Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1896-06-12
UNEER THE THUMB.
lHE STRONGEST AND MOST USEFUL
or THE HUMAN HANDS DlGlTS.
II Is n Sign of Superiority over Other
Creatures-sacred and Profane History
Give II "A Place of Prominence-Thumb
of the Monkey.

OF the Monkey.
The thumb dominates the hand much
rs the sturdy Little Corporal" did
Franco, with the same compelling, tena-
cious grip. so strong i this supremacy
that the phrase under the thumb Is con
tomptuously significant of the complete
subsection Of the weaker will To the
stronger. The potency of the thumb has
been recognized from the earliest recorded
history.
In the Bible we find the earliest record
of the thumb and meager account of il
as a factor in religious ceremonies and in
punishments When Aaron and his sons
were conSecratcd 20 be priests over the Is
realities, during the ceremony the blood Of
newly killed ram was put on the right
ear the thumb of the right hand and the
great toe of the right foot. These priests
in cleansing lepers observed similar rites
substituting the blood of a lamb as a
'trespass Offering for that Of a ram and
followed up the application of blood TO the
right ear, right thumb and great toe Of
the right foot by amounting the same mem
bers with oil upon the place of the blood
of the trespass Offering
In the fourteenth century when con
slant warfare was raging between Scotch
and English, Black" James Douglas
contented himself with cutting off the
thumbs of the English archers he captured
and turning them loose instead of killing
them outright, a doom infinitely prefera-
BILE to the savage border men when they
could no longer grip the bow and let fly
the deadly arrow
When the gladiators were led into the
arena to furnish amusement for the fash
Roman Wnrln-tnn wi
their lives-how eagerly they must have
watched for the sign from the omnipotent
thumb II IL was turned down. they were
doomed. II up they were saved. And its
verdict could not be appealed from. This
practice was not overthrown until A. d.
i04, when Telemachus, "a Christian monk,
threw himself between the contestants at
the sacrifice Of his life. Then the Emperor
Honorlous, by decree, put an end to the
gladiatorial games. 1t il doubtless from
this source the nursery game, Thumbs
up' had its origin Happily tho limo
cents addicted To it have no idea of its orig
inal terrible significance.
If we may trust Shakespeare, biting the
thumb under certain circumstances was
illegal in the fourteenth century in Vero-
Ma and IL was regarded rs prologue TO "A
quarrel or u challenge 10 fight In the
play Of Romeo and Juliet" we find this
curious dialogue between the servants Of
the rival houses of Montague and Capulet:
Abraham DO you bite your thumb at Us,
sir?
Samp,on-I DO bite my thumb, sir
Abraham-Do you bite your thumb at Us,
sir2
Sampson G.-ide 70 Gregory)-Is the law on
our side if >ly aver
Gregory-No.
Sampson-No, sir l do not bite my thumb
at you, sir but bite my thumb, sir.
Gregory-Do you quarrel, sir2
Northumberland, sir No sir
Sampson-If you do, sir am for you
And this pickering, which commenced
by simple nibbling Of the thumb, ended
in IA fight with drawn swords
Recently Mark Twain has made the
thumb play prominent part in fiction
He uses an old theory, credited 20 the Chi
nese, that at birth every human being
bears on his thumb lines that will forever
establish his identity from the fact that
no other person has or will have Identical
ones. This is extremely chimerical and
fanCiful and would not be accepted a.
revelant' by most of the hard headed,
unimaginative occupants of the bench in
this country. However, from the depths
Of his own fertile Imagination Mark sue
ceeded in Turing Judge and jury that
gave verdict in accord with Pudd' q
Head Wilson Photographic argument
But there are thumbs and thumbs. For
one, the "miller's thumb, " which Is fiat
tened at the tip TO a peculiar shape and
acquires great delicacy of touch from the
sitting of -four through it, SO sensitive
does it become that miller can readily
determine the grade Of flour by the touch
1t frequently desccnds as a birthmark 20
his children. The "potter's thumb" is
similar, and in handmade pottery plays
an active part in shaping the ware, insen-
sibly assuming a flattened shape, which
distinguishes It.
certain class of philosophers assert
that character may be determined by the
thumb shape. vain person is said TO
fold the thumb under if it is too long for
beauty. a grasping person has a long
thumb that turns backward like hook
good natured person has short thumb
There l. an old superstition concerning
"a wOman's thumb. II In closing the hand
the thumb folds out of the fingers she will
rule her husband If under, she will be
ruled by him. 1t is limited that a majority
of them fold out
In the anatomy Of the hand that Of man
and monkey are almost identical, the rad
ical difference being in the length OF the
thumb. The monkeys thumb is the same
length a. his other fingers. The muscular
development however, is different. The
monkeys thumb has no opposing pow
er, merely the grasping power in com mon
with the other fingers.
In the human hand only on the contra
ry the thumb has opposing power" -
that is the thumb can touch the tips OF
each or any of the other fingers. But none
of the other fingers can touch the tip of
any other finger but the thumb. This OPP
posing power constitutes the fundamental
difference between the hand of man and
monkey and may possibly be the missing
link which the monkeys have lost
In grasping the thumb is opposed to
four fingers and eXcrts just four times az
much strength. II you doubt it try TO
hang to turning pole without using the
thumb. An examination of its muscles
will show that they are the largest and
strongest il the hand.-Chicaso Tribune.
Kerosene.