The Tupelo journal., 1910-04-22

~ N4SooS 10 - ANAA 49,
indicates the inclination of the
nature"
Other lines are the lines of Apollo.
of marriage, of travel, Of the liver or
health, and of intuition. Then there
is the ring or girdle Of Venus. a
curved line sometimes found running
between the first and fourth fingers
This we are told has been the sub
ject Of great disagreement among
various authors" According to one.
it gives energy" to either good or bad
occupations.
This is a very bald outline Of the
nearly infinite material of palmistry.
C. V~anlair, in the Revue de Beigique
published a series of articles, La
Main Psychologique." in which he
states that in hands still young there
are hardly more than two kinds Of
lines. Age gradually develops others
more fine, short, superficial. Then fl.
nally appear the lines of senility.
which are nothing but the wrinkles OF
the hand.
He quotes Fere's recent observation
Of the gradual development in a pi
anist of those little curved folds en-
bracing the base of the fingers which
chiromancers designate as "the rings
of Venus" The wrinkles in question
were marked little by little as a re-
suit of the very assiduous exercises
meant to perfect the individual play
of the fingers.
He notes that the superior monkeys.
the gibbon and the orang, have three
folds across the palm; the chimpan-
zee, more akin to us, has two. Some
times criminals, idiots, and degener-
ates have only one transverse fold.
while normal human palms, carry two
AS for prophecy by palmistry Van
lair exclaims: Are there not already
in the most simple hypothesis relative
to the slow evolution of inanimate
things, enough unknown terms? Has
the science of nature predicted with
a complete enough gertrude the In
finite transformations of the medium
which surrounds US that one should
dare to breach that imbecile audacity
the problem of the future of a human
creature? Can one forget that If there
is one mystery more insoluble than all
others, it is surely that of the innum
cradle contingencies presiding over
our destinies?"
Prof. Stirling, professor of physi-
ology at Victoria university, England.
stated in the course of a lecture at
the royal institutions:
"Palmistry is an absolute ~absurdity;
the whole thing is beneath contempt.
Look at your palms. and you will find
certain classical lines. These lines
the so-called lines of life, heart and
head, and the girdle of Venus and the
bracelets of life around your wrists
what do o suppose they really are?
They are nothing more nor less than
creases or folds produced by the &C
ton of the muscles. The line OF
heart, for instance, is the f1exure OF
the four fingers. The line of life is
the result Of the action of the thumb
All these lines that have been given
astronomical names by palmists are
characteristic textures. You will find
the same lines on the palm of the
Barbary ape. Humanity is daily
gulled through its extraordinary igno.
rance of the elementary facts Of physi
ology."
Prof. Stirling placed finger prints in
a very different category. The print
of the thumb alone" he said, 'is sui.
fcient to identify a person for all
time" But this is because of its
physical, not its psychical individu.
atty.
There is, in short, no scientist OF
any standing whatsoever who gives
palmistry any rating whatsoever. By
the testimony of its W adopts 1t is
in a state Of hopeless contradiction
and dispute. It's character-analysis is
false, it's prophecies do not come true
The hand is a marvellous mocha.
nism, and it has slowly evolved from
the foot of the padded type. It's sen
s%itiveness and dexterity have coin.
cided with intellectual progress. but
1t is no primer Of psychology, no tab
let of mental and spiritual mysteries
Its lines and bulges have no more sci
entific significance than the wrinkles
in an old coat-sleeve.