I 
 
 il 
 
 CHEIROSOPHY 
 
 CHEIROGNOMY 
 CHEIROMANCY
 
 of
 
 ToCra rolvuv S.iravd\ Sffa (patvofiai f3t\riov rCiv S\\uv irpoopur, 
 oi>&' efc ulav, S> HvSpa ' AOyvaioi, oCre Seiv&rrjTa, OUT' aXafovfiar 
 4iravoiff<i>, ovdi TpocrTrotijcro/toi 81 o&Stv &\\oyiyv<iiffKfiv ical irpoai- 
 rddvcffPai v\r]v, SI &t> I'/ti" eftrw Svo '. <tv (dv, &> AvSpes 'AOyvcuoi, 
 SI tirrv)(la.v, ty ffvuirdoijs ^yw rrjt tv avOpwirois ofcr^s 
 ical cro0i'as opw Kparovffav irtpov di STI irpoiKa. TO. Trpdynara 
 leal \oylo(j.ai, KO.I ovilv 
 \lrfVfiai Kai \tyu de'iai i 
 
 AHMOZGENOTS '0 HEPI 'EIPHNHZ.
 
 JOHAKN HARTLIEB. AUTHOR OF --DIE KUNST CIROMANTIA," 1448.
 
 V / 
 
 A MANUAL 
 
 OF 
 
 CHEIROSOPHY 
 
 Complete practical 
 
 THE TWIN SCIENCES 
 
 OF 
 
 CHEIROGNOMY AND CHEIROMANCY 
 
 BY MEANS WHEREOF 
 
 MAY BE READ IN THE FORMATIONS OF 
 
 THE HANDS 
 
 PRECEDED BY 
 
 Introbiutorg ^Ugntiunt npon the <Sden'.of 
 nni its claims J0 rank as a 
 
 ED. HERON-ALLEN 
 
 Author of " Codex Chiromantitr," " Dactyhmancy," " A Discourse of Chyromanclt 
 
 and of Mismerism," " A Lyltel Boke of Chyromanct," etc. 
 Joint Author of " Chiromancy; or, tht Scitnce of Palmistry," ttc. 
 
 WITH FULL-PAGE AND OTHER ILLUSTRATIONS BY 
 
 ROSAMUND BRUNEI- HORSLEY 
 
 TENTH EDITION 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 WARD, LOCK & CO., LIMITED. 
 
 NEW YORK AND MELBOURNE.
 
 PRINTED BY 
 
 HAZF.IX, WAT80X, AND YINEV, 
 LONDON AND AYLESBURY.
 
 2Dedfcatton. 
 
 If ang goob be in this gook of mint, 
 
 <Dr aught of "^ruth shine out therefrom, 
 
 (djfor ^hint eges' comfort anb lihg soul's bclight ; 
 
 <Dh 'SThou, tohtre'tr ^hott art I it has been brought. 
 
 if approbal bt man's btst toarb, 
 j&t ^hine the metb ; as is most jxtstlg be 
 *3To g^er alone toho calleb the tenting forth: 
 
 f, as mag be, censure strike the ear, 
 his the blame toho faileb untoorthilg, 
 
 toith the precious prospect of 'iEhg praist. 
 
 pathless the <Scribe shall gtterbon toin, anb this : 
 
 moment tohen ^hg starrs *B es h ^hou, 
 SHhere'tr ^hou art I shalt wab anb unbcrstanb 
 1!hat all his labour has been but for 'flEhtt. 
 
 E. H.-A 
 12. vii. 1885. 
 
 2071673
 
 Gentile morbida, leggiadra mano 
 Cui fer le proprie mani d'amore ; 
 Piu deU'avorio Candida c tersa ; 
 Sparsa di varie pozzette niolli ; 
 Le cui flessibili lunghette dita 
 Dolce assottigliano in unghie vaghe 
 Arcate lucide rubicondette ; 
 Distesa appressati al palpitante 
 Cor mio che cenere farsi gia sento ; 
 Potra resistere del caro sguardo 
 Allora a i fervidi raggi, onde ft. mime 
 Soavi scendono ma troppo ardenti. 
 
 tfaolo ixolli.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 I HAVE so far elaborated the Introductory 
 Argument which precedes this work as to 
 render any further preface unnecessary, and will, 
 therefore, make use of this opportunity only by 
 asking the reader carefully to peruse that Intro- 
 ductory Argument, wherein he will find expressed 
 the object of this book, and, if such be necessary, 
 its apology. 
 
 I have only to say that the following pages 
 represent, in a condensed form, the studies and 
 the personal observations of some years. Since 
 the appearance of my former book on the 
 science of Cheiromancy, many similar works 
 have taken their place in the literature of this 
 country; of these those resulting from the 
 labours of Miss Rosa Baughan are the only 
 volumes worthy of any serious consideration. I 
 can only hope that by the perusal of the follow
 
 8 PREFACE. 
 
 ing pages those students who have taken any 
 interest in this Great Science will be afforded an 
 opportunity of making deeper investigations into 
 the ultimate, as well as into the proximate causes 
 of the science than they have yet been able to 
 make by the perusal of the hitherto standard 
 works upon this subject. 
 
 ED. HERON-ALLEN. 
 
 ST. JOHN'S, PUTNEY HILL, S.W. 
 20th July, 1885.
 
 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGES 
 
 PREFACE . 7 
 
 INTRODUCTORY ARGUMENT 17 
 
 SECTION L CHEIROGNOMY ; OR, THE SHAPES 
 
 OF THE HANDS 97 
 
 SUB-SECTION I. CONCERNING THE HAND IN GENE- 
 RAL AND THE INDICATIONS AFFORDED BY THE 
 ASPECTS AND CONDITIONS OF ITS VARIOUS PARTS 
 
 IN PARTICULAR ....... 100 
 
 i. The Palm of the Hand 100 
 
 8, 2. The Joints of the Fingers 102 
 
 3. The Comparative Length of the Fingers . . 106 
 
 4. The Fingers Generally ..... 108 
 
 5. The Finger Tips in 
 
 6. The Hairiness of the Hands . . 115 
 
 7. The Colour of the Hands 115 
 
 8. The Thumb 116 
 
 9. The Consistency of the Hands . . . .121 
 
 10. The Cheirognomy of the Individual Fingers . 125 
 II. The Habitual Actions and Natural Positions of 
 
 the Hands 129 
 
 f 12. The Finger Nails 130
 
 IO CONTENTS. 
 
 SUB-SECTION II. THE SEVEN TYPES OF HANDS, AND 
 
 THEIR SEVERAL CHARACTERISTICS . . . 136 
 
 i. The Elementary or Necessary Hand . . .139 
 
 2. The Spatulate or Active Hand . . . .140 
 
 3. The Conical or Artistic Hand . . . .148 
 
 4. The Square or Useful Hand . . 155 
 
 5. The Knotty or Philosophic Hand . . .159 
 
 6. The Pointed or Psychic Hand . . . .164 
 
 7. The Mixed Hand . . . . . .170 
 
 SUB-SECTION III. THE CHF.IROGNOMY OF THE 
 
 FEMALE HAND 174 
 
 SECTION II. CHEIROMANCY; OR, THE DEVE- 
 LOPMENTS AND LINES OF THE PALM . 183 
 
 SUB-SECTION I. AN EXPLANATION OF THE MAP OF 
 THE HAND .186 
 
 SUB-SECTION II. GENERAL PRINCIPLES TO BE BORNE 
 
 IN MIND 193 
 
 I. As to the Mounts 193 
 
 2. As to the Lines 196 
 
 SUB-SECTION III. THE MOUNTS OF THE HANDS . 204 
 
 I. The Mount of Jupiter 204 
 
 2. The Mount of Saturn ...... 206 
 
 3. The Mount of Apollo . . . . .211 
 
 4. The Mount of Mercury 214 
 
 5. The Mount of Mars . . . . .217 
 
 6. The Mount of the Moon 220 
 
 7. The Mount cf Venus ...... 224
 
 CONTENTS 1 1 
 
 FAGES 
 
 SUB-SECTION IV. THE LINES OF THE HAND . . 229 
 
 I. The Line of Life . ...... 229 
 
 I. The Line of Mars 242 
 
 2. The Line of Heart 242 
 
 3. The Line of Head 247 
 
 4. The Line of Saturn or Fortune .... 256 
 
 5. The Line of Apollo or Brilliancy . . . 261 
 
 6. The Line of Liver or Health .... 266 
 
 I. The Cephalic Line, or Via Lasciva . . 268 
 
 7. The Girdle of Venus 268 
 
 SUB-SECTION V. THE SIGNS IN THE PALM . .271 
 
 I. The Star 271 
 
 2. The Square 273 
 
 3. The Spot 274 
 
 4. The Circle 274 
 
 5. The Island 274 
 
 6. The Triangle ....... 275 
 
 7- The Cross .- . 276 
 
 I. The "Croix Mystique" 277 
 
 8. The Grille . 277 
 
 9. The Signs of the Planets 278 
 
 SUB-SECTION VI. THE SIGNS UPON THE FINGERS . 280 
 
 I. Signs upon the First Finger or Index . . . 281 
 
 2. Signs upon the Second or Middle Finger . . 282 
 
 3. Signs upon the Third or Ring Finger . . . 282 
 
 4. Signs upon the Fourth or Little Finger . . 283 
 
 5. Signs upon the Thumb . . . 28.1
 
 12 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGES 
 
 SUB-SECTION VII. THE TRIANGLE, THE QUAD- 
 RANGLE, AND THE RASCETTE .... 285 
 
 r. The Triangle 285 
 
 I. The Upper Angle 287 
 
 2. The Inner Angle 287 
 
 3. The Lower Angle 287 
 
 2. The Quadrangle 288 
 
 3. The Rascette and Restreintes .... 289 
 
 SUB-SP.CTION VIII. CHANCE LINES .... 293 
 
 SUB-SECTION IX. A FEW ILLUSTRATIVE TYPES . 301 
 
 SUB-SECTION X. MODUS OPERANDI , . , . 306 
 
 INDEX 313
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Frontispiece, JOHANN HARTLIEB, AUTHOR OF "DIE 
 
 KUNST CIROMANTIA." 
 
 PLATE PAGES 
 
 I. THE ELEMENTARY HAND 138 
 
 II. THE SPATULATE OR ACTIVE HAND . . .141 
 III. THE CONIC OR ARTISTIC HAND . . . .149 
 IV. THE SQUARE OR USEFUL HAND . . .154 
 V. THE KNOTTY OR PHILOSOPHIC HAND . .161 
 VI. THE POINTED OR PSYCHIC HAND . . .165 
 
 VII. THE MAP OF THE HAND 187 
 
 VIII. CONDITIONS OF THE LINES . . . .198 
 
 Fig. I. Spots upon a line. 
 
 ,, 2. Sister lines. 
 
 ,, 3. Forked terminations. 
 
 ,, 5. Ascending and descending branches. 
 
 6. Chained lines. 
 
 ,, 7. Wavy lines. 
 
 ,, 8. Broken lines. 
 
 9. Capillaried lines. 
 
 IX. SIGNS FOUND IN THE HAND . . . 202 
 
 Fig. 10. The Star. 
 ,, II. The Square. 
 12. The Spot. 
 13. The Circle. 
 14. The Island. 
 15. The Triangle, 
 16. The Cross. 
 17. The Grille
 
 14 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 I-AGES 
 
 X. LINES UPON THE MOUNTS OF THE PALM . 209 
 
 XL AGES UPON THE LINES OF LIFE AND OF 
 
 FORTUNE 228 
 
 XII. XVI. MODIFICATIONS OF THE PRINCIPAL 
 
 LINES .... 232, 235, 239, 243, 253 
 
 XVII. DITTO. THE QUADRANGLE AND THE TRI- 
 ANGLE 264 
 
 XVIIL, XIX., and XX. CHANCE LINES . 292, 295, 299 
 
 HEAD-PIECES. THE SIGNS OF THE ZODIAC AND OF THE 
 SEVEN PLANETS OF CHEIROMANCY, IN SILHOUETTE 
 DESIGNS. 
 
 Kosamunfc iiiunrl $01 olnj, inbt. rt firlt.
 
 JntrotJiictorp argument 
 
 upon tfje Science of Ctjeirogopljp ann it0 
 Claims to rank a0 a ^Ijpgical Science*
 
 1. SIR CHARLES BELL "The Hand, its Mechanism and Vital 
 
 Endowments, as evincing Design and illustrating the 
 Power, Wisdom, and Goodness of God." Bridgewattr 
 Treatise (London, 1832). 
 
 2. LUD. JUL. ERN. DE NAURATH " De Manuum morpho- 
 
 logia et physiologia." (Berolini, 1833.) 
 
 3. JOHN KIDD "On the Adaptation of External Nature to the 
 
 Physical Condition of Man." Bridgewater Treatise 
 (London, 1834). 
 
 4. G. C. CARUS " Ueber Grund und Bedeutung der verschie- 
 
 denen Formen der Hand in verschiedenen Personen." 
 (Stuttgart, 1846.) 
 
 5. SIR RICHARD OWEN " On the Nature of Limbs. A dis- 
 
 course delivered on Friday, Feb. gth [1849], at an even- 
 ing meeting of the Royal Institution of Great Britain." 
 (London, 1849). 
 
 6. G. M. HUMPHRY "Observations on the Limbs of Verte- 
 
 brate Animals, the Plan of their Construction, their 
 Homology and the Comparison of the Fore and Hind 
 Limbs." (Cambridge and London, 1860.) 
 
 7. G. M. HUMPHRY " On the Human Foot and Human 
 
 Hand." (Cambridge and London, 1861.) 
 
 8. ARTHUR KOLLMANN " Der Tast-Apparat der Hand der 
 
 menschlichen Rassen und der Afien in seiner Entwicke- 
 lung und Gliedening." (Hamburg and Leipzig, 1883.}
 
 AN INTRODUCTORY ARGUMENT UPON 
 THE SCIENCE OF CHEIROSOPHY AND 
 ITS CLAIMS TO RANK AS A PHYSICAL 
 SCIENCE. 
 
 'Airi JToAA.wi' a.v 01 av&pes 'AOiji/euot, xpl/iaTtof iijias eAt aflai 
 ropiu, i <f>av(pbv yeVotro TC fic'AAo? ovvoiavii' TJJ iroAei jrtpt 
 
 if Wvl (TKO-flTt. 
 
 AHMOSeEXOY2 'OAYN6IAKO2, A'. 
 
 " T F the study of Phrenology, of Cheirosophy, and 
 1 of the sciences which have for their aims the 
 discovery of the true characters and instincts of men 
 by the developments and appearances of their 
 bodies, is merely a frivolous amusement, if such a 
 study ceases for a moment to be a serious one, or 
 if it is merely a distraction for enthusiasts, for 
 people whose love of the marvellous becomes an 
 insatiable greed, it is in every way damnable and to 
 be discouraged, because it results infallibly in super- 
 stition and error. BUT if it is based upon truth, 
 men cannot give themselves up to the study with too 
 much energy, not only on account of the material 
 advantages to be derived therefrom, but because it is 
 an important factor in the considerations which lead 
 to the education of our childrer, who alone represent 
 
 s
 
 1 8 CHEIROSOPHY. 
 
 the progress of the future." It is with these words 
 that Adrien Desbarrolles commences the preface o^ 
 his elementary work, " The Mysteries of the Hand " 
 (Paris, 1859) ; and I quote them at the head of this 
 Introductory Argument, as the sentiments conveyed 
 by them are the key-notes, and, as it were, the corner- 
 Scope of dm stones of the composition of this work, my aim in writ- 
 ing this MANUAL OF CHEIROSOPHY having been simply 
 to place before the world a concise and clearly com- 
 prehensible epitome of the principia of a science which 
 opens a new page of the great book of nature to the 
 student who will diligently read it, which gives to youth 
 the experience and the foresight of age, and which 
 endows all men who will study it with that foresight 
 which, under the name of intuitive faculty, is the 
 cherished possession of so few, enunciating and 
 solving the great problem of " Know Thyself." 1 
 1i 2. I have not set about the task of laying this science 
 
 discussion. before a critical world with a view to its recognition 
 , as an exact science without being well aware of the 
 
 difficulties to be surmounted, the prejudices to be 
 overcome, and the apparent anomalies to be explained 
 and reconciled with the dicta of physiology ; but I 
 shall endeavour categorically to discuss every point 
 of the argument, shirking nothing which may seem 
 adverse to my object, and giving undue prominence 
 to nothing which may seem specially favourable 
 thereto. I desire rather to enter upon the discussion 
 after the manner of an uninterested third party, whose 
 only desire is the clearing-away of doubt, and the 
 establishment of a new science, whose full develop- 
 ment must become an enormous advantage to mankind. 
 
