Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1890-06-19

6ENEhAL- FECQLiaHlliES-
Why the BuDaS Family Er RIEht-Handed
anc L-ft-LeEEedL
The reason why men are as = general
rule riEht-hsnded is thus ingeniOusly
given Primitive man. being by nature
fghting animal. fought for the most
part at FIRST with his great canine teeth.
his nails and his fists. till in process Of
tine he added 20 these early and nat
ursl weapons. the further persuasiOns
Of club or shiilalah. He also fought.
IS Darwin has conclusirely shown. in
the main for tie possession Of the fe-
males Of his kind. against other mem
bers Of his own sex and species And
II you fight you soon learn to protect
the most exposed AID vulnerable p0r-
ton Of ycur body. Or. II you don't nat
u-al selection manages il for you, by
killing you OF - an immediate conse-
auence. To the boxer. wrestler sr
hand-t0-hand rombztant that most vul-
nerable portion is usdoubtedly the
heart A hard blow well deli vered. on
the left breast win easily kill or. at any
rate. stun even = strong man Hence.
from an early period, men have used
the right hand 10 fight with. and have
employed the left arm chiefly % cover
tbs heart and parry = blow aimed at
that specially vulnerable region And
when weapons Of offense and defense
snpersede mere fists and teeth. IL is the
right hand that grzsps the spear or
sword. while the left holds over the
heart for defense the shield or buckler-
From this simple origin. then. the
whole VAST difference of right and left
in civilized life takes its beginning. At
first no doubt. the superiority Of ths
right hand was only felt in the manner
Of hghting- But that alone gave il a
distinct pull, and paved the way at
last fcr the supremacy elsewhere,
for when weapons came into use
the babituzl employment of the
right hand 70 grasp the spear, sword or
knife made the nerves OF muscles Of tbs
right side far more obedient 70 the con
troll Of the viii than those of the left
The dexterity thus acquired BY the
right-see how the word .,dexterify~
from the Latin dexter. the right i'm
plies this fact-msde IL more natural
for the early hunter and artificer 70 en-
ploy the same hand pzeferentiaIly in the
manufacture Of flint hatchets, bows
and arrows. and all the other manifold
activities Of savage life II was the
hand with which he grasped his weapon.
il was. therefore, the hand with which
he ehipped it. To the end. however.
the right hand remains. especially the
hand IN which you hold your knife;"
and that is bow your own children 10
this day decide the question. which is
which. when they begin 70 know their
right hand from their left for practical
purposes
Now man being riEht-handed. it would
naturally be supposed that he is also
richt-legged. but this does not appear
to be the case Standing and working
with his right hand. there is tendency
to use the left leg for balance. Many
peoDle find less exertion in going round
circles % the right thac 70 the left
Race paths are nearly always made for
running in circles 70 the right So the
majority Of movements are more readily
performed to the right. as dancing. run
ming. etc The rule in walking is 10
keep 20 the right and this appears TO
be almost universal II is more natural
70 bear &C the right OF q large num-
Der Of people from the better educated
classes asked sSout she existence Of the
rule, only s. per cent Of males and 5s
per cent Of the females weIs aware
Of the rule The large majority obey il
unconsciousiy in walking. Crowds tend
70 bear - the right The left leg being
the stronger. IL is more readily brough.
into action Hence. soldiers start oss
with the left foot II is the foot which
is placed into the ssirrup Of the saddle
or step Of bicycle when mounting. So
the left is the foot wich man takes on
from in jumping. In the experiments
Of Mr.. G. Il Darwin, blindfoidirg boys
and telling them % walk straight. the /
right-handed one diFered to the right /
and vice versa From measurements of /
Dr. Carson Of the skeletons Of the two
lers-in 5ze per cent the left leg was tke 1
longer. and SIS the right For meas
urements Of feet Prof Ball collected /
the drawings and measurements Of 200 4
pairs. with the result that in - percent
the left was longer. In sL5 per cent /
the right and in S45 per cent they
Eere the same size Measurements at /
the first joint gave IS per cent left
larger. and 1t the instep s2-5 per cent
From tue table :of the figures it is OBJ
served that tho left foot is more fire.
quenpy the larger in the mafs than in
the female The percentage Of the
right larger than the left is very con-
stsnt whereas the numbers of the left
larger and those in which both feet
were the same size are much more
variable Man, being naturally or arsi-
fcisIly right-handed and ieft-fo0ted.
tends unCOnsciously % bear 10 the right;
lower zaimals on the other hand. ap-
pear nearly always TO circle to the left
-Boston Herald