a brief résumé of the history of the study of hands through the centuries to the present day
the success i had during the twenty-five years in which i was connected with this study was, i believe, chiefly owing to the fact that although my principal study was the lines and formation of hands, yet i did not confine myself alone to that particular page in the book of nature. i endeavoured to study every phase of thought that can throw light on human life; consequently the very ridges of the skin, the hair found on the hands, all were used as a detective would use a clue to accumulate evidence. i found people were sceptical of such a study only because they had not the subject presented to them in a logical manner.
there are hundreds of facts connected with the hand that people have rarely, if ever, heard of, and i[pg 2] think it will not be out of place if i touch on them here. for instance, in regard to what are known as the corpuscles, meissner, in 1853, proved that these little molecular substances were distributed in a peculiar manner in the hand itself. he found that in the tips of the fingers they were 108 to the square line, with 400 papill?; that they gave forth certain distinct crepitations, or vibrations, and that in the red lines of the hand they were most numerous and, strange to say, were found in straight individual rows in the lines of the palm. experiments were made as to these vibrations, and it was proved that, after a little study, one could distinctly detect and recognise the crepitations in relation to each individual. they increased or decreased in every phase of health, thought, or excitement, and were extinct the moment death had mastered its victim. about twenty years later, experiments were made with a man in paris, who had an abnormally acute sense of sound (nature's compensation for want of sight, as he had been born blind). in a very short time this man could detect the slightest change or irregularity in these crepitations, and through the changes was able to tell with wonderful accuracy about how old a person was, and how near they were to illness, and even death.
the study of these corpuscles was also taken up by sir charles bell, who, in 1874, demonstrated that each corpuscle contained the end of a nerve fibre, and was in immediate connection with the brain. this great specialist also demonstrated that every portion of the brain was in touch with the nerves of the hand and more particularly with the corpuscles found in the tips of the fingers and the lines of the hand.
lord kitchener's hand. lord kitchener's hand.
the detection of criminals by taking impressions[pg 3] of the tips of the fingers and by thumb marks is now used by the police of almost every country, and thousands of criminals have been tracked down and identified by this means.
to-day, at scotland yard, is to be seen almost an entire library now devoted to books on this side of the subject and to the collections that the police have made, and yet, in my short time, i remember how the idea was scoffed at when monsieur bertillon and the french police first commenced the detection of criminals by this method. if the ignorant prejudice against a complete study of the hand were overcome, the police would be greatly assisted by studying the lines of the palm, and acquiring a knowledge of what these lines mean, especially as regards mentality and the inclination of the brain in one direction or another.
it is a well-known fact that, even if the skin be burned off the hands or removed by an acid, in a short time the lines will reappear exactly as they were before, and the same happens to the ridges or "spirals" in the skin of the inside tips of the fingers and thumb.
the scientific use of such a study could also be made invaluable in foreseeing tendencies towards insanity, etc.
sir thomas browne, in his religio medici, after referring to physiognomy, says:
"now there are besides these characters in our faces certain mystical figures in our hands, which i dare not call mere dashes, strokes à la volée or at random, because delineated by a pencil that never works in vain, and hereof i take more particular notice because i carry that in mine own hand which i could never read nor discover in another."
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but prejudice is a hard thing to combat, and, in consequence, a study which could render untold aid to humanity has been neglected in modern times. yet it cannot be denied that this strange study was practised and followed by some of the greatest teachers and students of other civilisations.
whether or no these ancient philosophers were more enlightened than we are has long been a question of dispute, but the one point and the most important one which has been admitted is, that in those days the greatest study of mankind was man. it is, therefore, reasonable to suppose that their conclusions are more likely to be correct than those of an age like our own—famous chiefly for its implements of destruction, its warships, its dynamite, and its cannon.
this study of hands can be traced back to the very earliest, most enlightened forms of civilisation. it has been practised by the greatest minds in all those civilisations, minds that have left their mental philosophies and their monuments for us to marvel at. india, china, persia, egypt, rome—all in their study of mankind have placed the greatest store in their study of the hand.
during my stay in india, i was permitted by some brahmans (descendants of the joshi caste, famous from time immemorial for their knowledge in occult subjects) with whom it was my good fortune to become intimately acquainted, to examine and make extracts from an extraordinary book on this subject which they regarded as almost sacred, and which belonged to the great past of the now despised hindustan.
as the wisdom of the hindus spread far and wide across the earth, so the theories and ideas about this[pg 5] study spread and were practised in other countries. similar to the way in which religion suits itself to the conditions of the country in which it is propagated, so has it divided itself into various systems. it is, however, to the days of the greek civilisation that we owe the present clear and lucid form of the study. the greek civilisation has, in many ways, been considered the highest and most intellectual in the world, and here it is that palmistry or cheiromancy (from the greek χεíρ, the hand) grew and found favour in the eyes of those who have given us laws and philosophies that we employ to-day and whose works are taught in all our leading colleges and schools.
it is a well-known and undisputed fact that the philosopher anaxagoras not only taught but practised this study. we also find that hispanus discovered on an altar dedicated to hermes a book on cheiromancy, written in gold letters, which he sent as a present to alexander the great, as "a study worthy of the attention of an elevated and enquiring mind." instead of it being followed by the "weak-minded," we find, on the contrary, that it numbered amongst its disciples such men of learning as aristotle, pliny, paracelsus, cardamis, albertus magnus, the emperor augustus, and many others of note.
this brings us down to the period when the power of the church was beginning to be felt outside the domain and jurisdiction of religion. it is said that the early fathers were jealous of the influence of this old-world science. whether this be true or not, we find that it was bitterly denounced and persecuted by the early church. it has always been, that the history of any dominant creed or sect is the history of opposition to knowledge, unless that knowledge[pg 6] come through it. this study, therefore, the offspring of "pagans and heathens," was not even given a trial. it was denounced as sorcery and witchcraft; the devil was conjured up as the father of all such students, and the result was that through this bitter persecution, the study was outlawed, and fell into the hands of vagrants, tramps, and gipsies. in spite of this persecution it is interesting and significant to notice that almost the first book ever printed was a work on palmistry, die kunst ciromantia, printed in augsburg, in the year 1475.
in examining this subject it will be found that in the study of mankind it came to be recognised that, as there was a natural position on the face for the nose, eyes, lips, etc., so also on the hand was there a natural position for what is known as the line of head, line of life, and so on. if these were found in some unnatural position they would equally be the indications of unnatural tendencies. it doubtless took years of study to name these lines and marks, but it must be remembered that this curious study is more ancient than any other in the world.
in the original hebrew of the book of job (chap. xxxvii., ver. 7), we find these significant words: "god caused signs or seals on the hands of all the sons of men, that the sons of men might know their works."
as the student of anatomy can build up the entire system from the examination of a single bone, so may a person by a careful study of an important member of the body such as the hand, apart from anything superstitious or even mystical, build up the entire action of the system and trace every effect back to its cause.
to-day the science of the present is coming to the[pg 7] rescue of the so-called superstition of the past. all over the world scientists are little by little sweeping aside prejudice and beginning to study occult questions. perhaps the "whys and wherefores" of such things may one of these days be as easily explained as are those wireless waves of electricity that carry messages from land to land.