 TheHand Without continuing to announce what I am going 
 
 1 " Connais-toi toi-meme ! Belle et sage maxime, a laquelle il 
 est plus aise a la generalite des hommes d'applaudir que de se 
 conformer." D'ARPENTIGNY, "La Science de la Main" 
 (Paris, 1865). 3rd edn.
 
 AN INTRODUCTORY ARGUMENT. 19 
 
 to do, let me begin by the consideration of that 
 member with which we are particularly concerned, 
 of that complex piece of mechanism wherein we find 
 the radical principles of the science whose bases we 
 are occupied in firmly establishing, and to which we 
 have [if I am right] to look for the history of our lives. 
 
 There is no part of the human body which is more 1T 4. 
 significant in its actions, which is more characteristic 
 in its formation, than the Hand. I take as an illustra- 
 tion the most elementary indication afforded by 
 the hand, an indication, the instinctive observation 
 of which renders every one, to a certain extent, a 
 Cheiromant, I allude to hand-shaking, an action 
 in itself symbolical, having been adopted in old 
 days for the purpose of showing that the hand con- 
 tained no weapon, so that there should be no danger 
 of treachery between the hand shakers. 2 Has not 
 every one experienced the feeling of confidence and 
 good fellowship expressed by a good, firm grasp of the 
 hand ? the feeling of repulsion and discomfort which 
 conies over one when one is given what a recent essay- 
 ist calls " a hand like a cold haddock," or the instinc- 
 tive distrust which awakens in us at a peculiar or 
 uncomfortably individualized method of shaking hands? 
 
 It needs, I think, but very little to recommend the f 5. 
 dictum of the ancient philosophers, that to his hands Us ftheh 
 man owes his superiority over all other animals. 
 One recognises the secondary influences of the hand 
 in the writing of books and in the construction of 
 articles of every-day use and necessity, which we 
 cannot think would be produced without hands, though, 
 as has often been remarked, it is not beyond the 
 bounds of possibility for many things which we are 
 accustomed to see done by the hands, to be effected 
 
 2 AH the Year Round t voL iii., N.S., 1870, p. 467.
 
 20 CHEIROSOPHY. 
 
 without them: "We have daily before us," says 
 Sir Charles Bell, " proofs of ingenuity in the arts, not 
 Loss of the hand, only surviving the loss of the hand, but excited and 
 exercised where the hands were wanting from birth. 
 What is more surprising than to see the feet, under 
 such circumstances, becoming substitutes for the 
 hands, and working minute and curious things?" 3 
 This is, of course, very true ; but when it occurs we 
 are accustomed to look upon it more as a curiosity 
 and a phenomenon, than as a natural consequence of 
 the loss of this all-important member. 
 
 ^ 6. The wants of man are greater and more varied than 
 
 h1 wi" those of an y other animal ; and therefore, says Galen, 
 of man. he has had given to him what he alone of animals 
 possesses, and what to him alone is necessary, viz. 
 the hand. " For," says he, " some animals are bold 
 and fierce, others are timid and gentle ; some are 
 gregarious and co-operate for their mutual sustenance 
 and defence ; others are solitary and avoid the society 
 of their fellows ; but all have a form or body accom- 
 modated to their natural dispositions and habits. 
 Thus, the lion has powerful fangs and claws ; the hare 
 has swiftness of foot, but is otherwise defenceless. 
 And the fitness of this arrangement is obvious ; 
 
 A criminal with- * The same author continues : " Unfortunately, too, the most 
 out hands. diabolical passions will be developed in some natures, and crimes 
 committed which we might have supposed impossible from the 
 power of execution being denied. The most remarkable in- 
 stance of that was in a man who, from birth, was deprived of 
 arms ; as if possessed by a devil, this wretch had committed 
 many murders before being discovered and executed. He was a 
 beggar, who took his stand on the highway some miles from 
 Moscow, on the skirts of a wood ; his manner was to throw his 
 head against the stomach of the person who was in the act of 
 giving him charity, and, having stunned him, to seize him with 
 his teeth, and so drag him into the wood." SIR CHARLES BELL, 
 " The Hand, its Mechanism and Vital Endowments, as evincing 
 design and illustrating the power, wisdom, and goodness of God " 
 (Bridgewater Treatise: London, 1832).
 
 AN INTRODUCTORY ARGUMENT. 21 
 
 for those weapons with which the lion is furnished 
 are as appropriate to his nature as they would 
 be inappropriate to the timid hare, whose safety, 
 depending entirely on flight, requires that swift- 
 ness of foot for which she is so remarkable. But 
 to man, the only animal that partakes of divine 
 intelligence, the Creator has given, in lieu of every 
 other natural weapon or organ of defence, that 
 instrument, the hand, an instrument applicable to 
 every art and occasion as well of peace as of war. 
 Man, therefore, wants not a hoof, or horn, or any other 
 natural weapon, inasmuch as he is able with his 
 hand to grasp a much more effective weapon, the 
 sword or spear ; for a sword or a javelin are better 
 arms than the nails, and cut and pierce more readily. 
 Nor does he want strong nails like those of a horse, 
 for a stick or a stone hits harder and better than such a 
 nail. Besides which, natural weapons can be employed 
 only in close conflict, while some of the weapons 
 employed by man, such as javelins or arrows, are 
 even more effective at a distance. And again, though 
 man may be inferior to the lion in swiftness, yet, by 
 his dexterity and skill, he breaks in to his use a still 
 swifter animal, the horse, mounted on whose back he 
 can escape from, or pursue the lion, or attack him at 
 every advantage. He is enabled, moreover, by means 
 of this instrument, to clothe himself with armour of 
 various kinds, or to entrench himself within camps or 
 fenced cities, whereas, were his hands encumbered 
 with any natural armour, he would be unable to 
 employ them for the fabrication of those instruments 
 and means which give him such a decided advantage 
 over all the other animals of creation." 4 
 
 4 The above is Dr. Kidd's translation (vide " On the Adaptation 
 of External Nature to the Physical Condition of Man ": London, 
 1833), of the opening chapter of Galen's work entitled, " Claudii 
 Galeni Pergameni secundum Hippocratem medicorum principis,
 
 22 CHEIROSOPHY. 
 
 <f 7. Galen goes on to point out that it is with the hand 
 
 Manufactures that we weave tne garments which protect us from 
 heat and cold in summer and winter, and construct 
 the nets and snares with which we subjugate the brute 
 creation. With the hand we fashion all the imple- 
 ments of art and science, as well as the altars and 
 shrines of the immortal gods ; " and, lastly, by means 
 of the hand, man bequeaths to posterity in writing the 
 intellectual treasures of his own divine imagination ; 
 and hence we who are living at this day are enabled to 
 hold converse with Plato and Aristotle and all the 
 
 opus de usu partium corporis humani, magna cura ad exemplaris 
 Groeci veritatem castigatum universe hominum generi apprime ne- 
 cessarium Nicolao Regio Calabro interprete " (Parisiis, ex officina 
 Simonis Colinsei, 1528. The passage runs in the original: Quae- 
 dam enim sunt audacia,quaedam timida.aliaagrestia, alia mansueta, 
 alia velut civilia et popularia, alia velut solitaria. Omnibus vero 
 aptum ac habile est corpus, animae moribus, et facultatibus. Equo 
 quidem fortibus ungulis et juba est ornatum instructumque (etenim 
 velox et superbum et non ignavum est animal). Leoni autem, 
 utpote animoso et audaci, dentibus et unguibus validum. Ita 
 autem et tauro et porco. Illi enim cornua,huic autem exerti denies 
 (quos Grasci xauXtoSirras nominant) arma sunt innata. Cervo 
 autem et lepori (timida enim sunt animalia) velox quidem est 
 corpus, nudum autem omnino et inerme. Timidis enim, opinor, 
 velocitas, arma vero audacibus conveniebant. Neque igitur 
 timidum aliquod armavit natura, neque audax et strenuum 
 quodpiam nudum destituit. Homini autem (sapiens enim est hoc 
 animal, et solum eoruin, quae sunt in terra, divinum) pro omnibus 
 simul defensoriis armis, manus dedit, instrumentum ad omnes 
 perinde artes accommodum et necessarium, pacique non minus 
 quam bello idoneum. Non igitur indiguit cornu sibi innate, 
 quum meliora cornibus arma in summis manibus, quandocunque 
 volet, possit accipere. Etenim ensis et hasta majora sunt arma 
 et ad incidendum promptiora, quam cornua. Sed necque indiguit 
 ungula. Nam lapis et lignum quavis ungula quassant fortius 
 violentiusque. Ad hsec, necque cornu, necque ungula, quidquam 
 nisi cominus, agere possunt. Hominum vero arma, eminus juxta 
 ac cominus agunt, telum videlicet ac sagitta magis quam cornua, 
 lignum autem et lapis, magis quam ungula. Sed, velocior est 
 homine leo. Quid hoc tandem est? Homo siquidem equum 
 domuit sapientia et manibus, velocius leone animal, quo utens, et
 
 AN INTRODUCTORY ARGUMENT. 23 
 
 venerable sages of antiquity." 5 Thus the hand keeps 
 constantly before us the proofs of the special adapta- 
 tions of the various parts of the body to the uses to 
 which the parts are to be put. "In man," says 
 Professor Owen [vide note 23 , p. 36], "whilst one pair of 
 limbs is expressly organized for locomotion and stand- 
 ing in the erect position, the other pair is left free to 
 execute the manifold behests of his rational and inven- 
 tive will, and is exquisitely organized for delicate touch 
 and prehension, emphatically called ' manipulation.' " 
 
 Laying aside, therefore, with these references all 1 8. 
 
 i /-i i r iLjii Why man alone 
 
 consideration of the works of mens hands, let us has hands, 
 turn to those authors who have laid down the axiom Aristotle. 
 
 . Anaxagoras. 
 
 that man is the wisest of all animals, not because he 
 has hands, but that he has hands because he is the 
 wisest of all animals. It was Anaxagoras who 
 remarked that, because man had hands, he was the 
 wisest of all animals ; but Aristotle corrected him by 
 
 subterfugit, et persequitur leonem, et sedens, ex alto humilem 
 infernumque ilium percutit. Non igitur est nudus, necque 
 inermis necque vulnerari facilis, necque calciamentorum expers 
 homo, sed ipsi est thorax ferreus quandocunque libet, omnibus 
 coriis difficilius perforabile organum. Est autem et calciamen- 
 torum multimoda species, est et armorum, est et operimentorum. 
 Non igitur thorax solum, sed et domus, et murus, et turris, sunt 
 hominis operimenta munimentaque. Si autem innatum esset ei 
 cornu in manibus, vel aliquod tale aliud armorum defensiorum, 
 non utique posset uti manibus ad domus constructionem, vel 
 muri, vel hastae, vel thoracis, vel alicujus alterius similis. 
 
 4 " His manibus homo vestem texuit et retem connexuit, et 
 nassam, et sagenam, et velum. Quare non solum his quae in 
 terra animalibus, sed eis etiam quae in mari et acre dominatur. 
 Talia quidem homini ad fortitudinem arma sunt manus. Ut au- 
 tem pacificum et politicum animal homo, manibus leges 
 scripsit, et templa, et simulachra diis erexit, et navem, fistulain, 
 lyram, scalpellum, forcipem, et alia universa artium instrumenta 
 construxit, et commentarios etiam speculationis eorum, scriptos 
 reliquit, tibique liceat literarum et manuum beneficio etiam nunc 
 colloqui cum Platone, cum Aristotele, cum Ilippocrate, et aliis 
 veteribus." /,
 
 24 CHEIROSOPHY. 
 
 saying that it is because man is the wisest of all 
 animals that he has been given hands; and in this 
 view of the case Galen concurs. 6 
 
 f 9 -. The hand is essentially the organ of the mind, 
 
 organ^f-dil the medium of its expression, and the instrument 
 
 mind - whereby its promptings are carried into execution. 
 "We first see the hand," says Sir Charles Bell, 
 " ministering to man's necessities and sustaining the 
 life of the individual ; in a second stage of his pro- 
 gress, we see it adapted to the wants of society, 
 when man becomes a labourer and an artificer ; in a 
 state still more advanced, science is brought in aid of 
 mechanical ingenuity, and the elements which seem 
 adverse to the progress of society become the means 
 conducing to it. The seas, which at first set limits 
 to nations, and grouped mankind into families, are now 
 the means by which they are associated. Philoso- 
 phical chemistry has associated the elements to man's 
 use ; and all tend to the final accomplishments of the 
 great objects to which everything, from the beginning, 
 has pointed the multiplication and distribution of 
 mankind, and the enlargement of the sources of man's 
 comfort and enjoyment, the relief from too incessant 
 toil, and the consequent improvement of the higher 
 faculties of his nature." Is it unreasonable to pay 
 particular attention to the instrument by which all 
 these things are accomplished, and to regard it as 
 something more than a mere member or organ of the 
 body ? Aristotle was quite right when he called the 
 
 ARISTOTLE, IIEPI ZfiQN MOPIftN Bi0X. A'., Ke. /., "'Ava- 
 {a76pas ptv oSv <f>r]<rl Sid rb x e tp a * ^X lt> QpovifiuTaTov elvat. TUI> 
 four avBpuirov' eC \6yov 8% Sia. rb (ppovi^dirarov tlvat x f fyas \a/*- 
 P&vfu>." And Galen remarks on this passage (Op. cit., lib. i.,c. l): 
 " Ita quidem sapientissimum animalium est homo. Ita autem et 
 manus sunt organa sapienti animali convenientia. Non enim 
 quia manus habuit, propterea est sapientissimum, ut Anaxagoras 
 diccbat ; sed quia sapientissimum erat, propter hoc manus habuit, 
 Ut rectissime censuit Aristoteles."
 
 AN INTRODUCTORY ARGUMENT. 2$ 
 
 hand the organ of the organs, 7 the active agent of the 
 passive powers of the entire system ; and Desbarrolles 
 has followed in his footsteps, when he has said, that 
 like as man is a condensation of the universe, a 
 microcosm, so is the hand a condensation of the 
 man. 
 
 Not only are " hands given us for our defence," 8 1 10. 
 
 * . , , , Offensive and de 
 
 but with weapons in our hands, and with our hands fensive f unc tions. 
 
 alone, we can measure and regulate the force and 
 
 extent of our defensive and offensive actions ; and it 
 
 is by this power of regulation that we recognize the 
 
 presence of what is known as a muscular sense, It is 
 
 to this power of the regulation of force that Sir Charles Reg 
 
 Bell refers, after alluding to that magnificent passage 
 
 in the Odyssey, where Ulysses deliberates upon the Homer. 
 
 force of the blow he deals to the beggar Irus, 9 saying : 
 
 " By such arguments, I have been in the habit of show- 
 
 ing that we possess a muscular sense ; and that, without Muscular sense. 
 
 a perception of the condition of the muscles previous 
 
 to the exercise of the will, we could not command them 
 
 in standing, far less in walking, leaping, or running. 
 
 And as for the hand, it is not more the freedom of 
 
 its action which constitutes its perfection, than the 
 
 knowledge which we have of these motions, and our 
 
 7 IIEPI ZfiflN MOPION BiX. A'., Ke<f>. i."'R Si 
 ftvai oi>x t>> fyyavov dXXA iro\\d' tffri 7d/> wffirfptl 6pyavov vpb 
 dpydvuv." 
 
 HOMER, IAIAS, Bt/3X. N'., 1. 813 : 
 
 "'H Ofy ITOIJ roi Ov/jLbs MXirerai ta\airdeii>, 
 vrjar &(f>ap Sf re x e </> i.ptveu' flffl ical TJ/UC." 
 
 HOMER, OAT2SEIAS B./3X. 2'., 1. 90 : 
 
 " AT) rbre fj.ep/j.ripi.j-e TroXi/rXos Stos '05i/or<re;j, 
 *H t\dfffi, #J iJ.iv ifsuxr) \lirot atdi nfffdvra, 
 'Ht fuv IJK t\dcreif, Tavvvaedv T' tiri yaiy. 
 *fl5t 5t ol <(>povtoi>Tt Sodffffa.ro K^pSiov flvai, 
 *H/c' Arfffot, 'ira /MJ piv tiruppaffffataT 'Axof. 
 Aij rir dvocrxoyu^vw, 6 ptv fi\a.ff 5fibv Sifjio 
 T Ipoj, 6 5' atix*"' ^XaffO'ei' fnr oCaros, 6ffrta 8'effftt 
 
 %\0e Acori ar6/j.a QO'IVLOV al/ta'" etc.
 
