Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1892-01-22
The Hands we Grasp in our Every
day Greeting Reveal Forces
of Life.
The Theory OF Palmistry More Simpl
and Scientific than Generally
Supposed.

Inc nOveilsts OF all ages have famIIarIZ-
| ed their readers with thes warthy browed
race of fortune-tellers who sell their
, knowledge of palmistry and human nature
for what ever it will bring. This art as
lmperfecty understood and practiced by
the gypsles, IS properly divided into two
general sections, chiromancy and chirog-
| nOmy. The former discerns the events of
life and the conditions of persons in the
past, present and future; the latter relates
entirely to character. The classical name
for palmistry is chrirosophy, which is
| compounded of two Greek words. mean
ing hand and wisdom.
1t Is only few years since polite society
IN London gathered IN exclusive drawing
rooms, barred its pink palms to the scien-
the eye OF the professional palmist. Many
fashionable woman, who before felt
safely intrenched behind her wealth and
noble station, was startled out Of her
fancied security by an accurate ANALYSIS of
| character from the lips of perfect stran-
ger-and paid stranger at that. The
conventional fortune teller, who confines
herself to statements which cannot by any
possibility be either verified Or refuted, is
likely to retain her hold upon the credlh
ty of the class to which she caters, to the
| exclusions of the more intelligent pa!mist,
| who lays bare the secrets of character Dy
a defined system of deduction.
The theory of palmistry is simpler and
more scientific than is popularity suppose;
and, through the reseaches of science, il
has even become possible to verify the
gypsy portion of palmistry which deals
with description of the sexes as affect
ting each other. Character is determined
by the shape, size, length, color and con,
slstency OF the hands; also by the forma-
ton OF the finger joints and tips, the s:zs
and tint of the nails and Sthe hair on tue
hands The thumb alone reveals the prin
cipal motor forces of life. 1t is not verl
generally known outside of the medical
profession, but it is nevertheless a fact,
that persons who are idiots from birth
generally have deformed thumbs, and
sometimes none at all. Tne first, or top
joint Or pha ango Of the thumb indicates
will spower; TIDE second, reason or Logic,
and the third the passions For PURPOSES
Of analysis the scientist has divided la ads
into three general classes, pointed, square
and spatuIate. The pc sesor of the p0iat-
ed or taperlng hand is an idealist, al.
ways searching outside of the bounds
Of the mundane sphere for ideas he fails
to find IN poor human nature Such
person has great love Of beauty and a
gift Of inspiration amounting in some
cases almost to divination. Edgar A Poe
had this hand, and iC was indicative OF his
ch aracter.
The qIare type of hand, having &
rather large palm, long fingers with q larc
or Square!y comic tips, the thumb having
the top and middle phalanges twill and
logic long and large. is the hand OF
reason and philosophy. Such hands are
found among priests, lawyers, and men
and women occupying eminent positions
in the learned professions or il the
usually clever at all games of skill, such as
shooting, billiards, or anything requiring
exactitude Of aim. Love of order, sub
mission to authority and punctuality ar
also characteristics of this type
The spatulate hand is the hand of the
mechanic or laboring man. In shape it
is an exaggeration of the square type, the
palm being usually very broad and longer
than the fingers, which are nearly square
at the tips.
This hand shows love of action; and the
harder and 6rmer the hand, the more &C,
certuated the qualities. With a soft hand
| of this type one will have more activity OF
| the mind than of the body. People with
| spatulate hands make good mechanical
| engineers, especially when the joints Of
order and PHILOSOPHY, the second and first
| finger, are we'll developed. An exaggera
| ton Of this type indicates a nervous, NOR
bid and often tyranical disposition
Pope says: The proper study of man
kind is man, aud it would appear that
general knowledge of chiromancy and
physilogmony would greatly facilitate the
study and alter theHresults. Perhaps, too,
this study which until recent years oc
cupied place among the occult sciences,
might have strong bearing on unhappy
marriages. BY its aid any girl may quiet
ly analyza the character of her gentlemen
acquaintance, and choose from among her
suitors the man whose impulses are writ
ten out for her by the unerring hand of
nature.
When, in the course of her investiga-
ton, she comes across mixed hand, one
in which the square and spatulate, for in
stance, are blended, she will know that its
possessor is likely to be quite clever at
many things, but excels IN none. She will
! remember that the palm of the hand repre-
sents the material instincts, and the fin
gers, the mind. The more evenly they are
devided, the more evenly is the mind
balanced and more surely will the iudg-
ment lead the instinct. When she sees
hand with long palm and short, thick
fingers she will know that the material
| predumlnates over the spiritual in that ma
ture.
Ga the other hand it will interest
great many young men Who are cherish
! ing matrimonial designs to know that
women with long fingers have love of de
tail Ii the fingers are very long the
owner will be apt to worry herself and
everybody about her over the most trivial
things; and, without modifying infu-
euc7s, they often denote cruelty and deceit.
On the contrary, sherI-fngered people are
lmpulsive, quick of PERCEPTION, and go in
for things en- masse rather than in detail
If the fingers are very thick a. the third
joint or phalange the fair subject has
lu1u ous tastes.
4 long first finger denotes pride and
ambition. If its as long as the second
CT arrogant disposition is suspected. If
pointed the religious instinct is present,
If square love of truth is indicated A
long THU finger denotes artistic tastes, if
very long the possessor entertains lik-
ing for games Of chance and speculation,
and if longer than the first a certain
amount of monetary success folio vs. Al
long fourth, or little" finger, usual,
shows scientific bent of mind. When
this finger il pointed love of the occult
sciences Is seen, and when square tipped
a de ire exists for practical research If
this hnger is spatulate a gift of fervid
oratory is not unusual. Short fourth 6ng-