Evening star., 1938-05-08
Talents and Character
Revealed by Palms
BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN.

Five thousand years ago Chinese
savants were studying the palms Of
hands with the purpose Of finding an
index to the character of the owners.
The lore OF the palms was a part of the
wisdom of Solomon, for does he not say
in Proverbs lille: Length of days is
in her right hand, and in her left hand
riches and honor" The sages of an
cient Greece saw both science and a
measure of necromancy in the diversity
OF markings and, indeed, blind Homer
made references to palmistry. In Egypt
OF the magicians and all down through
the dark and middle ages an aura of
occultism and sorcery was thrown about
the mystic differences in hands.
Between the invention of printing by
Gutenberg and the 17th century some
thing like 100 books had been published
in the Occident, not to mention the
recondite works of Arabian commenta-
tors, scholars and pursuers of both
white and black magic. The hand, the
manual extremity which is the instru-
ment by agency of which the great
works of mankind have been created,
has always been celbrated as the espe-
cial abode of power and even as to
supernal destiny itself. Fate itself is
described as "the hand of God"
With all this wealth of seeking and
production of literature on the subject,
it is doubtful whether any one has
made quite the same approach to the
subject as Nellie Simmons Meier, an
American woman who has devoted most
of her life to research in palmistry, not
as an instrument of the occult, as a
property of fortune-telling, but rather
as an exact science. Mrs. Meier does
not profess to be soothsayer. Indeed
she tells no fortunes in the usual way
in fact, is not professional at all. Hel
attitude toward the subject is nearer to
that of the surgeon or, perhaps, the
phrenologist.
Recently she has been at the National
Capital to present to the Library of Con-
gress a notable collection of nearly $50
handprints of famous persons. The
Federal Bureau of Investigation in this
country, Scotland Yard in England, the
French Surete and the police author
tiles of nearly all countries have, for
some years past, accepted the infalli-
bility of fingerprint Identification. Many
a rogue has fallen into durance because
he inadvertently has left behind some
partial trace of the whorls and ridges
of his flngertips. Mrs. Meier does not
claim that the print of the palm can be
so certain-unless clear fngerprints are
shown-but she is convinced that the
characteristics which the lines of the
palms reveal may be of well-nigh equal
jmpOrta ancp
Pending further development Of the
possible use in criminology of the full
palmprints, the Library of Congress
has gratefully accepted Mrs. Meier's COL
lection of prints of famous hands. If it
is interesting to observe that such and
such is work-Whether in music. lit
erature or art-of the hand of composer,
writer or sculptor, obviously it is of
almost equal interest to see just how
that hand was constructed, what its
lines and whorls, what its mounts and
ridges, its contour, size and symmetry
are. Indeed, to many persons, it is
likely that the accurate likeness of the
palm of a hand may have higher in
terest than the work of that hand. OBJ
viously, this exhibition, the first of its
kind, is proper library treasure.
Every one has heard of musicians
practicing 10 and II hours a day to
perfect their technique, of scientists or
artists who must be dragged from studio
or laboratory Mrs. Meier's mastery Of
her subject indicates that she has shown
much of such perseverance. Her exam-
ination of a hand is almost uncanny.
She knows things about palms, about
fingers and thumbs that the layman
would scarcely think movable. 1t is
safe to say that there is not a square
millimeter of hand that does not have
a meaning for her. Although born in
New York, she has lived most of her
life, save for wide travels about the
world, in Indianapolis and, since 1895.
has devoted herself to the study of
palmistry as a science.
She has written books, a recent one
called Lions Paws" devoted to the
palms of celebrated persons in all walks
of life. She has known we'll many of
these persons and has had intimate op-
portunity to talk with them as well as
learn silently from their palms what
they are. She makes no effort to foretell
what will happen to them, she does no
professional palm-reading or fortune
telling, but she does venture that, from
outstanding trends shown in past lives,
some general guess may be made as to
what is likely to happen to persons
having the characteristics shown.
Take Amelia Earhart, for example.
Her palmprints showed Mrs. Meier that
she was a person of courage and cau-
tion. Too frequently bravery" and
"fearlessness' are used as synonyms
when. of course, they are not at all.
Indeed, the fearless person, If actually
fearless, is not brave. Without knowing
fear it is impossible to display the
bravery necessary to overcome fear.
Amelia Earhart's palms showed that she
had courage but much fear, and that
fear instilled caution, a characteristic
which made her a careful navigator,
made her quick to respond to emer-
gencies of danger.
1t is doubtful whether many peoples
hands have been watched more than
Ely Culbertson's. The great bridge
players palms show that he is contro-
versial, with a certain belligerence and
a love of power. But he also has in
spiration. Nevertheless, this is under
control to the extent that he does not
play hunch until his sense OF logic
reveals to him that there is some reason
back of the hunch. Incidentally, al