TO TELL THE HOUR OF THE DAY BY THE LEFT HAND.
For the benefit of those boys who make frequent excursions into the woods, or away from the sight and sound of town clocks and bells, I write the following, which I found in an old book published early in the present century:
Extend the left hand in a horizontal position, so that the inside shall be turned toward the sky; then take a bit of straw or wood, and place it at right angles at the joint, between the thumb and the forefinger. It must be equal in length to the distance from that joint to the end of the forefinger, and must be held upright, as represented in the figure at a. Now turn the bottom of the thumb toward the sun, the hand being extended till the shadow of the muscle which is below the thumb terminates at the line of life, marked c. If the wrist or bottom of the hand be then turned toward the sun, the fingers being kept equally extended, the shadow of the bit of straw or stick will indicate the hour.
When the shadow falls on the tip of the forefinger, it denotes five in the morning, or seven in the evening; at the end of the middle finger, it denotes six in the morning or evening; at the end of the next finger, seven in the morning, or five in the evening; at the end of the little finger, eight in the morning, or four in the afternoon. At the nearest joint of the little finger, nine in the morning, or three in the afternoon; at the next joint of the little finger, ten in the morning, or two in the afternoon; at the root of the little finger, eleven in the morning, or one in the afternoon; in the last place where the shadow falls, on that line of the hand marked d, which is called the table line, it will indicate twelve o’clock at noon.
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