The Savannah morning news., 1901-07-11
THUMB AS CHARACTER INDEX.
Psychic Connection Between Mind
and Thumb Revealed in Scores of

Psychic Connection Between Mind
and Thumb Revealed I'm Scores of
Ways.
From the Ledger Monthly.
The thumb confesses the man; no man
is clever enough TO deceive his thumb.
For all time it has been divided into three
parts IMPLYING the three qualities that
master the world-win, logic and love.
The first or nail phalange signifies
will; the second, logic; the third. which is
the boundary of the Mount of Venus, love.
When the thumb is unequally developed,
and the first phalange is extremely long,
1t is neither love nor logic that governs
the individual but merely sheer will. If
the middle phalange be much longer
than the first, reason predominates, yet
the man may not have the power to will
himself to do that which his reason die
tates. When the third phalange is long
and the thumb is short man is revealed
as the slave of the senses, guided neither
by will nor reason.
If the thumb be supple jointed the in
dividual is easy going, spendthrift, care
less of time, money, energy, opportunity
and all things If 1t be firm jointed he
is cautious, watchful, keen, diplomatic,
tireless in planning confident and sure
of success, self-poised and self-controll-
ing
Sourvaroff, celebrated for the strength
of his Will: Danton, that magnanimous
soul, who took upon him the disgrace
of crime to save his country; Gallileo,
Socrates, Newton, Leibnitz, ST. Simon,
Fourier, Owen-those profound reasoners,
those bold innovators-had infallibly very
small thumbs. Voltaire, the man OF the
world. whose heart was subject to his
brain, had enormous thumbs.
The intimate psychic connection be-
tween the mind and the thumb, revealed
by science in a thousand phases, makes
it folly to deny that the thumb is the
thermometer of character and tie barom-
eter of mental health.
Specialists in nerve diseases by an ex-
animation of tie thumb can tell IL the pa
tient is affected or likely to be affected
by paralysis, as the thumb signals this
trouble long before it is visible in any
other part of the body. If the danger
symptoms are evidenced there an opera
tion is performed on what is known as
the thumb CENTER of the brain, and
the disorder is often removed. The sue
cess of the operation can be told, TOO
by the changed condition of the thumb
No matter how carefully the individual
may attempt to conceal incipient insan-
ity the thumb will reveal it infallibly.
1t is the one sure test If the patient
in his daily work permits the thumb to
stand at right angle to the other fin
gers or to fall listless into the palm. TAX
ing no part in his writing his handling
of things his multiform duties, nor ar
ticulating with the others, but standing
isolated and sulky, IL Is an unanswerabe
confession of mental disease.
Born idiots come into the world with
out thumbs or with them powerless and
inert. which is natural. because where
the substance Is absent the symbol must
fall. Until they arrive at a time when
a ray of intellect comes to their aid they
constantly keep their hands shut with
the fingers above the thumb; the mind
develops with the body. the thumb in its
turn shuts over the fingers.
The epileptics in their fits shut the
thumb before the fingers, which signifies
that that malady, which is experienced
before being felt, reaches the principle
by which we think before that by which
we feel.
At the approach of death the thumb
of the dying, as taken with some vague
fear, takes refuge under the fingers
which announces the near end. Man
alone because he has a thumb-that -
to say, reason--knows death.
1.-The thumb says D'Arpentigny, 'in-
dividualizes the hand" On the ball or
cushion-like surface of the top Joint of
the thumb as indeed on the other fingers,
there is seen a kind of spiral formed by
fine grooves in the skin. These are alike
in no two individuals. Nature never
duplicates these markings. Examining
even a thousand million thumbs would
show them all to be distinct and differ
emit. Individualized by some infinitesimal
variation, these markings never change
from birth to death, and the right thumb
differs from the left.
The Chinese do not take photographs Of
their criminals. They merely force them
to press their thumbs on a piece OF white
paper covered with aniline dye, India
ink or similar substance. The resultant
impressions are stored away. classified
and brought out years after, II necessary.
to identify a suspected person with one
who has already received his diploma
for crime. In many parts of the en-
pire thumb marks are used on passports.
for they cannot be counterfeited or their
passports used by any one but the right
full owner.
few years ago, In course OF transit
between New York and New Orleans. an
express packet of paper money had been
opened and $22 500 OF the original amount
had been distracted. Two OF the seals
had been broken and one had been re-
sealed by thumb pressure. The solution
of the mystery baffled the most ingenious
work of the best detectives until, in de-
spair the matter was referred to an ex-
pert in handwriting and other methods
Of Identification. Noting the faint impress
of the thumb on the middle seal ne OBJ
tanned wax impressions OF the thumbs of
all the officials of the particular express
company through whose hands the packet
was known to have passed. These i'm
pressions we're photographed and enlarged
and one OF them clearly agreed with the
thumb impressed seal Of the broken envel-
ope. The thumb mark OF one OF the
betrayed him. and he was promptly ar
most trusted officials Of the company thus
rested, tried. convicted and sentenced.
When a London lad was asked what
the Lord had made. he replied: THE
earth. the sea and all the tlndummies"
Not until the examiner had exerted his
mental faculties until he was almost
wreck did he solve the riddle. "all the
tindummles," was shorthand for "all that
In them is."
Mr.. Perklns--Miss Simpson. my heart
holds q great secret. but feel tlmld about
conndlng n 10 YOU.
Miss simpson, Wei. M Perkins. can't
help you out any. the man who pfopOseH