The general habit of body, and the kind of temperament, we determine from certain general signs deduced from the hand. We observe the structure of the skin—whether it be fine or coarse in its texture, whether it be hard and unyielding, or soft and elastic. We note the quantity of fat and of cellular tissue; and this enables us to form a judgment respecting the degree of embonpoint, and we have already abundantly proved that a man of a soft, lax habit, with an abundance of cellular and fatty tissues, differs in mental tendency and disposition from one of firm, tense fibre, in whom the bones, muscles, and articulations, are strong and prominent. Thus, a soft, thick hand, loaded with fat, denotes little energy of character, and a soft, yielding, inactive disposition; while, on the contrary, a thin, firm, bony, or muscular hand indicates a rough, active, energetic nature. With respect to the texture of the skin—a hand possessing a delicate and highly-sensitive skin is accompanied by a similar structure of the tegumentary envelope of the entire body, and is always associated with an excitable organisation, with a highly sensitive, mobile disposition. A coarse, dry texture of the skin denotes a preponderance of muscular force over sensibility, and a character more remarkable for solidity and resolution than for imagination or vivacity of conception. The hand partakes of the nature of the whole body; when the latter is gracefully and symmetrically formed, with its several parts in nice adaptation and co-ordination, the former shares its perfection and is constructed after the same general plan; and we accordingly find that a powerful, athletic individual is furnished with a large hard hand, with its joints or articulations strong and prominent, and a delicate, sensitive person, with a small, narrow hand, with its joints small and but slightly prominent.
HAND, FOUR PRIMARY FORMS OF, CONNECTED WITH PARTICULAR MENTAL TENDENCIES.
In order correctly to determine the more particular signs of the mental disposition which may be drawn from an examination of the hand, we must first take into consideration the special physiological functions of the organ. On the one hand, it is the most delicate instrument of feeling,—the organ of touch, by means of which we judge of so many properties of bodies; on the other hand, the finest and most skilful instrument of motion and of prehension; and it may likewise be regarded as the organ of art. A hand rather below the average size, and of which the skin is soft and delicate, the fingers long, and provided with numerous cuticular ridges, which are indicative of a large number of the sentient papillæ of touch, the bony portion but slightly developed, and the joints not prominent, is admirably adapted for an organ of sensation, but by no means suited for an instrument of motion; while, on the contrary, a size rather above the average, together with a massive, bony, framework, strong muscles and tendons, and large joints, are the characteristics of a powerful instrument of prehension—of a hand in which sensation is sacrificed to motion.
In the former case, we may with certainty predicate a mind mobile, imaginative, and inclined to abstraction,—a mind employed chiefly on subjective phenomena; in the latter, the mind is rather objective in its action than subjective, operating powerfully upon the external world, whether by arms, agriculture, or the mechanical arts: the former hand we term sensitive, the latter motive.
In the highest and most perfect form of hand, thin, delicate, conical fingers are combined with a moderate-sized palm and a well-developed thumb,—both the sensitive and motive parts are in nice and accurate adaptation; the instrument being thus rendered capable of executing whatever the intellect may desire: such a hand we term “psychical.” In the lowest form of hand, the member retains throughout adult life the character which it presented in infancy, and it strikingly resembles the hand of those of the monkey tribe most nearly allied to man in their organisation and outward form,—a hard, thick, palm being joined to short, rudimentary fingers: such a form of hand we style “elementary.” It is mostly associated with a crude, undeveloped state of the intellectual powers. Thus, by tracing the normal developement and the anatomy and physiology of the hand, we have obtained four definite types of formation founded upon anatomical and physiological characters, and corresponding to a certain extent to the temperaments,—the psychical as the highest form, the elementary as the lowest, and, as intermediate forms, the sensitive and the motive. The sensitive is characterised by softness, delicacy, and a rounded form,—by a member adapted by its structure for an accurate discrimination of the external world, and for a delicate organ of sensation; the motive, by great developement of the muscular, tendinous, and osseous structures, and exercising its objective influence by virtue of its active movements and its physical force; the psychical uniting the perfections of both the sensitive and the motive types, the elementary without the excellencies of either.
We pass on to a somewhat more detailed examination of the several parts of the hand. It may be considered as made up of the palm, the thumb, and the fingers.
Palm.—As regards the palm, we have to notice its size, thickness, and degree of hardness; its temperature, degree of dryness, and the furrows by which it is marked. In all the lower animals the palm is large, thick, and hard. Hence D’Arpentigny views the palm as indicative of the physical appetites or animal propensities, and of the degree and intensity of the mental affections to which they give rise. Thus, when the palm is narrow and thin, the temperament is feeble, the imagination without force, and the mind rather subtle than comprehensive; when its size and thickness are in harmony with the proportions of the thumb and fingers, sensual impressions easily excite the mind, but a salutary control is exercised by reason and imagination; when it is large in comparison with the fingers, sensuality and egotism predominate; and lastly, when it is large, thick and hard, the animal faculties preponderate over reason, and the passions, unrefined by imagination, have full and uncontrolled sway. A moist, warm, rosy palm denotes health, youth, delicate sensibility, and energy of the vegetative functions. Thus Shakspeare in “Othello,” speaking of the hand of Desdemona,—
“This hand is moist, my lady.
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