-thumbed poet can never be-
come practical calculator.
As to handwriting, person with a calm,
practical mind is almost certain to write a
plain, round hand, in which every letter is
distinctly legible, neither very much
slanted forward nor tilted backward; no
letter very much bigger than its neighbor
nor with heads much above or tails much
below the letters not so distinguished.
Exact, businesslike people will have exact
handwriting. Fantastic minds revel in
quirks and streamers, particularly for the
capital letters. Firm, decided, downright,
people are apt to make their stroke hard
and thick. On the contrary, people who
are not sure of themselves, and are lacking
in self-control, press unevenly and with
auxious-looking, scratchy letters. Am
bilious people are apt to be overworked;
they are always in haste and usually for
get to dot their is or cross their t's They
are also apt to run the last few letters of
every word into an illegible scrawl. Hur-
ried and troubled persons have grabbed
and uneven handwriting.
Considered as a ching of beauty" and
how to preserve and increase any particular
charm, the hand also deserves attention.
So much do some people value pretty
hand, that | have heard the remark made
that they preferred a lovely hand to a
beautiful face.
The time to form the hand, we are told,
is in youth. Any mother may give her
daughter tapering fingers, if she chooses to
take the trouble, by insisting that there
shall be daily pinching of the finger tips,
slight, of course, while the flesh is soft and
yielding.
Tire latter is rather heroic treatment;
and, possibly to save us from this barbar
Gus torture there have been introduced
into this country all the artistic devices OF
the Partisan manicure, in the manage
| ment, development and cultivation of the
! fingers and nails.
A visit twice week to a manicure will
| keep the nails in a high state of polish and
beauty; but this is hardly necessary, for
with due care at home, with file, a
chamois polisher and powder, one can take
| very good care of ones own nails. Before
| cutting, the nails should be held in very
| warm water, to make them soft and hexi-
bic; then they should be cut in the form OF
half moon for hands, and square, or
nearly so, for the feet.
The hands should never be allowed to
remain long soiled with anything that will
stain them. But unless there is some reason
for it, it is better not to wash the hands
very often. They should always be dried
with soft towel. In winter the hands
should be washed with oatmeal and warm
soft water, to prevent chapping, or, il
chapped, camphor ball and glycerine
should be rubbed on at times.
The veins on the back of the hand are
sometimes too large and noticeable fol-
good looks. However well made the hand
may be, they cannot appear beautiful il
prominently veined. This generally arises
from some peculiarity of the organization
of the blood vessels, and cannot be entirely
removed Much can be done, however
toward lessening this natural defect by a
! simple precautions. The hands must not
be washed in very hot water, or allowed tc
hang down, as the blood will thus fill and
stretch the veins. Care also must be taker
to avoid all compression of the arm and
wrist by tight armholes and sleeves. A
close-fitting glove, however, may be worn
with advantage. All hard, irritating and
corrosive substances must be kept from the
hands and excessive cold avoided.
The rose tint essential TO beauty of the
nail comes from the transparency of it
substance, through which is transmitted
the color of the flesh. This depends
much, however, upon the health of tn,
person. Small and delicate hands ar,
much more common in the United State
than elsewhere.
Therefore let every fair American whC
! possesses pretty hand strive to keep it SO
THE FIRST GRANDCHILD.
Grandmother" called the farmer, and ther