 26 CHEIROSOPHY. 
 
 consequent ability to direct it with the utmost pre- 
 cision." So it will be observed that among the lower 
 animals the nearer approach to a hand that we find, 
 the higher the grade of intelligence in the animal ; and 
 Lucretius. this has been noted by both Lucretius and Cicero, who 
 
 Cicero - point out the fact that the elephant has in its trunk 
 the practical equivalent of the human hand. 10 
 
 T 11. One of the first points which obtrude themselves 
 
 rfe hind.** th * u P n the student of anatomy is the absolute per- 
 fection of the human hand as regards its construction, 
 and the uses to which it is adapted. In no other 
 combination of bones, muscles, and nerves, and in no 
 other animal do we find a perfection which results in 
 such superiority with regard to strength, variety, 
 extent, and rapidity of motion ; and this perfection 
 undoubtedly resulting from the intimate relations 
 which exist between the hand and the intellect, we are 
 irresistibly impelled to ask with Sir Charles Bell : 
 Is it nothing to have our minds awakened to the 
 perception of the numerous proofs of design which 
 present themselves in the study of the hand, to be 
 brought to the conviction that everything in its 
 structure is orderly and systematic, and that the most 
 perfect mechanism, the most minute and curious 
 apparatus, and sensibilities the most delicate and 
 appropriate, are all combined in operation that we 
 
 Galen. may move the hand ? As Galen remarks : " Let us 
 then scrutinize this member of the body and inquire, 
 not simply whether it be in itself useful for all the 
 purposes of life, and adapted to an animal endued 
 with the highest intelligence, but whether its entire 
 
 10 LUCRETIUS, " De Rerum Natura," lib. ii., 1. 536 : 
 
 " Sicut quadripedum cum primis esse videmus 
 In genere anguimanus elephantos," etc j 
 
 and CICERO, in his " De Natura Deorum," lib. ii., 123, says : 
 " manus etiam data elephanto fsf,"
 
 AN INTRODUCTORY ARGUMENT. 2/ 
 
 structure be not such, that it could not be improved 
 by any conceivable alteration." 11 
 
 A writer in the Anthropological Review [vol. iii., If 12. 
 
 .-. . . ,- m/r T T> !_> i The hand as an 
 
 1865, p. 346], m a notice of Mr. R. Beamish s work 
 
 rac e 
 
 "The Psychonomy of the Hand" (London, 1865), 
 
 makes the following extremely pertinent remarks : 
 
 "We have given this subject more attention than 
 
 the work under consideration deserves, because we 
 
 think that the hand has been hitherto unwisely 
 
 neglected as an index of race. ... It is very obvious 
 
 that we have yet much to learn in this direction ; we 
 
 want more facts; we have not yet the data which 
 
 would warrant even a plausible hypothesis. . . . Let 
 
 us endeavour to discover if there be ethnic character- 
 
 istics attaching to the extremities as well as to the 
 
 cranium ; let us first settle the great question of the 
 
 racial hand, and then we shall be the better prepared 
 
 to descend into the details of individual specialty." 
 
 This writer had undoubtedly reason on his side, and 
 
 I think that there is but very little ambiguity between 
 
 the hands of various races at the present moment; 
 
 we shall see, as we get further into the subject of 
 
 Cheirognomy, how certain shapes of hands predomi- 
 
 nate among the English, the Germans, and the French ; Engiish.German, 
 
 and again, we shall notice the widely differing 
 
 characteristics of the hands of meridional and 
 
 septentrional, of oriental and occidental nations. 
 
 Again, we shall see how different characters and 
 
 mental calibres admire different shapes of hands, 
 
 according to the characteristics which those shapes 
 
 represent in Cheirognomy ; and, if evidence of this 
 
 were required, we should find it in the preference 
 
 11 GALEN, Op. cit, lib. i., p. 4- "Agedum igitur, hanc 
 ejus partem primam expendamus, non perscrutantes sit ne haec 
 plane simpliciterque utilis, aut an sapienti animali conveniens, 
 sed num cam omnino constitutionem habeat, qua meliorem aliam 
 habere non potuit."
 
 CHEIROSOPHY. 
 
 modern hands. 
 
 Ancient and which the ancients showed for large hands [exemplified 
 in all their statuary u ] as compared with the modern 
 admiration for a small hand ; we shall see that a large 
 hand is always an indication of force and power as 
 opposed to the more spirituel disposition denoted by 
 the possession of small hands. 
 
 Thus it will have ^een appreciated that the hand is 
 the most perfectly constructed and constituted member 
 of the body, that it is the member most typical of 
 the sentient soul of man, and that it is an organ 
 eminently fitted for the expression and development 
 of the highest human faculties. It is not surprising, 
 therefore, that the symbols and symbolical actions in 
 which we find the hand most prominent, are practically 
 without number or limit; and that, in all times and 
 in all countries, the hand has been accepted as the 
 recognized embodiment of all force and intelligence. 
 
 f 13. 
 
 Construction of 
 the hand. 
 
 Symbols. 
 
 114. 
 
 Symbolical 
 expressions. 
 
 The first point which will strike the student is 
 the constant use of the word " hand " among the 
 ancients to denote anything indicative of force or 
 strength. 13 We find this in such phrases as x lp o-iS^pS, 
 a grappling iron ; irpocr<j>ipuv x"P a s> to a PPty f rc e ; 
 \fipwv apx etv > to begin a fight ; xiipas ope^cu, to entreat ; 
 lv xepvi, a close fight ; irpb xeipwv, at hand ; aaro ^etpos, 
 off hand ; VTTO x ei P ? > under the power ; so also we 
 find the words ^etpto?, subject to ; xctpo-Sunp^ assertion 
 of right by force ; x fL P"n6' r )'>> submissive ; x 61 / 3 ^, I 
 master or subjugate ; x^P^a, a conquest ; and a 
 number of other Greek works into which the word 
 \fip is introduced with the meaning of force or power. 
 
 12 It is probably in deference to this obvious preference that the 
 restorer of the Apollo Belvidere gave to that unfortunate statue 
 the dreadful hand which makes one shudder amid the beauties of 
 the Octagon Court at the Vatican. 
 
 11 Witness also our modern expressions, " the hand of God" or 
 "the finger of God," of the use of which, and of this use of the word 
 " hand," there is no better example than the title of a compara-
 
 AN INTRODUCTORY ARGUMENT. 2Q 
 
 Analogous to these is the old English expression ^f 15. 
 with regard to size, height, or strength, such as we use Vt^Tword 
 find it in passages of Shakespeare, as for instance, to denote force. 
 " He is a tall man of his hands " [Merry Wives of 
 Windsor, I., 4.], or, as referring to strength : " I'll 
 swear to the Prince that thou art a tall fellow of thy 
 hands" " I know thou art a tall fellow of thy hands " 
 [Winter's Tale, V., 3.], and "I am a proper fellow of 
 my hands " [Henry IVth., II.], and so on ad libitum. 
 
 The symbols and customs connected with the f 18. 
 
 Folding of the 
 
 hand are as interesting as they are numerous, many hands in prayer 
 
 of them being of religious import ; indeed, the most 
 
 universal custom of folding the hands or of raising 
 
 them in prayer being of the remotest antiquity. 
 
 Aristotle refers to it, 14 and it undoubtedly has Aristotle, 
 
 its origin in the symbolism that by folding the hands 
 
 all power is surrendered by the person praying. It 
 
 is for this reason that in Persia and in other Oriental Oriental customs. 
 
 nations it is customary to fold or hide the hands in 
 
 the presence of a superior, thus symbolizing an 
 
 abrogation of the will. 
 
 The giving of the hand has always been a token of 1 17. 
 
 r . T , Giving of the 
 
 peace and submission [whence arises, as I have men- hand 
 tioned above, our custom of shaking hands] ; thus the 
 bride gives her hand in the marriage ceremony in 
 token of her submission to her husband, and in the 
 middle ages part of the ceremony of the homage was 
 the act of the feudatory placing his hands in those of 
 the feudal lord or suzerain. 
 
 In like manner we kiss the hands of princes in 
 
 - , . . , Kissing hands. 
 
 token of our submission to them, and we kiss the 
 hands of fair women in acknowledgment of our 
 
 lively recently published work : " La Main de 1'IIomme et le 
 Doigt de Dieu dans les malheurs de la France," par J. C., Ex- 
 aumonier dans 1'armee auxiliaire (Paris, 1871). 
 
 14 ARISTOTLE, HEPI K02MOT, Ke0. 71: -Ecu yip TrcWs ol 
 &v0pwTTQi. avo.Tfivoit.ev rds XP
 
 30 CHEIROSOPHY. 
 
 allegiance. We all remember the exquisitely touch- 
 
 Homer. ing account of how Priam in his pathetic appeal 
 humbled himself to kiss the hands of Achilles, the 
 murderer of his children, when begging him to restore 
 the body of Hector. 15 In the earlier days of the church 
 it was customary to kiss the hands of the bishops, 
 
 Pliny. and later Pliny tells us that Cassar only allowed his 
 hands to be kissed by persons of the higher ranks, the 
 common people kissing their own hands on coming 
 into his presence, as they did on entering their 
 temples. 
 
 <f!9. We have also the custom of saluting people by 
 
 formulation^ kissing our own hands to them, concerning which 
 Brand 16 makes the following very interesting observa- 
 tion : " I have somewhere read that the custom of 
 kissing hands by way of salutation is derived from the 
 manner in which the ancient Persians worshipped the 
 sun, which was by first laying their hands upon their 
 mouths, and then lifting them by way of adoration. A 
 practice which receives illustration from a passage in 
 the Book of Job, 17 a work replete with allusions to 
 ancient manners : 'If I beheld the sun when it shined, 
 or the moon walking in brightness ; and my heart 
 hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed 
 my hand.'" 
 
 T 20. In Morocco the number " Five " is never mentioned 
 
 r " 5 ' in the presence of the emperor, as it suggests the 
 
 u HOMER, Iliad, book xxiv., 1. 477 : 
 
 " Tous 5' t\a6' el<Tf\Owv Hpia.fj.os fitya.!, &7X' S' Apaarat, 
 Xfpcrif 'AxtXX^os Xd/3e yofoaTa, ical Kijcre x e 'P a * 
 Aetvas, d.v8po<p6vovs, a'i ol jroXe'as tcrdvov ufai." 
 1. 504 : 
 
 " 'Eyw d' t\efiv&rcp6s irep, 
 *ET\i)v $', ol oCiru ns tirixGdviois fiporbs 
 
 "JOHN BRAND, "Popular Antiquities of Great Britain." 
 Edited by W. Carew Hazlitt. (London, 1870.) 
 K Job xxxi. 26-7.
 
 The Turkish 
 
 rosary. 
 
 AN INTRODUCTORY ARGUMENT. 31 
 
 hand which [as the holder of the sceptre] is there the 
 emblem of all power; and the Turks consider the 
 hand to represent the Deity, the fourteen joints being 
 to them, as it were, the beads of a rosary, and the 
 five fingers each representing a pious precept : viz., 
 "Belief that there is but one Allah, and that Mahammud 
 is his prophet," "The necessity of prayer," "The 
 righteousness of Almsgiving," " Observation of the 
 Radaman," and " The Journey to Mecca." 
 
 The customs of raising the hand in voting or in ^[ 21. 
 taking an oath are as ancient as that of raising the J e ^ n g g ^f th 
 hands in prayer. The Athenian word for to vote [in the hands. 
 the fKK\r)o-ia or elsewhere] was xpoTovea>, tne word 
 signifying a vote being xpoi"ovia ; and up till a com- 
 paratively late period, in our courts of law the 
 prisoner, in pleading to an indictment, or a witness 
 taking the oath, used to raise the right hand ; indeed, 
 this custom still holds good in Scotland. To swear 
 " by the hand " used to be a common enough form of Oaths, 
 oath, and we find it continually repeated in one form 
 or another in the works of Shakespeare, as, for Shakespeare, 
 instance, in such passages as, " By these ten bones, my 
 lords, he did speak " (2 Henry VL, Act I., sc. 3) ; " So 
 do I still by these pickers and stealers " (Hamlet, Act 
 III., sc. 2) ; " By this hand, I will supplant some of 
 your teeth" (Tempest, Act III., sc. 2); and again, 
 " By this hand, they are scoundrels and subtracters " 
 (Twelfth Night, Act I., sc. 3) ; and the same formula 
 occurs continually in the works of all the older 
 dramatists. 
 
 The ancients considered it to be the most terrible ^ 22 - 
 punishment that they could inflict upon their enemies ^ n e c n ! t en f ^Sn 
 to cut off one or both of their hands; and Xenophon off hands, 
 and other authors tell us that after the battle of ^Egos 
 Potami, Lysander condemned all the Athenian 
 prisoners to death for having decreed that, should 
 they win, all the prisoners they took should have
 
 32 CHEIROSOPHY. 
 
 their right hands cut off, Adimantos only being spared, 
 because he had opposed this horrible decree in the 
 Assembly; 18 and we find in the "De Bello Gallico" 
 that, on one occasion, Caesar had the hands of all his 
 Gaulish prisoners cut off, as an example to the other 
 tribes. In like manner, after the siege of Numantia, 
 Scipio Africanus. Scipio Africanus is said to have punished, by the 
 amputation of their hands, four hundred of the in- 
 habitants of the city of Lutea, for the assistance they 
 had rendered the besieged. 
 
 I have adverted above to the religious symbolisms 
 connected with the hand ; the priest's blessing being 
 Blessings, given with the whole hand, and the episcopal bless- 
 ing being given with the thumb and first two fingers 
 , only extended : and the reason of this is that 
 
 The emblem of * 
 
 the Trinity, these three represent the Trinity. The thumb is 
 the representative of Unity in the Godhead ; and in 
 old books on the Ritual we find it laid down that in 
 baptism the cross is to be traced on the infant's fore- 
 
 The first finger, head with the thumb (pollice). The first finger is the 
 
 emblem of Christ as the Indicator of God's will, the 
 
 great Revealer and Declarer of God's will to mankind, 
 
 the only finger that can stand upright of itself alone. 
 
 [So, too, with the heathen the first finger was taken 
 
 to be the representative of the god Jupiter, and this is 
 
 also adhered to (as we shall presently see) in Cheiro- 
 
 The second mancy.] The second finger represents ecclesiastically 
 
 finger. tne j^ o j y Q^ost, and in this manner the three fingers 
 
 thus extended represent the Trinity in the episcopal 
 
 Marriage service, blessing. We find this again in the marriage ser- 
 vice in the placing of the ring [which used to be 
 placed upon the thumb] on the third finger, the old 
 practice being to place the ring first on the thumb, 
 
 XENOPHON.'EAAHNIKON, B t j3\.B'., Ke<. & (31): "'E^- 
 
 TavOa 8)j Karriyopfai tyiyvovro iroXXol rdv 'A.6r)i>aluv & re 4}5ij 
 irapavfi>ofj.-/IKt(rav Kal & l^i^iVjuei'Oi TI<JO.V iroielv, el Kpar^ffaav TTJ 
 q., rty 5f(ai> xetpa. AiroKfareiv TUV faypiiOvTUi> vdiruv."
 
 AN INTRODUCTORY ARGUMENT. 33 
 
 then on the first finger, then on the second finger, and, 
 lastly, to leave it on the third finger, in token that 
 after his allegiance to God in the Trinity, man's whole 
 and eternal allegiance is given to his wife ; the ring 
 being the symbol of eternity. 
 
 The thumb and two fingers thus extended are f 24. 
 familiar to all of us from the little coral charms Hand - charms - 
 fashioned on this wise which are worn by the Neapo- 
 litans as a talisman against the jettatura or evil eye ; 
 and I purchased, a short while since in Rome, a small 
 silver hand whose fingers were thus arranged, and on 
 various parts of which were stamped in relief various 
 symbols, amongst which were a bust of Serapis, a 
 knife, a serpent, a newt, a toad, a pair of scales, a 
 tortoise, and a woman with a child. This talisman is 
 known as the " Mano Pantea," and is an exact copy Mano Pantea. 
 of one executed in bronze formerly in the Museo di 
 Gian Pietro Bellori at Rome, and is said to be a most 
 potent charm " contro del fascino." 19 As a matter 
 of every day practice, the Neapolitan or the Sicilian 
 averts the evil eye by means of what are known as Theevay e 
 the Devil's Horns, i.e., the second and third fingers 
 folded over the thumb, leaving the first and fourth 
 fingers sticking out. 
 
 The raising of the hands has always been re- ^25. 
 cognized as a sign of peace and good faith, probablv Raisin s f *' 
 
 * hands 
 
 C^uesta mano esattamente imitata in piccola proporzione da 
 quella di bronzo al naturale che gia era nel Museo di Gian Pietro Mane Panten. 
 
 ellon in Roma, ed ora nonsi sa dove sia, masene ha il disegno 
 nell' Opera del Grevio, vol. xii, page 763, donde fu ricavata. 
 L alto delle dita e i simboli che la ricoprono cioe il busto di 
 Serapide, divinita propizia agli uomini, il coltello, il serpe il 
 ramarro, il rospo, la bilancia, la tartaruga, due vasi, la figura 
 della donna col bambino, e un altro oggetto ignoto, formano un 
 gruppo di simboli, che uniti insieme si credevano essere potenti 
 a respingere gli effetti del fascino; e queste mani grandi lo 
 
 nevano in casa per proteggerla contro ogni cattivo influsso 
 della magia o del mal occhio, quelle piccole le portavano indosso 
 per esserne difesi.
 
