Evening star., 1896-03-14

l
the tennis court, and 1t is curious to note
the changes made in the disposition Of the
| field in the first two cases, and the evil
dent discomfort Of the other players in the
| third case. We may even SEQ left-handed
| gunners in the sporting clubs, but the by
| ISLANDERS instinctively draw hack when one
| appears on the line, as If they were afraid
| that the weapon held in the left hand nigh.
| shoot round the corner.
| These things, and many others of like
| kind, are considered abnormalities for men
ana women are supposed to be normally
| right-handed and not left-handed. There
| are, however, some marked Inconsistencies
as for instance that We must hold our
knife in the right hand and not eat with
| 1t, but with the fork held in our left: while
a spoon must be held in the right hand
and the soup conveyed to the mouth by
| that, Tor every eye at the table would be
turned on a person who ventured to use
! the spoon in the left hand.
| 1t Is evident that there must be several
points Of interest in these differences
| which 1. may be worth while to enumerate
although 1t may be far beyond the reach of
ordinary reasoning to discover why the
rule of knife, fork and spoon has become
an imperative one in polite" society. The
curious IN such matters will find much that
Is amusing, as well as instructive in Mr.
| Graht Aliens essay on the subject.
| . ssMas Language SHOWS.
| The fact that some persons are left
| handed may start the question whethe.
the human animal was always right-hand-
ed. Tor abnormaliy often indicates a try
ing back to an ancestral condition. Now.
when we look at our language, and that in
the case of man is>a fair test we find how
! strongly the comparative force exhibited by
each of the hands has left it's mark on our
| common expresslons. The right is the
or the naah me aef5 is :, the
derivative meanings of the names. In
words Imported from the Latin a certain
| ability is called stdeAte-ity," or right-hand-
e,nn,ss euness. while that. which has an evil or
unsuccessful influence becomes sinister
or leff-handed. dn BIKE manner IL we look
| AT words from a .Gfench source, we find
! shat clever person is "adroit," because
az. ne mas rlght-handed qualities. but clum-
| sy person Is "gauche," because his work
is left-handcd. sas@ = y
1t Is evident. tnat when our race besarne
| 80 iar advanced. as Ito frame words sfor
| members Of 1t We're right-handed. And if
We examine other languages, we find pr5ofs
tnat sucf rule existed among the ueobIe
ssn uslns .nem. There is, however. good rea-
son 1or thinking that man originally could
use either hand equally WELL This seems
| Z hazardous statement to make aburt .
remote ancestor. in the age before the great
es eaI,ar la. epocn had furrowed the mountains
" nertnern Europe; but, nevertheless. It
Is strictly true and strictly demonst rable.
Just try as you read, to draw with the
1ofennger and thumb of your right hand
an M imaginary human profile on the page
on WHICH tnese words are printed Do Won
opserve that (unless you are an artist and
| .here1ore sophisticated), you naturally and
tns.anet'veiy t draw it with the face turned
toward your left shoulder? TRY now ~
draw 1t with the profile to the right and
you VIII nnd IT requires far greater ef-
tort OF the thumb and forefnger.
| mo hano moves of its own accord from
without inwards. not from within out
wards. Then, again, draw with vour 1af,
tnu1no and forefinger another imaginary
PRONE, ana you Will find for the same rea-
son, mat the face in this case looks right
| Ward. Existing savages, and our own voIInp
children, wherever they draw a firnre in
profile, be it of man or beast, with their
right hand. draw it almost always with the
| race or he i'd turned to left in accordance
with this natural instinct Their doing 40
Is test of their perfect righthand sdness.
Among Primitive People,
But primitive man, or at any rate the
| most primitive men we know personally.
| the carvers of the figures from the French
| bone caves, drew men and beasts on bone
| or mammoth tusk, turned either way indis-
cr1minately. The inference Is obvious, Thew
| must have been ambidextrous. Only am
plcextrous people draw SO at the present
| oay' ana, indeed, to scrape a figure other
wise with sharp flint on piece of bone
| or or tooth or mammoth tusk. would. even
| Ior practised hand, be comparatively
| olnlcuit (Allen) In connection with this
passage 1t is interesting to examine the
reports of the bureau of ethnology where
| II Will be seen that, although the majority
oI pronies executed by the North Ameri-
can Indians follow the rule, many faces
| aiso turn to the right; and it is found that
| ieIt-nandedness or rather ambidexterity,
| - very common among these tribes.
| Wi
tnat IN writing his hand moves from left
| 10 rignt, and not from right to left. Here
| ~ i an apparent violation of the principle
laid down in the quotation given from Mr..
| Grant Allen. 1t is, however, more appar-
ent than real. If you study Egyptian hie-
| rogiyphics you will find that profiles inva-
Tjably rI9y look to the left Hebrew, Arabic,
Hlndustan and other ancient languages
| read from right to left In these. as in
some modern tongues, we have to begin the
| pook at what is to us the wrong end. The
reason OF this Isl that the early languages
We're inscribed, Rot written. A tablet of
right hand could; therefore carve rsse or imz M
press the symbol In the natural way and
taDiets OF papyrHs, and, In later times, of
parchment par and paper, difficulty arose;
.Hn,,iaa ~, t1e nand. began at the right and
Hence. the habit Of writing from left to
a,' asn.' SO that not only may the writing be
cIean' Out also that It may be visible. With
Wrlting from left to right came also read
ing IN the sameg direction, and one result
OF this Is very curious. We have become
SO accustomed to move the eyes from left
| TO right that we fnstlnctively look at things
IN that way. Close your eyes in r0Sn
ana then. open them.F You will ffnS uuJSss
you make POSITIVE effort. that youaS yes
| take IN the objects on the left hai6 first
and then move To the right. This Is the
way IN which we view landscape or a
picture The painter follows the habit of
the writer, and works from left to right
TO avoid, "smudging'' his work. and it has
Deen remarked that when several compost
tions enter into one picture, as in some of
the ancient altar pieces. the chr6nological
oroer runs from the upper left-hand cor
| ner to the lower right-hand one.
In ButtOninE.
The results Of the prevalent right
handedness Of man are shown in many
| curious ways. If we look at dress, we find
that mans button-holes are on the left.
while the buttons are on the right. "A
! man. In buttoning, grasps the button in his
right hand. pushes 1t through with his
right thumb. holds the button-hole open
with his left and pulls all straight with his
! sagnt forennger. Reverse the sides, and