The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1905-05-27
RIGHT HANDED FOLKS.

/ lQdu the l6Il - QOuDLlCSS OuC " tWO
/ inhuences-an innate proclivity and
constant practice. The preference
shown by most infants at the age of
one year for the use ofthe right hand
proves that there is an inherited ten
dency. Further evidence of it is found
in the greater ease with which any en-
tirely new act is performed by the
right than by the left hand. Train
ing, however, is an important factor.
A mature person, having lost the
right hand by accident, can achieve
wonders with the other if he only ex-
ercises patience, perseverance and a
strong will.
The more mysterious of the two
factors in this problem is the Unborn
tendency. How did it arise? There
are exceptions to the rule. Perhaps
| two out of every hundred babies are
left handed. But when you stop to
think of it the natural inclination of
the other ninety-eight is remarkable.
A great many physiologists have
speculated in regard to its cause with
out reaching any conclusion upon
which all could agree.
DIR. George M. Could says in the
POPULAR Science Monthly that right
handedness is so thoroughly ingra-
tiated in human nature that it must
have been partially developed in
the savage ancestor of the race. Prim-
tive man, in his opinion, must have
| felt definite need for the exercise
of his right hand in preference to his
left, and that necessity must nave been
recognized and obeyed for long peri
cd continuously. The impulse could
not we'll have dictated his habits in
eating, for knives and forks are of
recent origin, the modern gun had
not been invented, and writing was
practically unknown. Moreover, in
such operations as chipping arrow
heads, weaving baskets and welding
clubs, bows and arrows it could not
have mattered much which hand was
employed.
When warfare had been carried to
such stage of advancement as to in
volve the use of shield, however,
that object was probably held on the
left side in order to protect the heart
Then as matter of convenience the
right arm was left free for the more
active functian of fighting with spear
and sword, and with habitual exercise
came special skill. An attendant
phenomenon was finer organization
of that particular center in the brain
which controlled these movements and
which was situated in the left half OF
the organ. The brain is the real seat
of all dexterity, and something takes
place there in correspondence with ex-
ternal efficiency. With an increased
use of the right hand, Mr.. Gould
thinks, there must have been greater
demands upon the right eye, because
vision must precede the order to strike
or to give peaceful signals. In this
way there may have been developed
a keener power of vision in the right
eve than in the left. DR.. Gould as
sumes that there was and declares
sright handed people are right eyed
and that in their brains the center OF
vision is on the left side, in close prox-
unity to that governing the right
am.
| While civilization was yet at q
low level communication was carried
on, especially with strangers, large
ly in the sign language. Barter laid
the foundations of arithmetic and
called into play the digits. The pre-
ference already given to the right
hand in battle may have guided men
in the choice for this service and also
| in official and social ceremonies.
Computation, DR.. Gould points out,
was an intellectual process which was
conducted in the speech center OF the
brain. Nature was compelled to take
sides in locating the latter, and she
placed it to the left of the middle
| DR.. Gould thinks that the choice was
governed by the employment of the
right hand for giving signals. 81
| intimately related are the functions
of speech and vision and the control
of the muscular efforts with the righ
arm that action would be quicker i
the cerebral centers controlling then
were closely associated.
Before discussing the cause OF LET
handedness DR.. Gould calls attention
to the fact that with right handed
people the left hand is occasionall.
called upor to perform a task O
greater importance than its mate. II
eating the fork is used more than tn
knife. In playing violin or violincel
10 the lingering is done with tn
left hand and the bowing with tn
right. 1t is suggested that some G
these operations may result from tn
superiority ofthe right eye. Perhap
the latter can watch and guide ther
better when they are performed wit
the right hand.
Left handedness is considered b
DIR. Gould an inheritance from ances
tors, savage or civilized, who wer
. obliged by some misfortune to abar
; don the use of the right hand. An eve
more influential injury, he think:
would have been as to the right ey'
, With the cultivation of skill with th
left hand, he believes, there followe
: a change in the organization OF th
brain. Owing to disease the cent?
which had formerly controlled actio
5 lost its vigor and that on the opposl
t side acquired increased power. d
Gould says that the speech centt
z was also transferred from the lett sic
t to the right of the brain in cons'
E quence. In the transmission OF tt
: cerebral popularity to offspring
D finds the key to the manifestatic
: of left handedness at tender age
1 New York Tibune.
"AHP' SAID he, as he sat dow
L. a.. kT,o ex1NOxriinhf t1cn'f