 34 
 
 CHEIROSOPHY. 
 
 Xenophon. 
 
 126. 
 
 The Thumb. 
 Gladiatorial 
 
 shows. 
 
 Contracts 
 
 .Challenges. 
 
 "Poltroons." 
 
 from the fact that with the hands in the air the pro- 
 babilities and possibilities of treachery or hostile 
 demonstration, are minimised, and we have Xeno- 
 phon's authority that this was also the case in the 
 days when he lived. 20 
 
 The ancient Romans used to indicate whether they 
 desired the life or the death of the fallen gladiator by 
 hiding the thumb (premere pollicem), or by turning it 
 downwards (vertere pollicem) ; and in many other ways 
 the importance of the thumb has been recognized in 
 ancient customs. Ducange tells us that the ancient 
 formula on the execution of documents used to be in 
 the middle ages, " Witness my thumb and seal ; " and 
 even to-day, on the conclusion of a bargain in Ulster, 
 the natives are wont to say, " We may lick thooms on 
 that." To bite the thumb was in the middle ages 
 equivalent to a challenge; thus we have it in the open- 
 ing scene of Romeo andJuliet,\v\\Qre Sampson remarks, 
 " I will bite my thumb at them ; which is a disgrace 
 to them if they bear it," to which Abram exclaims, 
 " Do you bite your thumb at us, sir ? " and the quarrel 
 begins. In the classic ages cowards, who did not 
 want to go to the war, cut off their thumbs so as to 
 render it impossible for them to handle a sword ; and 
 thus from the words pollice truncatus comes our word 
 " poltroon," signifying coward. 
 
 There are many superstitions connected with the 
 hand, such as that one whereby the hand of a hung 
 man was said to cure warts and tumours if stroked 
 over the affected spot ; and a writer in Eraser's 
 Magazine [vol. xxxvi., 1847, P- 2 93] te H s f this 
 remedy having been applied to the neck of a woman 
 at the execution of Dr. Dodd in 1777. Hazlitt also, 
 in his edition of Brand's " Antiquities " [vide note 16 , 
 
 " XENOPHON, KTPOT HAIAEIAS Bj/3\. A'., Kf>. /T. (17) : 
 ** 'Ec TOVTOV irfnirci. rbv trtpov avr&v wpbs aurouj, 7r/>o0rcias 
 (I fiiXot flfflv, ws rdxtffra viravrav raj fieas
 
 AN INTRODUCTORY ARGUMENT. 35 
 
 P- 3o], gives a more precise account of the same thing 
 occurring at the execution of the murderer Crowley, 
 at Warwick, in the year 1845. Most of my readers 
 will know the "Hand of Glory" from having read the Hand of Glory 
 Rev. R. H. Barham's " Ingoldsby Legend " of that 
 name. The Hand of Glory was a talisman, apparently 
 much used at one time for the commission of bur- 
 glaries, for its properties were [we are told] that 
 it would open closed doors, and when presented 
 to people would deprive them of all power to move, 
 though they might be awake ; it was invisible to all 
 except to him who held it, and prevented sleeping 
 people from waking : as " Ingoldsby " hath it : - i ngo idsby. 
 
 " Now open lock, to the Dead Man's knock ! 
 Fly bolt and bar and band ! 
 
 Nor move nor swerve, joint, muscle, or nerve, 
 At the spell of the dead man's hand ! 
 Sleep all who sleep ! Wake all who wake ! 
 But be as the dead for the Dead Man's sake ! " 
 
 A full receipt [with an illustration] for the preparation 
 of the Hand of Glory from the right hand of a man 
 who has been hung in chains at a cross road, and for 
 the composition of the candle to be held by it, may 
 be found at page 104 of "Les Secrets du Petit 
 Albert." 21 
 
 Thus it will be seen from the above selected ^[28. 
 specimens that the symbolisms and superstitions Volume f 
 connected with the hand are practically without 
 number, and prove the effect which the uses and 
 perfection of the hand produce in the most en- 
 lightened, as well as in the most ignorant minds. 
 Let us, therefore, turn to the examination of the 
 physical construction of this marvellous and perfectly 
 constituted member. 
 
 ' Secrets merveilleux de la magic naturelle et cabalistique 
 du Petit Albert" (Lyons, 1776).
 
 36 CHEIROSOPHY. 
 
 ^ 29. It would be impossible, as it would be inexpedient 
 
 Physiology of an( j unnecessary, to embark in this place upon a long 
 
 the hand. , . , 
 
 dissertation concerning the anatomy, physiology, and 
 
 histology of the human hand ; interesting as the subject 
 
 is, I must refer my readers to the perusal of such books 
 
 Owen. as Sir Richard Owen, " On the Nature of Limbs " 
 
 Humphry. [London, 1849], or Humphry, "On the Human Foot 
 
 and Human Hand " [Cambridge and London, 1861]; 
 
 but it will not, I think, be out of place if I note here 
 
 some of the physiological features of this perfect 
 
 Aristotle. member, which, as Aristotle says, is not part of 
 
 another member, but is a perfect whole divided into 
 
 parts like any other member. 22 
 
 f SO. It will be my object to show that the hand is not a 
 
 The hand is a mere appendage, but is intimately connected with the 
 
 distinct member. 
 
 entire frame ; and to prove the statement of Sir Charles 
 Bell, " That the hand is not a thing put on to the body 
 like an additional movement to a watch, but that a 
 thousand intricate relations must be established 
 throughout the whole frame in connection with it ; 
 not only must appropriate nerves of motion and of 
 sensation, and a part of the brain having correspond- 
 ence with those nerves be supplied, but unless, with 
 all this superadded organisation, a propensity to put 
 it into operation were created, the hand would lie 
 inactive." 
 
 ^31. The exquisite composition and mechanism of the 
 
 C Tend! f hand has been summed up thus by Professor Sir 
 Richard Owen. 23 : "The high characteristics of the 
 human hand and arm are manifested by the subordi- 
 nation of each part to a harmonious combination of 
 
 ARISTOTLE, IIEPI TA ZA 'I2TOPION, B t /3\. d., Ke^.d: 
 " ToCra yap a&rd T' iarl fJ.tpt) 6'\a, teal Iffriv afirwv i-repa fj-opia. 
 Hdvra. 5 ra dvofj.oiofj.fpT] avyKeirat K rCiv 6/j.oioficpwv, olov %elp K 
 
 ffapKOS KO.I VfVpUV KO.I dffTUV. 
 
 M RICHARD OWEN, "On the Nature of Limbs. A discourse 
 delivered on Friday, Feb. 9 [1849], at an evening meeting of the 
 Royal Institution of Great Britain," p. 36 (London, 1849).
 
 AN INTRODUCTORY ARGUMENT. 37 
 
 function with another, by the departure of every ele- 
 ment of the appendage from the form of the simple 
 ray, and each by a special modification of its own ; 
 so that every single bone is distinguishable from 
 another; each digit has its own peculiar character 
 and name; and the ' thumb,' which is the least impor- 
 tant and constant of the five divisions of the appen- 
 dage in the rest of the class, becomes in man the most 
 important element of the terminal segment, and that 
 which makes it a 'hand,' properly so called." 24 
 
 Let us take a rapid survey of the bones of the hand. 
 At the ends of the radius and ulna [the two bones of The bones of tht 
 the fore-arm] we find in the human skeleton the carpal hani 
 bones, which, being eight in number [scaphoid, semi- 
 lunar, cuneiform, pisiform, trapezium, trapezoid, mag- 
 num, and unciform], and fitted closely into one another, 
 compose the wrist. Beyond these we have the five 
 metacarpal bones, which supply the framework of the 
 palm ; and above these again, the three rows of pha- 
 langes which constitute the fingers and the two 
 phalanges which constitute the thumb. 
 
 H Speaking of the feet, and contrasting the toes with the fingers, 
 Professor Owen continues : " In the pelvic, as in the scapular Owen on the 
 extremity, the same digit [the thumb], which is the first to be foot- 
 
 rejected in the mammalian series, becomes, as it were, the 'chief 
 stone of the corner,' and is termed, far excellence, ' the great 
 toe ; ' and this is more peculiarly the characteristic of the genus 
 Homo than even its homotype the thumb ; for the monkey has 
 a kind of pollex on the hand, but no brute animal presents 
 that development of the hallux on which the erect posture and 
 gait of man mainly depend.' Galen, also, in his work "De 
 Usu Partium corporis humani" [book ii.], remarks on this very 
 point : " Quare autem non, sicut digiti pedum, ex uno ordine siti 
 sunt omncs, sed magnus est aliis oppositus, dictum quidem est et 
 hoc, sed quantum deest nunc adjicietur. Pes quidem amubulandi 
 organum fuit, manus autem apprehendi. Conveniebat autem 
 illi quidem firmationis securitas; huic autem apprehensionis 
 multiformitas. Sed formationis quidem securitas in uno ordine 
 locatis indigebat omnibus digitis, promptittdo vero ad varie- 
 tatem acceptionum, magno, id est pollice indiget aliis opposite."
 
 38 CHEIROSOPHY. 
 
 33. The importance of a thorough comprehension of 
 
 P tomy. V<! these bones and their relationship to one another 
 is very clearly and most interestingly set forth by 
 Professor Sir Richard Owen [Op. cit., p. 29], 
 when, after pointing out the various relationships 
 as exemplified by comparative anatomy, he says : 
 "Another important and instructive result of the 
 foregoing comparisons is the constancy of the rela- 
 tions of the distal series of carpal and tarsal bones, 
 whether single or compound, with the five digits 
 with which they essentially correspond in number ; 
 for by this constancy of connection we are able to deter- 
 mine the precise digits that are lost and retained when 
 their number falls below the typical five; to point 
 out, for example, the finger in the hand of man that 
 answers to the forefoot of the horse, and the toe that 
 corresponds with the hind foot ; nay, the very nail 
 which becomes by excess of development the great 
 hoof of the horse." To illustrate this, we may quote 
 the following passage: "The small styliform ossicle 
 which is attached to the trapezium in the wrist of the 
 spider monkey (Ateles), or the hyaena, is plainly shown 
 by that connection [besides its relations to the other 
 
 digits] to be a remnant of the thumb The 
 
 similar ossicle that is attached to the diminished 
 unciforme of the marsupial bandicoot, is shown by that 
 connection to be the rudiment of the little finger, the 
 three remaining digits also retaining respectively their 
 normal connections with the trapezo'ides, the magnum, 
 and the unciforme," etc., etc., etc. 
 
 1 34. A full consideration of the muscles of the hand 
 
 ni flhe wou ^ ta ke too much time for us to enter upon it 
 
 here ; shortly, as described by Humphry, 25 they 
 
 are as follows : " The wrist and hand are bent 
 
 forwards or flexed upon the forearm by three mus- 
 
 ffl G. M. HUMPHRY, "The Human Foot and Human Hand" 
 (Cambridge and London, iS6i).
 
 AN INTRODUCTORY ARGUMENT. 39 
 
 cles, which pass downwards from the inner condyle, 
 [or expanded end of the humerus], and are termed 
 the radial flexor, the ulnar flexor, and the long 
 palmar muscles. The first two of these muscles 
 are inserted into wrist bones on the radial and 
 ulnar sides respectively, while the third expands 
 into a fan-like fascia, or membrane, in the palm of 
 the hand, and thus serves both to support the skin 
 of the palm, and to protect the nerves and vessels 
 which lie below it. Beneath the palmar fascia lie 
 two sets of flexor muscles of the fingers, and they 
 present so beautiful a mechanical arrangement as to 
 merit special notice. The superficial or perforated 
 flexor muscle passes down the front of the forearm, 
 and divides into four tendons, which become apparent 
 after the removal of the palmar fascia, and are in- 
 serted into the second phalanges of the fingers, each 
 tendon splitting at its termination to give passage to 
 the similar tendons of the deep, or perforating flexor 
 muscle, which passes from the upper part of the ulna 
 to be inserted in the last phalanx of each finger. 
 These flexor muscles are antagonised by the common 
 extensor muscle of the fingers, which, like the flexors, 
 divides into four tendons, one for each finger. Be- 
 sides these there is a special extensor of the index 
 finger, a series of muscles forming the ball of the 
 thumb, which move that digit in almost every direc- 
 tion, and various small slips, giving lateral and other 
 movements to the fingers." The thumb is, in point of The riiu 
 fact, better supplied with muscles than any of the nu*. 
 fingers, and, as we shall see, it is this bundle of mus- 
 cles which constitutes that most important part of 
 the hand known in Cheiromancy as the Mount of 
 Venus [vide ^[ 371], by the greater or less develop- 
 ment of which we discover the greater or le*b 
 strength of animal will of the subject under examina- 
 tion ; and it is an interesting and significant fact that
 
 40 CHEIROSOPHY. 
 
 by a contraction of the flexor, and non-development of 
 the extensor muscles the human infant hides its thumb 
 in the palm of its hands until its will shall have 
 developed itself and put itself into exercise, and a 
 test of complex "will organization " is to be found in 
 an early and complete development of extensor action. 
 
 r 35 We must not lose sight of the enormous importance 
 
 importance of o f the thumb in the ceconomy of the hand [vide Note 24 , 
 
 mb p. 37], an importance which is excellently expressed 
 
 Galen. by Galen [Op. cit., book I.], when he says : " For 
 suppose, the thumb were not placed, as it is, in oppo- 
 sition to the other four fingers, but that all the five 
 were ranged in the same line ; is it not evident that 
 in this case their number would be useless ? For in 
 order to have a firm hold of anything it is necessary 
 either to grasp it all round, or at any rate to grasp it 
 at two opposite points, neither of which would have 
 been possible if all the five fingers had been placed in 
 the same plane ; but the end is now fully attainable, 
 simply in consequence of the position of the thumb, 
 which is so placed, and has exactly such a degree oi 
 motion as by a slight inclination to be easily made to 
 co-operate with any one of the four fingers." 28 I have 
 already quoted another passage in which Galen refers 
 to this importance of the thumb. [Note 24 , p. 37.] 
 
 If 36. i have dwelt upon these anatomical details, because 
 
 Influence of the 
 
 habits on the the form of the bones, their consistency, and the 
 tissues, and of development of the muscles depend almost entirely 
 
 foe tissues on 
 the bones. 
 
 " Quid namcque si nullus digitis quatuor, ut nunc habet, 
 
 opponeretur, sed consequentur omnes quincque sub una recta 
 linea essent facti? Nonne perspicuum est eorum tune multi- 
 tudiaem fore inutilem? Quandoquidem quod tuto fideliterque 
 apprehenditur, aut unclique circulo, aut omnino ex locis duobus 
 contrariis, comprehendatur oportet. Id quod periisset, si omnes 
 sub una recta linea uno ordine facti fuissent digiti. Verumtamen 
 hoc ipsum, digito uno aliis opposite, diligenter servatum est. 
 Qui quidem positione et motu ita habet, ut parva omnino flexione 
 curvatus, cum singulis quatuor oppositis actionem perficiat."
 
 AN INTRODUCTORY ARGUMENT. 4! 
 
 upon the habits and characteristics of the owner of the 
 hand; and this is an important factor in my argument 
 as to the physiological science of Cheirosophy, viz. : 
 that, as certain habits and characteristics produce 
 certain developments of bone and muscle, so from 
 the appearances of those developments in a hand may 
 the habits and characteristics of a subject be unmis- 
 takably inferred. That this is the case will not, I 
 apprehend, be for one moment doubted ; the texture of 
 bone is essentially elastic, and, in examining a human 
 skeleton, it is a recognized fact that the irregularities 
 and prominent ridges found upon the surfaces of the 
 bones are the results of the actions and pressures of the 
 superincumbent mass of muscles, nerves, and venal 
 plexus. " This explanation of the use of the promi- 
 nent ridges of a bone," says Sir Charles Bell, " im- sir C BeD 
 parts a new interest to osteology. The anatomist 
 ought, from the form of the ridges, to deduce the 
 motions of the limb and the forces bearing upon the 
 bone. It is, perhaps, not far removed from our proper 
 object to remark that a person of feeble texture and 
 indolent habits, has the bone smooth, thin, and light ; 
 but that nature, solicitous for our safety in a manner 
 that we could not anticipate, combines with the 
 powerful muscular frame a dense and perfect texture 
 of bone, where every spine and tubercle is completely 
 developed. And thus the inert and mechanical pro- 
 visions of the bone always bear relation to the living 
 muscular power of the limb; and exercise is as necessary 
 to the perfect constitution and form of a bone as it is 
 to the increase of the muscular power." 
 
 As to the veins and arteries of the hand I should ^ 37. 
 not say anything in this place, were it not that a very 
 curious and ancient superstition, or rather custom, 
 existed concerning the third or ring finger ; a super- 
 stition founded in times of the remotest antiquity, 
 upon an ignorance of anatomy which is both interest-
 
 CHEIROSOPHY. 
 
