River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1893-03-16

Why any body should be left handed
> one of those matters in which the
question Is easier put than answered
The reason why we are riglt-handed
bias been met by statements and thcO-
ries more or less plausible. In the frs,
place, IL has been shown that the hu-
man body i not 81 symmetrical The
right lung IS larger than the LEFT. The
liver, during the inspiration of the
lungs, swings TO the right side, 50 that
tire center of gravity of the body Is
Brought nearly over the right foot.
7 he weight OF the visccra TO the right
of the medal line IS nearly pound
and a half heavier than that TO the left
IT n All this, while It gives mechan-
ical advantage To the right arm in
working, and 70 the right shoulder in
raising weight. shows us also. pas
siveiy. burdens are more easily carried
Cu the left shoulder, for in that ease
we stOOp forward SO as 10 bring the
center Of gravity through the stronger
right limb Again, il has been pointed
out that the left hemisphere of the
brain is larger and better supplied with
bloOd-vessels than the right, and that
il 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 earliest con-
dition of man 10 have been militant.
10 soldiers, the vital organ, the heart,
being on the left side, It was thought
necessary 10 cover it with the shield
and WELD the sword in lhe right hand
e -, "a,
theory, which supposes observation-disclosures
20 be favored in youth by the fact of
the infant being carried most frequent
~ 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.
80 that, with all these weightv rea-
sons why we should be right-handed.
IL is marvellous why left-handed peo-
plc should be found at all Yet such
are by no means uncommon. The
teacher of an elementary school who
watched the proportion for many years,
gave 1t as his experience that, in the
az a-A AtA~AA at III y MIN AAA@ 1NuDuA WAS
situated. more than five per cent of
the children were left-handcd. In these
eases the tendency could be shown to
b. hereditary: and the left hand, even
L. the size of the thumb-nails, showed
itself larger than the right 1t was
painful 20 see the attempts made by
tho left handed pupils TO write and
cipher normally; and, after the right
hand had been forced into service, the
result was a compromise, the writer
generally developing handwriting in
clincd neither 10 right nor left In the
making Of figures, both the and the Is
were for a time reversed, and in some
eases formed by drawing the straight
line down and curving the other from
below. In the mechanical trades, the
carpenters bench. his gimIets. screws
and many OF his planes are made TO
suit the right hand. 50 that left-hand-
cd -ppr, ntice Is handicapped, and must
either fight against nature or obtain
tools tilted for the left hand An elab-
crate print-cutter's gauge for measur-
ing off different sizes of copper re-
quired to be driven into the pattern If
made for left-hauded man is Of little
value when exposed for sale.
But ave do not need to go far for IL
lustrat.OLS of how inconvenieut
world this for the lcft-handed. Bur
chase scarf. and the left-handed
owner finds the slit, through which the
part requires 20 be pushed to catch the
pin. on the wrong side for him Let
him sit down u Inner, and the waiter
brings the di>hs'i from which he selects
a part 10 the wrong shoulder. Let
him lift a lnustaehe cup. and he per-
ceives his popularity has lot been
taken into account Let him attempt
To NOV, and he fain would reverse the
shape Of the scythe. Let him learn
Sill or dancing. or endeavor TO work
In harmonious combination. and his
swlSwardness is forever brought home
20 him.
And vet, ON the other side, the de-
splsed left hand makes good its claims
in many cases to be the DETER of the
two. The finger. 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 rcius and steers with exact
ness the horse through the cro' -ded
streets Is quite as cunning as. one
might say much more than, the hand
THAT wields the whip. But great Is
fashion. unansvvcrable l. theory. IL
would appear that as life becomes more
and more complex we are becoming
more and more specialized, and the diff
ference between our limbs Is encOur-
aged. rather than hindered, by every
pair o. scissors turned off At Sheffield.
by every screw made in birmingham,
and by every slap administered 10 the
Young offending fingers that would
dare t. shake hands incorrectly.
Il Is curious To notice the vagarics Of
humanity in cases where no hard and
fast line has been already dawn.
Although most right-handed persons
put ON their coats left arm first. = con-
siderable percentage thrust in the
right first soldiers fire from the right
shoulder. but Sportsmcn are found who
prefer the left In working with the
spade. a proportion Of right-handed
.snen grasp the spade with the left and
push with left foot and right hand:
though, when using an az. the same
individuals would grasp fartheSt down
with the right The Persians mount
their horses from the right side. which
i the different side from That mounted
BY Europeans
The buttons ON coats, etc, are placed
on the right side, and the shed of tise
hair in boys TO the left. evidently TO
suit manipulation by the right hand.
] he great pk lOsOpher Newton records
that al first he confined his astronom-
cal observations 10 his right eve. but
afterwards lie managed 10 train his
left. But there are persons who could
not do this owing to the unequal
strength of their eyes Strange to say
the Chinese assign the place of honor
10 the left. At kunyenye. in Africa.
Cameron relates being introduced to
the heIr-presumptive To the throne. the
nails Of whose left hand had been
allowed to grow 70 an enormous length
as a sign of high rank. proving that he
was never required 20 perform manual
labor, and also providing him with the
means Of tearing the meat which
formed his usual diet