The Washington times., 1921-03-13


D-sia tBsabpAssa. ~
DRoBABLY yos have laughed 1t isets
handed boys and mes ana eAllsd
them "southpaws" Or ~side.whssaers,"
From the besinnins Of humaa Aistsey
there has tssn m inprsssioa that LETT.
handlers are queer or awkward. The
ancient Romans called them ~sinistsr.-
which we have preserved a. word Of
evil meaning. The Preach word -tascAs"
means either simply left" or awkward"
and we often use the word In the second
sense. One Of the earliest lefthasdsrs on
record was EhuG. mentionsd in The Book
OF JUDGES in the Bible. who took Advantage
OF his left-hahdsdneas to stab the fat King
of Moab unexpectedly IN the stomach.
In fact, many unnattsring inprsssieAs
concerning lsft-handsrs prevail some
people think they are . bit crazy, while
the majority, perhaps. believe that they
grew that way By some unfortunate acct
! dent ~.
J Now science has found out lot Of new
facts about left-handsrs.. 1t has found that
they are made that way by nature. that
they should not BE changed and that they
are capable Of the highest skin and mental
development.
But the most important fact discovered
by science 10 that 1t II extremely DANCER.
GUS and disastrous to attempt to change q
left-handed child into q right.handed one.
Nearly one-half Of all sufferers are
caused in that way!
Professor w. Franklin Jones, Pm. D.,
head Of the Department of Education ana
Director Of Graduate Courses iu the Uni
versity Of South Dakota, has published
study OF 10000 persons. made with view
CT solving the problems OF master hand.
edness."
His researches convinced him that every
human being is born with q major and q
minor hand About sS per cent Of the
human race are born right-handed and
per cent left-handed.
The fact that you are born with 4 major
hand and arm is proved by the major arm
having a more massive bone equipment
This evidence is present at birth. Profes-
sor Jones has confirmed his bone measure
ments by examining dead men ~ well as
live ones
When you have adopted the use of your
natural major hand the fact 10 evidenced
by the greater muscle development Of the
major arm.
In cases where the functions OF the nat
ural major hand have been transferred to
the other hand, the professor finds that the
bones OF the natural major arm are
larger, but that the muscles of the opposite
arm are greater.
Professor Jones found that three-fourths
Of all born left,handers are transferred to
the right hand either by purposive interior
ence or by accident. It has long been the
custom among the vast majority Of school
teachers throughout the country to DELHI
erately change left-handsd children to
right-handers when teaching them to
write. The practice may have been aban-
doned in some centres, but It still prevails
generally and there L. no settled policy ON
the subject.
The professor declares that physical dis.
ester In the form OF stammering is very
likely to follow hand ,ransference About
one-half of all stan,merers have been
transferred In childhood from one hand to
the other One-thlrd Of all left-torisht
transfers are afflicted with stammering
as against approximately 1 per cent OF
all ordinary lefthanders snd less than
per cent Of all pure right-handers. The
reason why ordinary left-hsnders stammer
more than right-han6trs IL that many Of
the former have been tainted by the ira
diuon that they should change TO right as
much as possible.
The professor finds that stammering il
especially associated with the old practice
of making left-handed children write with
the right hand-the natural minor hand.
He condemns this practice as unwarranted
and dangerous interference with nature
The reason why changing the natural
major hand causes stammeriag is ex-
planned by certain well-known principles
of brain function, although the details Of
what happens are not yet fully understood.
1t has long been proved that the move
ments OF one side of the body sare con.
trolled by the opposite hemisphere Of the
brain. II you are right-handed the left
hemisphere controls your right hand, and
~ you are left-handed the conditions are
reversed. The nerve fbres from one brain
hemisphere pass down into the base of