 Lcmniu*. 
 
 Kirch manr.. 
 
 ing and curious, and which resulted [as we shall see] 
 in this finger being termed Medicus [vide Note 112 , 
 p. 1 86] . In very old works on medicine we find direc- 
 tions to the effect that, in mixing their drugs, doctors 
 are to use nothing but the third finger, this being con- 
 nected directly with the heart by a main artery [? !], and 
 the reason of this is thus stated by Levinus Lemnius : 27 
 " So I observed in Gallia Belgica that very many 
 were subject to the gowt [g"ow(] of their hands and 
 feet, all whose joynts were swolln and in bitter pains, 
 save onely the ring finger of the left hand which 
 is next the little finger, for that by the nearnesse and 
 
 consent of the heart felt no harm Because a 
 
 small branch of the arterie [and not of the nerves as 
 Gellius thought] is stretched forth from the heart unto 
 
 this finger Also the worth of this finger that 
 
 it receives from the heart procured thus much that the 
 old Physitians [from whence also it hath the name of 
 Mecticus] would mingle their medicaments and potions 
 with this finger, for no venom can stick upon the 
 very outmost part of it, but it will offend a man and 
 communicate itself to his heart ; " he then goes on 
 to explain that this leads to the circumstance of its 
 being the ring-finger, and on this very matter of the 
 ring-finger Kirchmann has some most interesting 
 explanatory notes of which the following is a transla- 
 tion : 28 After pointing out the fact of this being, par 
 excellence, the ring-finger, and giving as authorities for 
 some interesting remarks thereon, Pliny, Macrobius, 
 and Politianus, he points out that the thumb has been 
 discarded as a ring-finger, because of its comparative 
 inferiority of formation, the second and fourth on 
 account respectively of their largeness and smallness, 
 
 27 LEVINUS LEMNIUS, " The Secret Miracles of Nature in 
 four Books" (London, 1658), bk. ii., ch. n. 
 
 28 JOHANNIS KIRCHMANNI, Lubecensis, "De Annulis liber 
 singularis" (Slesvigae, 1657).
 
 AN INTRODUCTORY ARGUMENT. 43 
 
 and that, closed in as it is on either side, the third 
 becomes eminently the suitable finger. The ^Egyp- 
 tians [says he, quoting Disarius and Macrobius], 
 being eminent anatomists, discovered the presence 
 of a nerve from the heart to this finger, and he 
 points out that Agellius supports the statement. 
 Then follows a quotation, "Johannes Salisberiensis 
 libro vi ; Policratici cap. xii ; Gratianus, Can. Famine 
 xxx, quaest. v; ex Isidori Hispalensis lib. ii. De 
 Divinis Officiis, cap xix," to the effect, that a vein 
 makes this connection ; and then he says, " But this 
 opinion is now exploded by modern doctors, who, 
 after careful dissection of the human body, have found 
 no artery or vein extending thus from the heart to 
 this finger, and there is no such reason for the pre- 
 ference of this finger for wearing the ring." 
 
 For a concise and accurate description of the arterial 
 and venous system of the hand I refer the reader to venous'system 
 F. T. McDougall's article on the subject in R. B. Todd's of the hand. 
 " Cyclopaedia of Anatomy and Physiology," vol. ii., 
 1836-9. The hand contains two principal arteries, 
 the radial and the ulnar. The ulnar proceeds in a uinar artery, 
 curve from the wrist to the first finger [where it joins a 
 branch of the radial], forming what is known as the 
 pa/mar arch. Four digital arteries go from its con- 
 vexity, which subdivide into collateral branches about 
 two lines below the metacarpo-phalangean articulations 
 [vide H 32]. These supply the palmar and lateral sur- 
 faces of the fingers, excepting the thumb and the 
 outer side of the index, the branches coalescing at 
 the tips of the fingers, whence branches arise to 
 supply the pulp of the fingers with blood. The 
 radial goes from the end of the forearm [radius] Radial artery 
 round the wrist, into the thumb, and back into the 
 palm, where, joining the ulnar [as I have said above], 
 it forms what is known as the deep palmar arch. 
 Before, however, it does this, it gives off two veins,
 
 44 CHEIROSOFHY. 
 
 one of which [the superficialis voice} supplies the palm, 
 whilst the other divides into two branches [the arterice 
 dorsales pollicis] which run along either side of the 
 thumb, one of which branches sends off an artery to 
 the index-finger. When the radial dips into the palm 
 it gives off branches to the thumb and fore-finger, or 
 index, and to the deep palm [where it joins the 
 ulnar\. The arrangement of these arteries varies in 
 different hands, a significant fact for us, which is 
 noticed in another place [vide ^f 72] ; the veins, which 
 are generally very deep, accompany the arteries ; 
 there are very few superficial veins in the hands. 
 These light notes will, I think, assist our anatomical 
 comprehension of the hand, and will help to impress 
 upon us the obvious design which enters into its 
 construction, so that we may say with Professor 
 Owen : " With regard to the structural correspond- 
 ences manifested in the locomotive members, if the 
 principle of special adaptation fails to explain them, 
 and we reject the idea that these correspondences are 
 manifestations of some architypal exemplar on which 
 it has pleased the Creator to frame certain of His 
 living creatures, there remains only the alternative 
 that the organic atoms have concurred fortuitously to 
 produce such harmony," an Epicurean argument 29 
 from which every healthy mind naturally recoils. 
 
 Of course, the most important subject for our 
 Nervous system consideration in this place is that of the nervous 
 
 of the hand. system o f the hand> of that comp li cated p l eX US of 
 
 nerves which gives to the hand its direct and con- 
 stantly apparent connection with the brain. There 
 are more nerves in the hand than at any other point 
 of the body, 30 and in the palm they are more nume- 
 rous than at any other point of the hand. It is this that 
 
 " ' A?r6 TWV cb^/now aun&ruv, a.irpovl>i)Tov KO\ rvxalav ^6i>TUv 
 t> Kivrtffiv. EPICURUS, "Physica et Meteorologica " (J. G. 
 Schneider: Leipsic, 1813). 
 
 * Aristotle calls attention to this in his IIEPI TA ZOA'ISTO-
 
 AN INTRODUCTORY ARGUMENT. 45 
 
 causes the feeling of revulsion and of sickness which 
 
 ensues, when the palms of the hands or the soles of Elementary 
 
 the feet are tickled ; it is by reason of this that in fever 
 
 the hands become burning hot, whilst the rest of the 
 
 body, which is more muscular than nervous [as 
 
 opposed to the hands, which are more nervous than 
 
 muscular], is cold ; and the hands and feet become 
 
 numbed by cold or fear sooner than the rest of the 
 
 body, by reason of the high development of the vaso- 
 
 motor nerve arrangements in them, added to the 
 
 circumstances of their rich blood-supply, distance from 
 
 the heart and delicate skin covering, thus showing that 
 
 the hand acts as the thermometer, so to speak, of the life. 
 
 Without the hand, principal seat as it is of the ^40. 
 SENSE OF TOUCH, the other senses would be com- '""^J^ 
 paratively useless ; the sense of Touch is the only sense its superiority, 
 which is reciprocal [In the sense referred to by Sir 
 Walter Scott, where he alludes to the sensations pro- 
 duced by touching one's own body unconsciously. :0a ] 
 That is, though the senses of Sight, Hearing, Taste, and 
 Smell, can only receive impressions without giving them, 
 that of Touch both receives and gives ; and it is this 
 sense of Touch, dependent as it is upon the nervous 
 system, which is the most important of all, and which is 
 found in its highest state of development where that ner- 
 vous system is the most complete, namely, in the hand. 
 
 I cannot, I think, do better than follow the prin- If 41. 
 ciples upon which Bernstein discusses the physiology ^f^Sf,/ 
 of the sense of Touch, as an introduction to this section touch. 
 
 Bernstein 
 
 of my argument/ 1 Every sensory organ may be shown 
 
 PI ON, where he says, Bi/3X. T'., Kf>. 4. : "ILXeurra Start reCpa 
 ff pi rods ir65os KOI raj x e 'P aj * a * rXevpiif Kal cfyiorXdraj Kal repl 
 ri>v ai/xtva. Kal irtpl TOI>S f)paxtovcu." 
 
 308 SIR WALTER SCOTT, "Letters to J. G. Lockhart on 
 Demonology and Witchcraft" (London, 1830), Letter I. 
 
 " JULIUS BERNSTEIN, " The Five Senses of Man" (London, 
 1883), 4th Edition.
 
 46 CHEIROSOPHY. 
 
 to be anatomically connected with the nervous system 
 by means of nerve trunks and nerve fibres. Touch, 
 sight, hearing, smell, and taste are inconceivable 
 without the presence of a nervous system, even if the 
 sensory organs were in their present full develop- 
 ment [e.g., an arm of which the nerve is injured can 
 feel nothing], the sensation itself evidently first takes 
 place in the brain \e.g. t the sensation of light does not 
 take place in the eye, where there is only an impres- 
 sion of light upon the expanded surface of the optic 
 nerve ; the sensation of light cannot, however, take 
 place in the optic nerve itself, for it merely conveys 
 the fact of the existence of the irritation to the brain], 
 Of all the senses the most perfect is undoubtedly that 
 of Touch, and though it is very greatly assisted by 
 that of Sight, still, the former can dispense with the 
 latter far better than the latter with the former. The 
 simultaneous action of the sensations of touch and 
 sight is, in fact, for the human mind an important 
 source of knowledge in the external world. Yet we 
 must not on this account conclude that the sense of 
 Touch alone, without the assistance of sight [as in the 
 case of persons born blind], cannot lead to knowledge. 
 It is probable that the sense of touch alone might 
 enable us to distinguish our own body and external 
 objects sooner than vision. For the act of touching 
 our body with our hand calls forth a double sensation 
 of touch, one through the hand, and the other through 
 the part of the skin touched, whilst touching an 
 external object causes only a single sensation of touch 
 through the tactile organ. 
 
 ^ 42. And it must be remembered that the sense of Touch 
 
 rf^aul!' 1011 is our great bodil y safeguard, for it produces the 
 sensation of pain [as distinguished from that of 
 contact], which warns us to fly from the agent which 
 produces that sensation. The limit between the 
 sensations of touch and pain may be illustrated by
 
 AN INTRODUCTORY ARGUMENT. 47 
 
 the following example given by Ernst Heinrich 
 
 Weber. 32 If we place the edge of a sharp knife on 
 
 the skin, we feel the edge by means of our sense of Touch and pain 
 
 touch ; we perceive a sensation, and refer it to the contrasted. 
 
 object which caused it. But as soon as we cut the 
 
 skin with the knife we feel pain, a feeling which we 
 
 no longer refer to the cutting knife, but which we feel 
 
 within ourselves, and which communicates to us the 
 
 fact of a change of condition in our own body ; by the 
 
 sensation of pain we are not able to recognise with 
 
 the same degree of accuracy either the object which 
 
 caused it, or its nature. 
 
 Let us then examine this sense of Touch, and f 4S. 
 particularly let us examine it with regard to the 
 part which the hand plays in its development. We 
 know from experience that every part of our skin 
 possesses a certain sensibility, and that this sensibility 
 varies in different parts. This property is given to 
 the skin by a great number of nerves which originate 
 in the brain and spinal cord, and extend in a tree- 
 like form over the body. The sensibility of any 
 part of the body is due to these nerves alone, for, 
 as soon as such a nerve is lost or diseased, the 
 part of the body supplied by it becomes void of 
 sensation. 
 
 And this sense of touch may be said to be the only 
 universal sense; for, as Aristotle and Cuvier have both The s ^ ers 
 remarked in parallel passages which are quoted by Aristotle. 
 Dr. Kidd [vide note 4 , p. 21], that of the five senses, 
 touch alone is common to all animals, and is so 
 generally diffused over the whole body that it does 
 not [like the other senses] reside in any specific part 
 alone. All animals do not possess all the senses 
 some possess only a part of them ; but no animal is 
 
 n ERNST HEINRICH WEBER, "De pulsu, resorptione auditd 
 et tactu annotationes anatomicae et physiologies " (Lipsiae, 
 1834), 4to.
 
 48 CHEIROSOPHY. 
 
 without the sense of touch. 33 And the sense of touch 
 does not only determine size, shape, and pressure ; 
 it alone of all the senses can appreciate differences of 
 temperature, heat and cold. 
 
 The two great senses, therefore, which reside in 
 louch tne gkj n are those of touch and of temperature. In 
 
 ana temperature. 
 
 touching a body we employ the organs best adapted 
 for the purpose, namely the hands ; and we can re- 
 cognise the object touched with closed eyes, with more 
 or less certainty; in the hands this power is very 
 perfect, and is the more perfect the nearer we approach 
 to the tips of the fingers, where the skin is the most 
 sensitive. 84 
 
 ^ 46. The skin itself consists of three layers. Upon the 
 
 its composition. ce ^ u ' ar tissue under the skin lies the first skin [or 
 dertnis\ t which is of a tolerably compact nature. 
 Its surface consists of a greater or less number of 
 cylindrical or conical protuberances, which are called 
 papillae. Upon the dermis lies the mucous layer, which 
 consists of a great number of small microscopic cells, 
 
 M ARISTOTLE, HEPI TA ZQA'ISTOPION, B t/ 3X. A'., Ketf.. -f,.-. 
 " E&rl 8' a! (alaO^aeii) TrXeiorcu KO! Trap as ovStjjla Qalve-rcu (Sios 
 irtpa, irtvre rbv dpiOfriv, 6if/is, d/corj, 6ff<f>pi)ffis, yevffis, d<f>i?i. . . . 
 'Of yap 6/j.oiws irdffiv vTrdpxovffu>, (alff6-/iffeis~) dXXd TOIS yuv irdffai 
 rotj 8'eXaTTOvj. 1j]v 5 -ir^irrijv alffdi]<ru> T^V d<f>r)v Ka\ov^vrjv 
 Kal r'dXXa irair' ?x f ' fv a - " " Hoat St rots fyotj (LiffOijffis fiia 
 inrdpxti Koivij fj.6n) TJ d(f>i] &crre Kal tv $ (aih-i)) fjiopty yivtcrOai 
 vtyvKtv dvdivvfidv tffTiv." Bt/3X. A'., Ki<p. y'. And the parallel 
 passage of Cuvier runs : " Lesens exterieur le plus general est 
 le toucher, son siege est a la peau, membrane enveloppant le 
 corps entier. . . . Beaucoup d'animaux manquent d'oreilles et de 
 narines ; plusieurs d'yeux : il y en a qui sont reduits au toucher 
 lequel ne manque jamais. " G. CUVIER, " Le Regne Animal 
 distribue d' apres son organization" (Paris, 1828). 
 
 31 To those of my readers who desire to go deeper into the 
 relationship between the sense of Touch and the hand, I would 
 recommend Dr. Arthur Kollmann's work " Der Tast-apparat der 
 Hand der menschlichen Rassen und der Affen in seiner Entwicke- 
 lung und Gliederung " (Hamburg und Leipzig, Z. Voss ; 1883)
 
 AN INTRODUCTORY ARGUMENT. 49 
 
 completely filling the depressions between the papillae 
 
 of the dermis. Lastly, the outer layer, the cuticle [or 
 
 epidermis}, which consists of an intergrowth of cells 
 
 which are filled with a solid horny substance. The 
 
 blood-vessels and nerves only extend as far as the 
 
 surface of the dermis and to its papillae ; the mucous 
 
 layer and the epidermis are completely free from 
 
 blood and nerves. The nerves of the skin, which 
 
 terminate in single fibres, only extend to the dermis, 
 
 and here they are observed to end in a peculiar manner 
 
 in the papillae. Many of them contain, for instance, 
 
 an egg-shaped particle, which a nerve fibre enters, Taciaf 
 
 and in which it is lost after several convolutions corpuscle*. 
 
 round it. They are called tactile corpuscles, and there 
 
 can be no doubt that they act as the instruments of the 
 
 sensation of touch. They are not found in the same 
 
 numbers in all parts of the skin, occurring in the 
 
 greatest number in those parts where the sensibility 
 
 is more acute, and more sparingly where weaker. 
 
 They are extraordinarily numerous at the tips of f 47. 
 the fingers, where, in the space of a square line, about Distribution OJ 
 a hundred can be counted, they are tolerably numerous oJpu^ie" 
 over the whole surface of the hand, but occur in 
 much smaller numbers on the backs of the hands. 35 
 On the palm of the hand also, the papillae [which, 
 however, do not all contain a tactile corpuscle] occur 
 in great numbers, and are arranged in regular rows; The lines in th 
 // is these rows of corpuscles which cause the lines in the f ^ m - 
 hands of which we shall have so much to say further 
 on : let this, therefore, be borne in mind. The nerves 
 of the skin and deeper parts are observed also to 
 possess another terminal apparatus, similar to that of 
 
 " Mira vallecularum tangentium in interna parte manus pe 
 disque, praesertim in digitorum extremis phalangibus, dispositio 
 flexuncque attentionem jam nostram in se trahit." JAN. E. 
 PURKINYE, " Commentatio de Examine Physiologico," etc. 
 (Lipsiae, 1830).
 
