New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-09-27
LEFT-HANDEDNESS.
AN INTERESTING EXCEPTION TO NATURES
RULE.

HANDEDNEss BY Sir Daniel Wilson, IL. d. f.
Il. S. e. 12mo PIP. 10 Macnhiiah " w.
Sir Daniel Wilson has special reason for being
interested in the subject Of his present treatise III
asmuch as he is himself left-handed man ana
he has devoted much time and research TO the
questions which naturally group themselves aoou'
it, OF course the first step in the inquiry is TO
determine If possible whether the right-handed-
ness which undoubtedly has become the normal at
tribute of the immense majority was always 50.
or whether it is to any extent the result OF train
ing and heredity Sir Daniel has carefully eX-
amined all available evidence, but neither The
monuments of archaeology nor the art remains OF
the Oldest civilizations afford any warrant for the
belief that man has at any period been either
ambidextrous or left-handed. AmbideXterty has
always existed, but as an exception to the rule'
and in nearly all cases, it has been developed I'D
left-hand persons in whom nature furnished the
bias which gives skill TO the left hand, while
education does the same for the right. Notw1th-
standing Charles Reades enthusiastic advocacy OF
ambideXterty, it does not appear that persons
born with the usual righthandcd bias have often
been able even by careful practice, to acquire
the facility in using both hands which comes with
out seeking to the naturally left-handed. Some
curious evidence from the relics of the paaeoithc
neriod seem to show that left-handedness was oc-
but such instances are rare enough TO make it
certain that the rght-handed bias prevailed In the
stone age in about the same proportions as ot
present
Similar exceptional cases have been found In
Assyrian and Egyptian mural paintings and monu-
mental decorations. Inquiry among the living
savage races tends to the same result. Every
where and in all ages there is evidence OF ieit-
handedness but no evidence of left-handed tribe
Of people. II may therefore be concluded that
Nature intended men 10 be right-handed, and that
to this end something in the physical or In the
psychical organism gives the necessary blas 10
the solution Of this hard problem the author
addresses himself, and his examination is thor-
bugh learned and illuminating One OF Air
Daniels colleagues in the faculty of the Uni
versty of Toronto aided him by conducting
series Of observations upon his own infant chlid.
with the result Of showing that the rght-handed
bias began to appear about the age of SIX months
and that it developed spontaneously and steadily.
This is interesting as tending TO upset the
theory that this bias grows out of the way IN
which children are held by the nurse, or ont OF
deliberate training by the nurse or parents But
it does not throw any light upon the question
why the bias toward right-handedness thus APP
pears and in seeking to solve that central dlhcuY
a great many very serious obstacles have to he
encountered 1t might at first be thspght That
anatomy and physiology could be relied upon for
an answer, but anatomists and Psychologists nave
hitherto been unable to agree upon the facts, ana
so many conflicting theories have been advanced
that this branch Of the inquiry is merely befogged
by them
The study OF these contradictory and mutualN
destructive hypothesis set forth by Sir DAME!
-. h.,t ~
be said to advance the subject much, since the
facts relied upon by one authority are disputed
or dsproved by another. The ingenuity exhibited
in the employment of doubtful data, indeed, re-
calls sometimes the famous discussion by tire
Royal Society of King Charless question as to
the effect of putting a live fish into a bowl of
water full to the brim. In like manner we are
told by one Investigator that the right-handed
bias is due to the fact that there is more weight
on one side of the body than the ether No
sooner is this theory elaborated, with beautifully
conclusive results than along comes another in
vestigator with a brand-new set Of observations
and proves that the superior weight lies on the
opposite side to that assumed by the first theorist,
whose house of cards tumbleS to the ground. Sir
Daniel himself is admirably impartial and truly
scientific in his methods, and perhaps the only
hypothesis 10 which he shows any decided leanrG
is that of the superior force Of the left hemisphere
Of the brain. in support Of this he cites a case
of left-handed man whose right brain was found
to be the larger; but the evidence on this point
does not appear conclusive, since the recorded
observations exhibit very small average difference
of weight in the two hemispheres. Sir Daniel is
careful to point out an unavoidable source of un-
certainty in any such test, namely the practical
impossbity Of so dividing the brains as to secure
exactly equal sections Of the hemispheres. As the
case stands, it is obvious that the least little
slip of the surgeons knife might account for all
the differences supposed to exist and it does
not appear how this source of error can be
obviated.
SO far, indeed, nothing seems to have been
gained in the inquiry beyond mere presumption
in favor of the brain being the origin of the
preference given 70 the right hand. Even this
presumption is important for it tends TO clear the
field of futile theories, such as that right-hand-
edneSs is an effect Of superstition convention Gus
tom, heredty and education. If the bias is
innate, as scientific opinion tends more and more
to believe, the inquiry is narrowed the physical
structure and though all brain studies are sur
rounded by peculiar difficulties because of the in
accessibility of the living organ, it may be hoped
that eventually the problem will be solved. But
il seems worthy Of note that if Sir Daniel Wilson
is right in his belief that the brain is accountable
for right-handedness he can hardly be right in
assuming as he seems to do, that the initial ten
denotes of the majority are TO any extent open TO
doubt lie Observes. Habit, social usage and
education in all its forms in the school, the draw
ing-ro0m, the workshop in all the arts of peace
and in nearly every operation of war have so per-
sistenty fostered the development of the favorte
hand that 1T is scarcely possible to arrive at any
reliable statistics in proof OF the initial pro-
civties of the large majority of conformists Only
a prolonged series of observations such as those
already noted by Professor Baldwin. made at the
first stage Of life, and based on the voluntary
and unprompted actions Of the child, can supply
the needful data
This Is true, but what ground can there be
for expecting much divergence from the average
bias if the latter proceeds from the brain, and
if nineteen brains out of twenty, as statistics show
are what NAV be chilled p,Ied A. IL,