The World. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1891-1896, 1893-03-31
THE RIGHT HAND.
Why People Use 1t Insuead Of tho
Loft.
A Question Easier Put Than a swercd-
Many statements and Theories E3ore
Less Plausible - conven-
ienoes OF tue Left Hand.

iSActS oi Tue A1eAt i.EbOs
Why anybody should be left-handed
is one OF those matters in which the
question is easier put than answered
The reason why we are right-handed
has been met by statements and theo-
ries more or less plausible. In the first
place, /. has been ahown taat the hui
man BODY is not 81 mmctrieal. The
right lun IS larger than the left. The
liver, during the inspiration of the
lungs, swings to the right side, so that
the center Of gravity Of the body is
brought nearly over the right foot.
The weight of the viscera to the right
of the medal line is nearly a pound
and half heavier than that to the left
of IT, All this, while il gives mechan-
zeal advantage TO the right arm in
working, and to the right shoulder in
raising weight, shows us also, pas
sively, burdens are more easily carried
on the lett shoulder, for in that case
we stoop forward so as to bring the
center oil gravity through the stronger
right lialb. Again, it has been pointed
out that oAe LETT hemisphere OF the
brain is larger 4aG Eatteg supplied with
blood-vessels than the right, and that
it is the left hemisphere of the brain
which, working crosswise, controls the
muscles of the right arm and hand.
Then there is the sword-and-shield
story, which considers the casl1csv s~..-
dition of man TO have been militant.
To soldiers, the vital organ, the heart,
being on the left side, it was thought
necessary to cover it with the shield
and wield the sword in tho right hand.
True, against these is the wet-nurse
theory, which supposcs left-handedness
to be favored in youth by the fact of
the infant being carried most frequent
ly on the left arm, thus giving more
scope to the early use of the child's left
hand Fashion, however, is always
alert, and to this imperial mistress
even our limbs must submit. Fashion
necessarily demands that the right
hand should have the preference.
So that, with all these wcightv rea.
sons why we should be right-handed,
it is marvellous why left-handcd peo-
pie should be found at all Yet such
are by no means uncommon The
watched the proportion formany years,
gave it as his experience that, in the
rural district in which his school was
situated, more than five per cent OF
the children were ,eft-handcd In these
eases the tendency could be shown to
be hereditary; and the left hand, even
to The si:9 G. lie th,.1c-a1.l5, showed
itself larger than the right. 1t was
painful to see the attempts made by
the left-handed pupils to write and
cipher normally; and, after the right
hand had been forced into service, the
result was oompromise, the writer
generally developing handwriting in
clined neither to right nor left. IN the
naSing Of figures, both thc and the 6
were for time reversed, and S in some
cases formed by drawing the straight
line down and curving the other from
below. In the mechanical trades, the
carpenters bench, his gimlets, screws
and many Of his planes are made to
suit the right hand, so that a lef1-hand-
ed apprentice is handicapped, and must
either Eght against nature or obtain
tools fitted for the left hand. An elab-
crate priut-cutter's gauge for measur-
ing off different sizes of copper re-
quired to be driven into the pattern if
made for left-handed man is of little
value when exposed for sale.
But we do not need to so far for IL
distractions of how inconveuient a
world this is for the left-handed. Pur-
chase scarf, and the left-handed
owner finds the slit, through which the
part requires to be pushed to catch the
pin, on the wrong side for him Let
him sit down to dinner, and the waiter
brings the dishes from which he selects
part to the wrong shoulder Let
him lift mustache cup, and he per-
ceives mis- popularity has not been
taken into account. Let him attempt
to NOW, and he fain would reverse the
shape of the scythe. Let him learn
drill or dancing or endeavor to work
in harmonious combination, and his
awkwardness is forever brought home
to him.
And yet, on the other side, the de-
spised left hand makes good its claims
in many cases to be the DETER of the
two. The fingers that touch and adj
just with such nicely the strings of the
violin are surely as cunning as those
that move the bow The hand that
guides the reins and steers with exact
ness the horse through the crowded
streets is quite as cunning as, one
might say much more than, the hand
that yields the whip. But great il