 50 CHEIROSOPHY. 
 
 Pacinlan bodies, the tactile corpuscles, namely, long globules [pacinian 
 bodies], in the hollows of which the nerve fibres 
 terminate. In short, in the entire surface of the skin 
 there exist terminal apparatus of a peculiar kind for 
 the sensory nerves, and if we wish to follow the 
 action of sensation further physiologically, we must 
 start with the excitement ot a nerve fibre which ends 
 Connection with in a definite part of the skin, and follow the course of 
 the brain. tne excitement to the brain. The course of the nerve 
 between brain and skin, along which the excitement 
 passes, can be followed anatomically with a certain 
 degree of exactness. A nervous fibre which ends in 
 the skin forms, as far as its union with the spinal cord 
 or brain, a long fine continuous thread. The fibres 
 which terminate in the skin very soon unite in small 
 branches, and finally in thick nerve trunks, before they 
 enter the central organ of the nervous system, but [prac- 
 tically] in no case do two nervous fibres coalesce in these 
 nerve branches. We may, therefore, assume that every 
 part of the skin is provided with isolated connections 
 with the centre of the nervous system, which are united 
 there just as telegraph lines unite at a terminus. 
 |48 Julius Bernstein is not the only writer who has 
 
 ^weerfthe likened tne nervous system to an electric telegraph, 
 nervous system and undoubtedly it is an extremely happy simile, for, 
 the brain being the fountain head of the life, without 
 it we should be dead to all impressions, physical or 
 mental ; thus, if a blow strikes the leg, the nerves 
 there terminating, instantly carry to the brain the 
 intelligence of a blow having been received, and this 
 communication constitutes the sense of feeling ; if the 
 nerve is divided between the leg and the brain there 
 is no telegraph to convey the news, and the brain, the 
 sensitive power, has no intelligence of the blow, which 
 consequently does not hurt the recipient. 36 
 
 ** M. Desban olles, in the fifteenth edition of his work already 
 Cited [note M , p 67 gives a striking and absolute proof of this
 
 Al. INTRODUCTORY ARGUMENT. 51 
 
 Abercrombie remarks in this connection, 37 "The 
 communication of perceptions from the senses to the 
 mind has been accounted for by motions of the 
 nervous fluid, by vibrations of the nerves, or by a 
 subtle essence resembling electricity or galvanism ; " 
 and Miiller, in his "Physiologic" says, "Perhaps 
 there exists between the phenomena of the nervous 
 system and of electricity a sympathy, or connection 
 at present unknown, analogous to that which has 
 been found to exist between electricity and magnetism. 
 The one thing which the recognised march of en- 
 lightenment forbids us is the employment of & 
 conjecture which reposes upon nothing in the con- 
 struction of a scientific system ; "and in another place 
 he says : " We know not as yet whether or no, when 
 the nerves convey an impression, an imponderable 
 fluid flies along them with an inconceivable rapidity, 
 or whether the action of the nervous system consists 
 of the oscillations of an imponderable principle 
 
 fact, p. xxix). A gentleman, having called upon him for a cheiro- 
 mantic consultation, and having submitted to M. Desbarrolles his 
 left hand, he was told of an accident which had happened to his 
 other arm and its concomitant circumstances. The gentleman 
 then uncovered his right arm which up to that time had been con- 
 cealed, saying as he did so that the nerves having been destroyed 
 it was absolutely dead to him, and that he could neither move 
 it nor feel anything which touched it. M. Desbarrolles looked 
 at the palm thus deprived of its sensitive power, and found, 
 as might have been anticipated, that the lines which depend 
 [as Bernstein says very truly ; vide f 47] upon the tactile 
 corpuscles of the nerves had absolutely disappeared. If it 
 were not that these lines depended for their existence on the 
 nerves, and the imponderable nerve fluid to which we shall next 
 animadvert, the hand would indeed have been dead and insen- 
 sible, but the lines already formed would have remained ; as it 
 was, they had disappeared with the nerves, with the fluid by 
 whose agency they had been formed, and on whose presence they 
 depended for their existence. 
 
 87 J. ABERCROMBIE, "Inquiries concerning the Intellectual 
 Powers and the Investigation of Truth, " 9th ed. (London, 1838) 
 
 Abercrombie 
 
 Mullet.
 
 52 CHEIROSOPHY. 
 
 already existent in the nerves and placed in vibration 
 by the brain " : I will pray the reader to bear this 
 theory in mind, as I shall have occasion to refer to it 
 Herder. again. The philosopher Herder, 38 also paid great 
 attention to the action in our lives of this imponder- 
 able, sensitive fluid, which he likens to electricity, but 
 for which he claims a vast superiority over electricity 
 as a more subtle, more sensitive essence, to which we 
 owe our lives, and which for want of a better term is 
 known to us as our soul. 
 
 ^[50. We must also bear in mind the discovery first 
 
 Sir c. Bell's ma de by Sir Charles Bell, that nerves are divided into 
 
 Classification of 
 
 nerves. two classes, sensory and motor, and he carries out 
 what I have said above in the following passage, 
 which occurs in his Bridgewater Treatise "On the 
 Human Hand " : " It was the conviction that we 
 are sensible of the action of the muscles which led 
 me to investigate their nerves ; first, by anatomy, and 
 then by experiment. I was finally enabled to show 
 that the muscles are provided with two classes of 
 nerves ; that on exciting one of these the muscle 
 contracts ; on exciting the other no action takes place ; 
 and that the nerve which has no poiver over the muscle 
 is for giving sensation. Thus it was proved that 
 muscles are connected with the brain through a 
 Sensory and ' nervous circle ' ; that one nerve is not capable of 
 ves ' transmitting what may be called nervous influence in 
 two different directions at once ; in other words, that 
 a nerve cannot carry volition to the muscles and 
 sensation to the brain, simultaneously, and by 
 itself; but that for the regulation of muscular action 
 two distinct nerves are required ; first, a nerve oi 
 sensibility to convey a consciousness of the condi- 
 tion of the muscles to the sensorium ; and secondly, a 
 nerve of motion for conveying a mandate of the will to 
 
 18 HERDER, " Idees sur la Philosophic de I'Histoire do 
 I'HumaniU" (Paris, 1827).
 
 AN INTRODUCTORY ARGUMENT. 53 
 
 the muscles." In this manner Sir Charles Bell showed 
 that every apparently simple nerve is in reality com- 
 pound, consisting of two nerves springing from different 
 roots, but enclosed in a single sheath, one conveying 
 volition from the brain to the tissues, and one convey- 
 ing impressions from the tissues to the brain ; and it is 
 this double function of the duplicate nerves which gives 
 to the sense of touch the superiority claimed for it 
 above of being active and passive [vide f f 40 and 41]. 
 
 We must also observe before leaving this branch of . 
 
 the subject that the sense of touch is keenest where Effe . ct of vascu ' 
 the vascularity is the highest [i.e., where the blood- se^sTof touch, 
 vessels are most numerous, the nervous plexus is 
 nearest to the surface], that is, of course, where the 
 skin is the most red ; as, for instance, at the lips, at 
 the rosy tips of the fingers, and along the pink lines 
 of the hand. "From the constant call for vigorous 
 and rapid, as well as sustained and powerful action," 
 says McDougall, 39 "the hand, with the exception of 
 the tongue, is the most vascular of the voluntary 
 locomotive members of the human body." Hunter Dr. Hunter, 
 observed that a distribution of nerves and tactile 
 corpuscles to any part invariably carries with it an 
 increased vascularity, so that, where the nerves are 
 most numerous, the blood-vessels are also most finely 
 distributed, and there the sense of touch is keenest; 
 and Sir Charles Bell observed, in confirmation of this, Sir c. Bell, 
 that the human infant first developes the sense of The human 
 touch in the lips and tongue, the next motion being to infant 
 put its hand to its mouth, and as soon as the fingers 
 are capable of grasping anything, whatever they hold is 
 carried to the mouth for further examination and identi- 
 fication. "The Hand," says he, "destined to become 
 the instrument for perfecting the other senses, and for 
 developing the endowments of the mind itself, is in 
 
 58 In R. B. Todd's " Cyclopaedia of Anatomy and Physiology " 
 (London, 1836-9), vol. ii.
 
 54 
 
 CHEIROSOPHY. 
 
 f 52. 
 
 Indications of 
 disease. 
 
 Georget. 
 
 the infant absolutely powerless. There occur certain 
 congenital imperfections in early childhood which re- 
 quire surgical assistance, but the infant will make no 
 direct effort with its hand to repel the instrument, or 
 disturb the dressing, as it will do at a somewhat later 
 period." This is a very interesting illustration of the 
 gradual development of the sense of touch, commencing 
 at points of the highest vascularity. 
 
 Finally, let us remember the indications of disease 
 which are afforded by the hands, indications which [un- 
 less we are in error] emanate directly from the brain 
 by means of this nerve-communication of which we 
 have said so much. "Cutaneous phenomena," says 
 Georget, 40 " regulated by the influence of the brain, though 
 they are less clearly evident than some others, are 
 none the less real and worthy to fix the attention of the 
 observer." I have before called attention to the 
 Temperature, manner in which the temperature of the hands an- 
 nounces indisposition : the signs of various illnesses 
 which we find in the hands, and which are all noticed 
 in their proper places during the course of this work, 
 are numerous and convincing. 
 
 Not to multiply instances, we may cite the symp- 
 tom of approaching leprosy, which is found in the 
 stiffening of the first finger, and the fact that among 
 scrofulous persons we always find a thick first finger 
 and short nails. Filbert nails, as a sign of a tendency to 
 consumption, are well known, and always recognized. 
 
 We must, I am afraid, dismiss, with other similar 
 superstitions of the old doctors, the statement, made 
 by Avicenna, that short fingers indicate weakness of 
 the liver. 41 
 
 * GEORGET, " Physiologic duSystemeNerveux" (Paris, 1821) : 
 "Les Phenomenes cutanes dttermi nh par F influence cMbrale, 
 quoique moins evidents que dans plusieurs organes, sont pourtant 
 reels et dignes de fixer 1'attention de 1'observateur." 
 
 41 AVICENNA, " Liber Canonis de Medicinis Cordialibus," 
 
 irsa 
 
 Further 
 Indication 
 
 154 
 
 ivicenna.
 
 AN INTRODUCTORY ARGUMENT. 55 
 
 Now, therefore, that we have arrived at a sufficiently 
 thorough comprehension of the member with which we 
 are concerned, let us turn to the consideration of the 
 history and progress of the science of Cheirosophy, and 
 of its aims and objects as an inducement to its study. 
 
 Cheiromancy, as a science, is one which we find 
 continually referred to by classical and other authors, Cheiromancyani 
 
 ' the Holy 
 
 and many modern and ancient writers on the science Scripture*. 
 have claimed for it the sanction and authority of 
 Scripture, quoting various passages of Holy Writ in 
 support of their statements, but notably one, concern- 
 ing which so much has been written that I think it 
 not unwise to dissect its claims to such an interpre- 
 tation in this place at some length and with some 
 completeness. This most important and universally 
 quoted text occurs in the thirty-seventh chapter of the 
 Book of Job, verse 7, and runs in our English ver- 
 sion : " He sealeth up the hand of every man ; that 
 all men may know His work." 
 
 Now, in the Vulgate this passage reads, "Quiin manu ^ 56. 
 omnium hominum signat ut noverint singuli opera The Vul s atf 
 sua"; and author after author has reproduced this 
 passage as referring to Cheiromancy, a treatment 
 which has, perhaps not unnaturally, given rise to 
 some considerable amount of discussion. The com- 
 mentator Valesius took this passage to mean that the Vaiesiua. 
 signs which are placed upon man's hands, were placed 
 there for his instruction, and this reading has, of 
 course, been freely adopted by the Cheiromants ; but 
 by far the greater number of authors take the passage 
 to signify that the snow and rain mentioned in the pre- 
 
 translated into Latin by Gerardus Cremonensis (Venice, 1582). 
 Liber III., tract, i., cap. 30 (De signis), cap. 29 (De parvitate 
 hepatis) : "Et assiduatur debilitas digestionis et multiplicatur 
 eventus oppilationis, et apostematum et certificat illud brevit-u 
 digitorum in creatiotte"
 
 56 CHEIROSOPHY. 
 
 ceding verse being poured upon the earth, the hand 
 of man is, as it were, "sealed up," and during his 
 enforced inactivity his thoughts turn naturally to 
 
 Mercerus. higher things. Mercerus 42 takes the view that this 
 shutting up, as it were, of the hands by rain, is a sign 
 to men that they are but created beings, subject to a will 
 
 Von Ewaid. higher than their own. G. H. A. von Ewald and Albert 
 Barnes. Barnes 43 follow Mercerus, and the latter expressly 
 mentions the pretensions of the Cheiromants, and 
 Wvin. points out their fallacy. 44 Calvin himself 45 remarks 
 upon the reading, declaring that the text will not and 
 Caryl. cannot bear this interpretation ; and Joseph Caryl in 
 the next century, 46 after interpreting the passage in 
 the agricultural sense of enforced inactivity, says : 
 "The Hebrew is, 'In the hand He will seal,' or 
 ' sealeth every man ' ; from which strict meaning 
 some have made a very impious interpretation of 
 this text, thereupon grounding that (as most use it) 
 most unwarrantable art of chiromancy, as if God did 
 put certain lines, prints, or seals, upon the hand of 
 every man, from whence it may be collected and 
 concluded what [as some call it] his fortune or des- 
 tiny will be in the world, which, as it is an opinion 
 wicked in itself, so altogether is heterogeneal to this 
 
 tUitcneson. place," etc. Hutcheson 47 gives the interpretation 
 
 42 JOANNIS MERCERI .... " Commentarii in Jobum " 
 (Amsterdam, 1564), p. 298. 
 
 43 ALBERT BARNES, "Notes Critical, etc., on the Book of Job" 
 (Glasgow, 1847). 
 
 44 " Alii sensus ab hoc loco sunt alieni, ut quod chiromantici ex 
 priore hemistichio suam artem colligunt. s\riasse Deum in manu 
 hominum et notas ac signa impressisse unde res cognoscantur, 
 etc. Quod eo nihil facit et extra rem est." 
 
 44 "Sermons de M. Jean Calvin sur le hvre de Job " (Geneve, 
 1563)- 
 
 w JOSEPH CARYL, "Exposition on Job "(London, 1664), vol. xi. 
 
 * G. HUTCHESON, " Exposition on the Book of Job " (London, 
 7669).
 
 AN INTRODUCTORY ARGUMENT. 57 
 
 above referred to, i.e., that " .... by these storms 
 He sealeth up the hand of every man, or hindereth their 
 work abroad, as if their hand were shut up under a 
 seal. ... It should be men's special exercise, when 
 they are restrained from .their callings, to study to 
 know God and His works well," etc. On the other 
 hand, Schultens 48 seems to favour the reading of the Schnitens, 
 passage in a manner favourable to the art of cheiro- 
 mancy [for it could not in those days be called a 
 science], quoting the like opinions of the theologians 
 Lyrannus, Thomassin, Delrio, and Valesius ; but even 
 he inclined to the opinion of the Jesuit Pineda, which 
 is given below. Earlier in the same century, Sebas- 
 tian Schmidt 48 cites the agricultural reading as the Schmidt 
 only possibly correct one, treating the cheiromantic 
 interpretation with contempt. 50 Pineda has devoted a De Pineda, 
 vast amount of work to the unravelling of this point, 
 and, after recapitulating nearly everything which had 
 been written thereon up to his day, gives a long 
 section headed " Physiognomica et Chiromantica, inter- 
 pretationes duae," in which he gives some most 
 interesting notes. 51 He cites the reading of Valesius, 
 and then calls attention to many of the extracts I have 
 given above from the works of Galen and Aristotle, 
 fter which he balances all the pros and cons of the 
 Cheiromantic interpretation, making the passage a 
 peg on which to hang a somewhat lengthy disserta- 
 tion on Cheiromancy. The commentator is of opinion 
 
 ALBERTUS SCHULTENS, " Liber Jobi et Commentario Per- 
 petuo," etc. (Leyden, 1737). 
 
 * SEBASTIAN SCHMIDT, " In Librum Jjobi Commentarius," 
 etc., 1705, p. 1390. 
 
 * " Nihil aliud significatur quam quod homines per nivem et 
 pluvias vehementes sic se domi continere cogantur, si Deus velit, 
 ut nihil operis in agris peragere queant .... Ineptiunt pro- 
 fecto qui hinc cheiromantiam exculpere conantur." 
 
