The Democratic banner. (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) 1898-192?, 1914-08-25
(Revue scientlhque)

Rlght-handedne5s, we, are told by
Dr. Felix Regnault, in an article sum-
ming up the present state of knowledge
on the subject, is simply a matter of
the division of labor. The right hand
Is the hand of skill-of artistry-while
the left remains that of mere brute
strength. Division of labor is an ad.
vantage, and hence we have adopted
Il in our evolution. The reason why
the right hand has been chosen by ma
ture to be developed in this direction
Is that the left side of the brain, which
controls 1t, is somewhat better sup
piled with blood by the carotids than
the right. But why this inequality in
the carotid arteries? Apparently this,
as Kipling would say, "is another
story" and science is not ready to tell
it. Writes DR.. Regnault in substance:
Animals are ambidextrous, because
with them there is no division of labor,
or very little of it. Man is right-hand-
ed because with him the division of la
Dor is pushed to its furthest point.
'It is for reasons of utility that man
prefers to use one hand for delicate
work. He selects the right, but If it is
unavoidable he is able to employ the
left. 1t is well known that persons
whose right arms have been amputa-
ted or paralyzed can educate their left
arms and are finally able to use these
as we'll as those that they have lost.
1t is also well known that certain pro-
fessionals, pianists, for instance, or
violinists, can execute very difficult
movements with the left hand"
DR.. Regnault declares he has never
seen any really ambidextrous persons,
If we are to understand by this persons
who use both hands for all purposes,
equally well and indifferently." Those
who say that ambidextrous persons are
not rare, he says, call by this name
left-handed persons who have learned
in infancy to execute certain difficult
acts with the right hand, such as eat
ing, sewing or writing But these same
persons use the left hand spontaneous
ly when they execute natural difficult
motions, such as throwing a stone at
mark, etc. Moreover:
ut is not proper to say that a man
is ambidextrous who has with difficulty
learned to execute a single act indif-
ferently with one hand or the other.
once knew left-handed painter who
lad learned to paint with either hand.
But no matter how skillful the move
ments of a pianist's left hand, the most
delicate work is always reserved for
the right With musicians the left hand
is the mechanical hand; the right is
the artistic.
Some PSYCHOLOGISTS have maintain
ed that educators ought to try to make
children ambidextrous. According to
them the uniform development of our
two hands would contribute to make
whole part of the brain, now neglect
ed, an organ capable of doing the work
of civilization
"Now we have seen that the left
hand is not inactive, but does diff
ferent kind of work from the right. To
force our children to be ambidextrous
would be to oppose their natural devel
opment, which tends to the division
of work-it would be to struggle
against the universal law of the least
effort and to make them unskillful.
why does the child use his right
hand generally for acts of skill, and
why have the lefthanded always been
the exceptions? Daresay, the distin-
guished Psychologist tells me that the
right hand has been used to eat with
for over 5000 years.
ITO explain this preference, many
theories have been advanced. Some
authors have invoked the influence Of
public opinion, which thinks little of
the lefthanded, regarding them as
sinister and giving them bad name.
This is to take the effect for the cause.
1T has also been asserted that a
child becomes right-handed because of
| imitation and education. Even the
form of the utensils he uses leaves
him no other alternative. But these
causes themselves could exist only
by virtue of a natural tendency to use
the right hand. Dareste has thought
to explain this natural tendency by
the mode of growth of the embryo
which at a certain moment turns over
so that it's left side is next the vitel
lus, hence the preponderant volume oi
the right side of the body and its su
periority. In exceptional cases the
embryo turns on the right side
which gives preponderance ot
strength to the left, and consequently
causes left-handedness.
''If this theory were exact, the sub