The Washington herald., 1907-07-22

There is hardly a city in the United
States that has not the sign Of a clair
voyant. a fortune teller, or palm reader
hung enticingly over some door. There is
not a city or town, or even country
neighborhood. that has not its ardent
devotees Of the mystical, whether they
know what the belief is or not 1t is
human nature 10 speculate on things hid
den and to marvel ever themi and 1t is
also human nature to ask some one who
claims to be a little wiser than ourselves
90 help US solve those hidden mysteries
We must be amused and entertained even
IL things are somewhat distorted for that
purpose In one Of Victor HugO's stories
we are told Of king in old Cathay who
bought children and had them placed In
queerly shaped iron frames in order that
their bodies might grow In that shape and
furnish a queer assortment Of monstrosi-
ties and def0rmities for his amusement.
To-day the sciences known to ancient
Egypt. India. and Chaldea are being dis
torted into queer shapes that We may be
amused. that our love OF the mystic may
be gratifed.
Astrology, palmistry. and psychology
have all been pervefted from their orig
fnal uses and made the means for char
latans 70 play on a people ever ready TO
be duped. These were legitimate sciences
in the long ago. Students devoted their
whole lives TO them. and sorrowed that
their years were not longer. Great IL
braries of the occult sciences alone were
built up in Alexandria and Cairo TO be-
come prey to the invading armies of
Greek, Roman or French, and only ruins
are left 20 show where they stood The
things they taught have become matters
Of tradition. IN Egypt even to-day. no
one is permitted To practice palmlStry as
a science until he has devoted eight years
Of close study to it. time longer even
than many lands require for the study of
medicine. over here, a book, a chart,
lesson or two from one who believes he
can read the hand and the soul and,
prestOl some pretty girl Is all ready 20
sean the lines of your hand and tell you
what the future IS hiding from you. and
what the past has brought you She can
give the proper names for all the bumps
and Zines and crosses on your PALM just
as the wise men of the Orient can, but
she cannot ten you why these names have
been chosen. nor can she trace for you
the slender, delicate nerves that govern
these, as could the students of olden
times. She contributes to your pleasure,
and cleverly gratifes your personal van
ity by detailing the various fattering
traits you are supposed to possess, but
usually that is ali there is to it.
To the real student Of palmistry. fresh
from the Orient, where that science is
almost sacred, the work of these dab
blers is nothing short Of sacrilege. He
Ffy Of
cholOgy, physiOgnomy. and philosophy set
at uaught by a people who are 10 him
mere pTetenders 10 the kingdom Of sci
enCe. He recalls the traditions OF his an
cestoTs, and is able TO recount instances
aiij~14ting the PharaOhs, where Egyptian
philosophers and savants. rich in the lore
of palmistry stood as counselors 20 kings.
His science is older than the Mosaic laws.
It reaches far back to q time before the
Hyksos kings and the dawn of Judaism
in Egypt To this student it is no super
stitiOus rite. His science teaches him
that from the day an infant is born there
are lines of character in the hand that
as the years 90 by opportunity is given
70 make or mar this character; that the
left hand shows the potentialities the
right the uses or abuses OF those powers
In the olden days. when Egypt was yet
was chosen for child until his tiny hand
had been read by a seer. In the pink
fists lie, so they say. the key 10 his fu-
ture. Parents were taught 70 regard these
lines with their signs and promises. This
prevented an embryo statesman from he
ing sent to study medicine, a musician
from being turned into a mechanic, and a
scientist from being made into a painter
Il thing that happens too often because
parents make the choice from their own
wishes. An ancient Indidr drama played
400 years before Christ, has scene in
which the ruler Of the realm calls on his
philosophers and wise men 10 read the
hands OF many children, in order to select
for him a suitable successor.
China, too, has known palmistry as
deep and worthy science for countless
centuries InscrutabIe yellow faces
through long days have pored over maps
and charts that explained the nerves of
the body, observing the ramifcations Of
these nerves and reasoning ont the part
they play in shaping the expression of
hand or face. Long-pointed nails have
followed, line by line, the markings on
the hand and have read from these the
things the hand has done, the things it
might have done. and the things it will
do And in all the world no two hands
have ever been found that were marked
alike.
Fingers, long or short. cone-shaped or
spatulate, tapering. or knotted at the
joints, have indicated to the scientist
the character Of the person he studies
until on this diversity I'm hand shapes has
been built one Of the modern helps in the
study of criminOlogy-that of identifica-
tiOn by finger prints. II Is new to us
but very old in the Orient Il is one
phase OF palmistTy that we have accepted
as legitimate. and that has been raised
10 the dignity OF a study without degra-
datiOn In early Chinese history the
thumb mark was used as a passport, and
woe be unto him who tried a counter
felt
There is a theory that tie American
Indians may have had a bit of knowledge
of palmistry, though. doubtless. most
Ineager. This is based on a carving that
adorns the face Of rock overlooking
Lake Keiemkoojic, In Nova Scotia. The
carving represents the hand OF a man
turned palm outward. On this palm are
marked all the primary lines that usually
adOrn the hand Of man, and indicates IN
their arrangement that the hand they
represent was one of strong character
Whether this relic OF the Micmac Indians
IS a rough etching OF the hand Of a be
loved chief or the earliest American sign
of the professional palmist is not known
II may be the preservation of some
science known TO remote ancestors of the
Indian race IN the days when It is believed
this hemisphere received its first red
skin population.
The exponents of the occult science do
h~4r-
eager 10 find what lies beyond, despite
foot fbof 4h, God D,aJ~ Ia,1o -,-