 41 JOANN. DE PINEDA, Societatis Jesu, " Commentariorum 
 in Job tomus alter " (Venice, 1704).
 
 58 CHEIROSOPHY. 
 
 that the character and propensities of men are mo/e 
 likely to be inscribed on their faces than on their 
 hands, and as to this particular passage concludes that 
 the agricultural meaning is most likely to be the right 
 one. Finally [not to multiply authorities], in a com- 
 paratively recent edition of the Commentaries of 
 Nicolaus de Lyra, 52 the editor lays great stress upon 
 the agricultural reading in a foot-note, objecting very 
 explicitly to the interpretation of Franciscus Valesius, 
 notwithstanding that the author in the text supports 
 the cheiromantic view, quoting many cited examples 
 in support thereof. 
 
 -r 57 I will not weary the reader with further discussion 
 
 Divergence of of this time-honoured passage ; opinions appear to 
 opinions. be r- very j ust i y -j divided, for though our English 
 translation seems certainly to favour the agricultural 
 reading, the original Hebrew, the Vulgate, and many 
 other versions of the Book of Job, seem strongly to 
 favour the cheiromantic ; it is a point which each 
 student will probably solve for himself. I have 
 endeavoured in the above citations and notes to sup- 
 ply him with the necessary materials for arriving at 
 that solution. 63 
 
 52 " Scripturae Sacrae cursus completus," annotavit et edidit 
 J. P. M. (Paris, 1841). 
 
 Other passages M Other passages of Holy Writ have been quoted by various 
 of Scripture cited authors in works on Cheiromancy ; none of them are, however, 
 Cheiromancy cre< Jited with these interpretations by Commentatcrs, possibly 
 on account of (he distrust and ill-favour with which cheiromancy 
 has always been regarded by the Church, disfavour of which I 
 shall presently say more. For the interest of such readers as 
 care to investigate these matters for themselves, the following 
 are some of the principal passages, with references to commen- 
 taries which touch upon the question involved : Proverbs iii. 1 6, 
 "Length of days are in her right hand, riches and honour are 
 in her left," vide Dr. Martini Geieri, "Commentaria inProverbia" 
 (Amsterdam, 1696) ; " Commentarii in Proverbia Salomonis," 
 authore Thoma Cartwrighto (Leyden, 1617); "Commentarie 
 upon the whole Booke of Proverbes of Solomon" (London,
 
 AN INTRODUCTORY ARGUMENT. 59 
 
 Leaving, therefore, the question of whether or no f 58. 
 the science of Cheirosophy is countenanced by Holy Classic autl 
 Writ, let us see what classic and modern writers 
 have given to it their weighty consideration. We all 
 know, of course, the much-quoted lines of Juvenal, Juvenal 
 which have been translated by Dryden : 
 
 " The middle sort, who have not much to spare, 
 
 " To Chiromancer's cheaper art repair, 
 
 " Who clap the pretty palm to make the lines more fair ;" 5 
 
 1596); Schultens [vide Note*, p. 57]; Commentarii in Jobum 
 et Salomonis Proverbia Joannis Merceri" (Amsterdam), 1651. 
 I Samuel xxvi, 18, "What evil is in mine hand," vide Schmidt, 
 "In Librum priorem Samuelis commentarius " (Argentorati, 
 j687). Job xxxiv. 20, " The mighty shall be taken away with- 
 out hand," vide Samuel Cox, "Commentary on the Book of 
 Job" (London, 1880). Habbakuk iii. 4, "God came from 
 Teran ... he had horns coming out of his hands and there 
 was the hiding of his power," vide " Commentarius in Habacu- 
 cum," auctore Theodore Scheltinga (Leyden, 1748) ; William 
 Green, "New Translation of the Book of Habbakuk " (Cam- 
 bridge, 1755). Exodus xiv. 8, "Israel went out with a^high 
 hand," vide "Commentary on the five books of Moses," by 
 Richard, Lord Bishop of Bath and Wells (London, 1694) ; 
 "Commentarius in Pentateuchum Mosis," auctore Cornelio a 
 Lapide (Antwerp, 1714); "Annotations upon the five Books 
 of Moses," by H. Ainsworth (London, 1627); "Joannis 
 Calvini in V Libros Mosis commentarii," 1595 ; Andrew Willet, 
 "Hexapla in Exodum" (London, 1633). Colossians iv. 18, 
 " The salutation by the hand of Paul," vide " A Commentarie 
 of M. J. Calvine upon the Epistle to the Colossians," translated 
 by R. V." (London, 1581). Revelations xiv. 9, "And receive 
 his mark in his forehead, and in his hand," vide M. Stuart, 
 " A Commentary upon the Apocalypse " (Edinburgh, 1858) ; 
 Daubuz, " Commentary on the Revelations" (London, 1720); 
 " Epitome of Commentaries on the Revelations," by Hezekiah 
 Holland (London, 1650). 
 
 44 " Si mediocris erit, spatium lustrabit utrimque 
 " Metarum, et sortes ducet ; frontemque manumque 
 vi Praebebit vati crebrum poppysma roganti." 
 JUVENAL, " Sat.", vi., 581. 
 
 See also the alternative verse and literal translation given in 
 NUTTALL AND STIRLING'S " D. Junii Juvenalis Satirae" 
 (London. 1836).
 
 6O CHEIROSOPHY. 
 
 Aristotle. and we have constantly made reference to Aristotle's 
 frequent citations of the Art during the course of this 
 introductory argument. His work IIEPI ZfiDN 
 MOPIQN [Bi/JA. A'., Ke^.t] especially teems with such 
 references. It is said that Aristotle,, when travelling 
 in ^Egypt, found an Arabic treatise on this science ot 
 the hand, graven in letters of gold, upon an altar 
 dedicated to Hermes, and that he sent it to Alexander, 
 as being a study worthy the attention of the highest 
 sfavants, where it was translated into Latin by one 
 Hispanus. An extremely early MS. of this work is 
 preserved in the British Museum, and I have before 
 me a black letter opusculum of twenty-two leaves 
 [without pagination] entitled, " <JTl)gromantia Sristotelia 
 cum figuris" (Ulme, 1490]. In his " History of 
 Animals " he gives a most interesting description of 
 the various parts of the hand, and calls attention to 
 the fact that those people who have two lines crossing 
 the entire hand are long-lived, whereas those whose 
 hands are not entirely crossed by these two lines are 
 short-lived, referring doubtless, as we shall presently 
 see, to the lines of Head and of Life ; 55 and later he 
 puts a Problem on this very point. 50 
 
 cr 59 4 In any case, whatever may be the antiquity of the 
 
 Production of science, it is interesting and encouraging to know that 
 
 the earliest - _ 
 
 printing press, almost the first book that was printed, even before 
 
 55 ARISTOTLE, IIEPI TA ZOA'ISTOPION, BtjSX- A'., Ke0. U. : 
 " Xeipdj 8t Qtvap, 8d.KTV\oi Trlvre. 8a.Krv\ov 5 rb /ntv Ka.fj.TrrtKbv 
 K6vSv\o$, rb 5' &Ka/j.-!TTOi> <pd\ay. Ad/cruXcs 5' 6 /J.P n^yas /J.OVQ- 
 Koi>dv\os, ol 8' &\\oi SiK6vSv\oi. 'H 8^ va/x^ts ical T$ Ppax'tovt Kai 
 rif. 8aKTU\if> tvrbs iraaw Ka^irrerat Bt fipayi wv Kara rb u\tKpavov. 
 Xfip&s St rb fj.tv tvrbs Otvap, ffapuwSes KO.I Sirtprj^vov ApOpois, TO?S 
 fth naxpofiiois M $ Svffl 81 S\ov, TOIS 8^ ftpaxvpiois Sval /cat ov 81 
 S\ov. "Apdpa 82 x fl P^ Ka ^ fipa-'xiovQ* Kapirus. T6 5^ tw rijs 
 
 wdes KCLI dci6vu / uo'." 
 
 HPOBAHMATQN AA', i : "Atd ri foot rty 8i&x.cip&<: TO^V 
 81 8\r)s, fnaKpo^idtraroi ; 'H St&ri rd &t>apOpa fipaxtfita Kal
 
 AN INTRODUCTORY ARGUMENT. 6 1 
 
 movable types were used, was on the subject of 
 Cheiromancy, that the inestimably valuable "block 
 book," "Die Kunst Ciromantia," written by Hartlieb Hartiieb 
 [whose portrait Miss Horsley has given us as our 
 frontispiece], was written in 1448, and printed at 
 Augsburg in the year I475- 57 
 
 Aristotle was not the only classical author who f 60. 
 recognized the important functions of the hand. Quin- Quu 
 tilian refers to its expressive powers in several places, 
 both as regards the use made of it by deaf and dumb 
 persons, and as regards the multiplicity of things that 
 may be expressed by its means, notably in the pas- 
 sage where he says : " For though many parts of the 
 body assist speech, the hands may be said actually 
 to speak themselves, for do we not with the hands "^^J 
 demand, entreat, call, dismiss, threaten, abhor, fear, 
 interrogate, deny," etc.; M and it is probably from this 
 passage that Montaigne in his " Apologie de Raimond Montaigne. 
 Sebond" derives his celebrated passage : " What 
 about hands ? We request, promise, call, dismiss, 
 threaten, entreat, supplicate, deny, refuse, interrogate, 
 
 *' JOHANN HARTLIEB, " Die Kunst Ciromantia," printed at 
 Augsburg, 1475. 
 
 68 " M. FABU QUINCTILIANI "De Institutione Oralona Libn 
 duodccim " (Oxford, 1693), lib. XL, cap. iii. " De Gestu in Pro- 
 nunciando," p. 578. " Quippe non manus solum sed nutus etinm 
 declarant nostram voluntatem, et in mutis pro sermone sunt," p. 
 581. " Manus vero, sine quibus trunca esset actio ac debilis, 
 vix dici potest quot motus habeant, cum pene ipsam verborum 
 copiam persequantur : nam ceterae partes loquentem adjuvant, 
 hie (prope est ut dicam) ipsae loquuntur. An non his poscimus ? 
 pollicemur? vocamus ? dimittimus ? minamur ? supplicamus ? 
 abominamur? timemus? interrogamus ? negamur? gaudium tri- 
 stitiam, dubitationem, confessionem, prenitentiam, modum, co- 
 piam, numerum, tempus ostendimus? Non eadem concitant? 
 supplicant ? inhibent ? probant ? admirantur ? verecundantur ? 
 Non in demonstrandis locis atque personis.. adverbiorum atque 
 pronominum obtinent vicem ? ut in tanta per omnes gentes 
 nationesque linguae diversitate, hie mihi omnium hominum com- 
 munis sermo videatur, " etc.
 
 62 CHEIROSOPHY. 
 
 admire, numerate, confess, repent, fear, . . . and what 
 not ? we find a variety and multiplication which might 
 well be the envy of the tongue " ; 59 and further on, in 
 the same chapter, he expressly names cheiromancy, 
 giving a few of its indications and adding : " I call you 
 yourself to witness whether with this science a man 
 may not pass with reputation and favour in every 
 company." 60 In France, besides Montaigne, Honore 
 De Balzac, de Balzac has given great attention to the subject. 
 Theophile Gautier calls special attention to the fact 
 in his work, " Honor de Balzac" (Paris, 1860, 
 p. 165), and certainly we find long passages on the 
 science in Balzac's "Come'die Humaine," 61 to which I 
 beg particularly to refer the reader, and in the course of 
 His arguments which he remarks : " To foretell to a man the events 
 for Cheirosophy. o f n i s ijf e ^ f rom tne as p e cts of his hand, is not a thing 
 
 * "Essaisde Montaigne, suivis de sa correspondance et de la 
 servitude volontaire d'Estienne de la Boetie," etc. (Paris, 1854) ; 
 " Apologiede Raimond Sebond,"vol. ii., p. 282, book ii.,ch. xii.: 
 " Quoy des mains ? nous requerons, nous promettons, appelons, 
 congedions, mena9eons, prions, supplions, nions, refusons, inter- 
 rogeons, admirons, nombrons, confessons, repentons, craignons, 
 vergoignons, doubtons, intruisons, commandons, incitons, en- 
 courageons, jurons, tesmoignons, accusons, condamnons, absolvons, 
 injurions, mesprisons, desfions, despitons, flattens, applaudissons, 
 benissons, humilions, mocquons, reconcilions, recommendons, 
 exaltons, festoyons, resjoui'ssons, complaignons, attristons, des- 
 confortons. desesperons, estonnons, escrions, taisons, et quoy non ? 
 d'une variation et multiplication, a 1'envy de la langue." 
 
 " " II ne fault S9avoir que le lieu de Mars loge au milieu du 
 triangle de la main, celuy de Venus au poulce, et de Mercure au 
 petit doigt ; et que quand la mensale coupe le tubercle de Ten- 
 seigneur, c'est signe de cruaute ; quand elle fault soubs le mitoyen 
 et que la moyenne naturelle faict un angle avecques la vitale 
 soubs mesme endroict, que c'est signe d'une mort miserable, etc. 
 Je vous apelle vous mesme a tesmoing, si avecques cette science 
 un homme ne peult passer, avec reputation et faveur, parmy toutes 
 compaignies." OP. CIT., ch. xii., p. 470, vol. ii. 
 
 81 Alphonse Pages, " Pensees de Balzac extraites de la Comedie 
 Humaine " (Paris, 1866), livre v., La Societe ; cap. vi., " Sciences 
 Occultes."
 
 AN INTRODUCTORY ARGUMENT. 63 
 
 more strange for him who has the qualities of a 
 seer, than it is to tell a soldier that he will fight, a 
 cobbler that he will make shoes, or an agriculturist 
 that he will dress and work the soil." And again he 
 says : " Many sciences have issued from the occult 
 ones, and their illustrious discoverers have made only 
 one mistake, which is that they try to reduce to a 
 system isolated examples, of which the creative cause 
 has not yet been able to be analysed." The passages 
 are too long to transcribe [even as notes] in this place; 
 but I warmly recommend them to my readers. It is 
 not necessary to multiply authorities. What I have 
 given above will carry their own weight ; and now, 
 before recapitulating the claims of the science to our 
 consideration, I should like to say a few words on the 
 astrological aspect of the subject 
 
 As to the nomenclature which has been adopted for 
 the mounts, I have explained its object in another place 
 [vide 1[ 371] ; what I wish particularly to notice here 
 are the astrologic explanations which have been, by 
 many writers, advanced for the establishment of the 
 science, with a few words on their arguments in sup- 
 port of the hypothesis, and my own view of the matter. 
 
 Much has been said [though little has been de- f 62. 
 finitely known] for and against the influence of the JJSTi 
 sun, moon, and planets upon the earth and the people earth, 
 inhabiting it. The question seems to turn upon the 
 existence of a connecting link which joins us to them, 
 a connecting fluid, the principal function of which is 
 the transmission of their light and heat to our globe : 
 and this connecting fluid is what is known as cether. .fither. 
 The problem of the existence in all space of a fluid 
 called aether or its non-existence was first enunciated 
 by Zuglichen van Huyghens [nat. 1619, ob. 1693], ^^ 
 who was the first to propound the undulatory as
 
 64 CHEIROSOPHY. 
 
 opposed to the molecular theory of light, which latter 
 was the then generally accepted theory of Newton. 
 Van Huyghens took from the analogy of sound in air 
 and waves in water the idea of the existence in all 
 space of a highly elastic [quasi-solid] fluid, provision- 
 ally termed cether, and started the now well-known 
 Unduiatory and accepted hypothesis that light consists of the pro- 
 
 t eory o ig t. p a g at j on o f waves m this fluid. The hypothesis also 
 
 requires that the vibrating medium should possess 
 
 properties more nearly allied to those of an elastic 
 
 solid than those of a vapour or gas. 
 
 ^[63. These two theories [the undulatory and the mole- 
 
 Th vekTed **' cu ' ar ] were pretty evenly balanced in scientific and 
 Young. popular estimation, until in 1802 Dr. Young, by his 
 discovery of the laws of the interference of light, 
 turned the scale in favour of the undulatory as against 
 Fresnei. the molecular theory. Twelve years later, Fresnel 
 [between 1814 and 1819], in ignorance, it is said, of 
 the labours of Young, " demonstrated to his country- 
 men the error of the Newtonian theory of the 
 propagation of light by the emission of material 
 particles, and ably advocated the undulatory hypo- 
 thesis." 62 This is, I think, all that need be said in 
 proof of a connecting quasi-solid matter or fluid 
 beyond the atmosphere in which the entire solar 
 system floats, a fluid sufficiently ponderable to resist 
 the passage of comets, and consequently of transmitting 
 to us the influences of the moon and stars, influences 
 sufficiently demonstrated by the phenomena of tides, 
 without going into their influence upon certain 
 persons in various conditions of mind and body. 
 
 ** A full account of the discoveries of Fresnel in this connection 
 may be found in the " CEuvres Completes d' Augustin Fresnel, 
 publiees par les soins du Ministre de 1'Instruction Publique " 
 (Paris, 1866), at p. 247 of vol. i. of which will La found No. 
 XIV., " Mdmoire sur la diffraction de la lumiere, couronn^ par 
 I 1 Academic des Sciences, 1819," in which Memoire his studies 
 and their results on this point are fully set forth.
 
 AN INTRODUCTORY ARGUMENT. 65 
 
 " If therefore," says Daubenay, in one of his speeches Q$ 
 before the Royal Society, " the direction of a rod of Daubenay. 
 steel hung a few feet from the earth can, as has been 
 proved by Colonel Sabine, be influenced by the position Co lonel Sabine'i 
 of a body like the moon situate 200,000 miles [mean experiments, 
 distance 238,750 miles] from our planet, who can accuse 
 of extravagance the belief of the ancient astrologers in 
 the influence of planets on the human system ? " And 
 if the heavenly bodies can act through two hundred 
 and odd thousand miles of that connecting fluid or aether, 
 on an inanimate object like a piece of steel, why should 
 they not act, and act so strongly as to influence our 
 whole lives, on so sensitive, so impressionable a sub- 
 stance as that imponderable nerve fluid [vide [[ 49] 
 which is our life, our sense, our very soul ? 
 
 But we are going further than I intended ; the ^ 65. 
 astrologers who laid down the hard-and-fast rule that ***<*asi 
 our existences are directed by the states and positions 
 of the planets at the time of our birth, seem to have 
 passed over the influences of parentage as being im- 
 material, and take into no account the physical effects of 
 the mental and physiological conditions of our progeni- 
 tors. And again, they err who say that all things here- 
 ditary are inevitable for the reason that we do not choose 
 our own parents, because in a manner they are chosen choice of parenti 
 for us ; that is to say, our parentage is pre-ordained, for 
 it is the inevitable and continual march of events which 
 gives us our ancestors, and, as a matter of fact, our 
 parents, the time of our birth, and many of the other 
 influences of our lives are merely the results of th* 
 natural sequence of certain already established facts, lo Sequence of 
 the examination of which the ancient astrologers devoted 
 their lives with such assiduity. Turn, if this seems 
 incomprehensible to you, to the opening lines of 
 Dugald Stewart's immortal work: 63 "All the different Dugald Stewart 
 
 B DUGALD STEWART, " Outlines of Moral Philosophy," 6th 
 d., 1837. 
 
 5
 
 66 CHEIROSOPHY. 
 
 kinds of philosophical inquiry, and all that practical 
 knowledge which guides our conduct in life, pre- 
 suppose such an established order in the succession 
 of events as enables us to form conjectures concern- 
 ing the future from the observation of the past." 
 Philosophy, therefore, aims at ascertaining the esta- 
 blished conjunctions which, in their turn, establish the 
 order of the universe; the result of possible com- 
 binations of future events become known to us by 
 means of those artificial combinations of present cir- 
 cumstances which are known to us by the name of 
 experiments; and as Dugald Stewart, in the same work, 
 has remarked : " Knowledge of the laws of nature is 
 to be attained only by experiment, for there is no 
 actual connection between two events which enable 
 us to form an a priori reasoning. 64 \yide \ 89 and 90.] 
 ^ 66. Herbert Spencer, in his " Study of Sociology " 
 
 Herbert Spencer. [London, 1873], deals very ably and interestingly with 
 this point in his chapter [II.], entitled, " Is there a 
 Social Science," at the end of which he says : " In 
 brief, then, the alternative positions are these. On the 
 Tl rlturai f one hand, if there is no natural causation throughout 
 causation. the actions of incorporated humanity, government and 
 legislation are absurd. Acts of Parliament may, as 
 well as not, be made to depend on the drawing of lots 
 or the tossing of a coin ; or rather, there may as well 
 be none at all ; social sequences having no ascertain- 
 able order, no effect can be counted upon ; everything 
 is chaotic. On the other hand, */ there is natural 
 causation^ then the combination of forces by which 
 
 64 Balzac says on this point : " Que certains etres aient le 
 pouvoir d'apercevoir les fails a venir dans le germe des causes, 
 comme le grand inventeur ape^oit une Industrie, une science, dans 
 un effet naturel inapercu du vulgaire ; ce n'est plus une de ces 
 violentes exceptions qui font rumeur, c'est 1'effet d'une faculte re- 
 conntte, etqui serait en quelque sorte le sonnambulisme de 1'esprit. 
 Si done cette proposition, sur laquelle reposent les differentes 
 jpanieres de dechiffrer 1'avenir, semble absurde, le fait est 14."
 
 AN INTRODUCTORY ARGUMENT. 67 
 
 every combination of effects is produced, produces 
 that combination of effects in conformity with the laws 
 of the forces. And if so, it behoves us to use all dili- 
 gence in ascertaining what the forces are, what are their 
 laws, and what are the ways in which they co-operate" 
 
 Thus, therefore, it is not in any way absurd to study . 
 
 the atmospheric, the meteorologic, or, if you will have Natal influen c 
 it so, the astrologic conditions under which a man is 
 born, and under which his parents have lived, in 
 making a probable forecast of the tendencies and even 
 of the events which will signalize his life; but in all, and 
 through all, we must bear in mind the thought which 
 Desbarrolles has embodied in this striking sentence : Desbarroi'.a. 
 " The influence of the planets is incontestable ; but 
 what is still more incontestable is the universal and 
 all-powerful action of a Being supremely pre-eminent, 
 who rules and governs the stars, the heavens, the 
 visible and the invisible worlds, unlimited space, and 
 the immensity of the universe. This Being, whom 
 our dazzled reason cannot conceive, this Being whom 
 our reason adores, but to whom it dares not give a 
 name, has been named by mortals God." 65 
 
 The astrologic cheiromant lays down as an axiom - 
 that the lines and formations which exist in a hand at Astral lines. 
 the moment of birth are purely astral, are produced 
 by the influences of planets which have been at work 
 up to that moment, and that it is the action of the 
 brain-development which modifies them afterwards. 
 The physiological cheiromant, on the other hand [and 
 
 65 ADRIEN DESBARROLLES : " Les influences des astres sont 
 incontestables ; mais ce qui est plus incontestable encore, c'est 
 1'action universelle et tout-puissante d'un etre eminemment 
 superieur, qui re"git les astres, les cieux, les mondes visibles, les 
 mondes invisibles, les espaces sans bornes, 1'immensite ! Get 
 etre, que notre raison eblouie ne peut concevoir, cet 6tre qu'elle 
 adore et auquel elle n'ose donner un nom, les hommes 1'ont 
 appele Dieu." " Les Mysteres de la Main, re've'les et expliques ' 
 (Paris, 1859).
 
 68 CHEIROSOPHY. 
 
 to this opinion I incline myself], considers rather that 
 the tendencies of a man's nature are the result of his 
 ante-natal and ancestral circumstances, that it is these 
 tendencies that mould the formations of his hands, and 
 that the events and characteristics of his life may be ex- 
 plained and foretold oy a careful study of those causes 
 [i.e., those tendencies] based upon experiences which, 
 in these cases, do duty for experiments. 
 
 The whole question, therefore, of the astral inftu- 
 
 ultimate ences, with regard to the science of Cheirosophy, 
 proximate cause, resolves itself into a consideration of the ultimate and 
 proximate cause, and my view of the case is this : 
 Let us firmly establish and recognise the proximate 
 cause [i.e., the physical conditions and ante-natal 
 circumstances of man], before we begin to search 
 for the ultimate cause, [i.e., the forces and influences 
 which have caused those physical conditions and 
 ante-natal circumstances] ; let us fully understand 
 our physical position, before we soar away into 
 speculations [for mere speculations they must be] as 
 to our psychical position : to my mind, the main 
 obstacle to the proper elucidation of such problems 
 as these, is nothing more or less than the fact that 
 investigators are ever prone to attempt to explain 
 psychical problems [which depend naturally upon 
 physical ones], before they have thoroughly examined 
 the physical conditions which must lead to that ex- 
 planation. This, then, is my position as regards 
 astrology in connection with Cheirosophy : let us 
 clearly understand, what is clearly capable of com- 
 prehension, before we speculate on ultimate causes, 
 concerning which we can, in our present condition, 
 and with our present means of information, know 
 little or nothing. Let us wait and study patiently : 
 Alexandra "La Chiromancie," says Alexandre Dumas fils, " sera un 
 
 mas fiu g ramma ; re de 1'organisation humaine,"
 
 AN INTRODUCTORY ARGUMENT. 69 
 
 We reach now the final, [and perhaps the most f 70. 
 important] point of this argument. I wish to conclude Final "S"" 
 as briefly as possible [for my arguments have un- 
 consciously been extended] with a few of the 
 considerations connected with the actual science of 
 Cheirosophy, which entitle it to the most careful and 
 universal study ; which fully demonstrate the value 
 of its indications, and which establish its claims to 
 rank as an exact science : my principal difficulty 
 will be to confine myself to a statement of the more 
 important points, so as to avoid losing the point of 
 my argument, in the diffuseness of its treatment. 
 
 And, firstly, let me deal with that branch of argu- f 71. 
 ment, which ridicules the idea of seeking in the human ,^3L. 
 hand the indications of the human character. \Videpost 
 IfH 7 8 * and 96.] There are but few people who will 
 disagree with me at the outset, if I lay down the pro- 
 position, that no two characters are absolutely identical, 
 any more than two faces, or two methods and manners 
 of speech are so. Bearing this in mind, it is inter- 
 esting and pertinent to note that no pair of hands 
 are exactly alike : indeed, we may go further and 
 say that it is impossible to find two pairs of hands 
 which do not exhibit very striking and plainly marked 
 differences, both as regards their forms and shapes, 
 and as regards the markings found therein. 66 
 
 The Chinese have a system of divination by f 72. 
 the examination of the impression left by the ball w^ 
 of the thumb upon a piece of soft wax, or from the The ciuncc. 
 oval figure which may be traced from it upon a piece 
 of paper, using the thumb as a die, and daubing it 
 with ink. It is a matter of common knowledge that 
 the spiral and convoluted figures, produced by any 
 
 * "II y a autant de diversite et de dissemblance entre le< 
 formes des mains, qu'il y en a entre les Physionomies " T. C. 
 LAVATER, " L'Art de connaitre les hommes par la 
 mie" (Paris, 1806), vol. ill, p. I.
 
 7O CHEIROSOPHY. 
 
 unlimited number of thumbs, will all present some 
 
 difference one from another. It is true that, as 
 
 Aristotle. Aristotle says : " In some animals there is a mutual 
 
 resemblance in all their parts ; as, the eye of any one 
 
 Homogeneity, man resembles [in construction] the eye of every 
 other man ; for in individuals of the same species, 
 each part resembles its correspondent part, as much 
 as the whole resembles the whole ; " G7 and so it is of 
 the hand, i.e., every hand resembles its fellows in that 
 [barring the cases of deformities] it has a thumb, four 
 fingers, a palm, and so on ; but the composition and 
 formation of those parts of the member, differ invari- 
 ably, and ad infinitum; and here we have two most 
 Vnatogy between pertinent and leading facts, that, like as all dispositions 
 hands. are different, so all hands are different; and who 
 shall accuse of absurdity the proposition, that these 
 two facts may bear a very close relationship to one 
 another? And, as we have seen that the arrange- 
 ments of veins and nerves in a hand vary indefinitely 
 [vide * 38], may not the constitutional [the construc- 
 tional] variations thereby indicated be the first step 
 towards the explanation of those differences of 
 character, which trace themselves at the point where 
 the actual mechanical arrangement shows the greatest 
 variation, and that is in the hand ? 
 1 73. From the paw of a dog, you can tell what sort of 
 
 bC aspects! y cnase ne w i'l be most useful for ; from the shape of 
 a horse's hoof, you can tell his breed, and the kind of 
 work to which he is best adapted. Why, therefore, 
 should we not be able to tell from the hand of man 
 what are his principal occupations, and the consequent 
 tendencies of his nature ? To carry this argument a 
 
 67 ARISTOTLE, IIEPI TA ZflA'ISTOPION, BiX. d., Ke0.. d: 
 " "Ex S r&v fyaw fvia fj.ii> irdvra TO. fj.opia r'avra aXXfaots^via. 
 6 Hrepa.. T'ai/rd 5 rd. p.tv eiSet rGiv fj.opiwv fcrrlv, olov (nvdpdoTrov 
 pis teal 6<t>0a\fibs &v9pwTrov pivl Kal 6<pOd\/jiy, Kal (rapid ff&pi;, Kal 
 6ffrt$ darouv 6/j.otus yap &oirtp rb 8\ov ?x et T^ T!) S\ov, KO.I rCiv 
 unolt'iv l\n fKaarnv rpos f/ccurrop.
 
 AN INTRODUCTORY ARGUMENT. 
 
 little further, let us remember Sir Charles Bell's sir c. Bell 
 most interesting disquisition on the identification of 
 bones ; and his account of how from a chance frag- The idemifi- 
 ment of bone the zoologist can re-construct an entire catlon of bon " Sl 
 animal, beginning by its formation and consistency 
 [whereon vide ^[ 36], which betray the habits of 
 the animal ; the shapes of the jointures, and pro- 
 cesses, whereby we learn the use of the limb of 
 which it formed part ; and thence onward to the 
 manner of obtaining nutriment and its nature, from 
 which data the entire habits of the animal may be 
 accurately ascertained. Why, therefore, should we 
 not be able, as it" were, to " re-construct " the MAN, 
 his habits, and his characteristics, from the examina- 
 tion of the HAND, the prime agent of his character, and 
 of his will ? As D'Arpentigny says : " What shall we D'Arpentigny 
 think of the Indian law, which obliges a son to follow 
 the profession of his father : is it not evident that 
 the legislature would have done better in ordaining that 
 men whose hands were similar, that is to say, whose 
 instruments were the same, should devote themselves 
 to the same labours ? " 
 
 Let us carry this illustration yet further : a farmer 
 sees furrows in a field ; if he is an intelligent man and 
 knows his business, he can tell not only that a plough 
 caused them, but he can tell what kind of plough and 
 how it was used. In like manner can the Cheiroso- 
 phist interpret the meanings, with their causes, of the 
 lines, the furrows which are traced upon the human 
 hand. By use an organ becomes developed, by non- 
 use it becomes feeble and enervated [vide again ^[ 36]. 
 This is a truism, but it is germane to our subject, for 
 from the development of the hand we find out what 
 its use has been. 
 
 Now it is constantly flung at the student of Cheiro- 
 sophy that the lines and formations are merely caused 
 mechanically by the folding of the hands, and bv th^ 
 
 174. 
 
 Illustration.
 
 72 CHEIROSOPHY. 
 
 use which their owners make of them, and that the 
 more the hands are used, the greater the number of 
 lines which will be apparent in them ; but this is 
 Contradictions, directly contradicted by the fad that the hands of the 
 labouring classes are, with the exception of the 
 principal lines, almost devoid of any markings whatso- 
 ever, whereas those people whose hands have hardly 
 any rough work to do at all [especially those of women 
 of leisure, who never work with their hands] are 
 nearly always covered with a perfect network of lines. 
 Not using their hands in active employments, the 
 brain develops an increased activity of the hands, 
 whereby the lines become traced, and has more time 
 to cause its impressions to become written on the 
 most sensitive surface that it can find, and with which 
 it is the most intimately connected, and that is in the 
 HAND. I have often wondered how people who cling 
 to the " folding " argument, would account for two facts 
 which they seem utterly to ignore. Firstly, what pro- 
 Lines at points duces the lines which we find at points where no folding 
 
 of no flexion. , -\_-\-L t i i j- 
 
 ever by any possibility can take place m a direction 
 which would produce the lines we find at these points ? 
 Lines so placed, not being produced by any mechanical 
 cause which is immediately apparent to these arguers, 
 must of necessity mean something even to them, 
 for it is one of the first rules of Ethics, that God 
 and Nature do nothing without a purpose. "Dens 
 et Nalura ttiliil efficiunt frusfra." And secondly, how 
 do they account for the fact that we find lines traced 
 deeply and clearly [more so very often than at a later 
 Lines in the age] in the hands of children at the moment of their 
 
 hamh of infants. , ., o T i. i- ..i i i r i-u 
 
 birth ? I have seen lines in the hands of a child 
 only a few hours old, which have entirely altered 
 within the first few months or years of its life ; 
 this is a circumstance which is strenuously put for- 
 ward by the astrological Cheiromants in support of 
 their views, but which, to my mind, is accounted
 
 AN INTRODUCTORY ARGUMENT. 7$ 
 
 for in the manner I have described in another place 
 [IT 65]. Mr. Ebule-Evans has said on this point in Ebule-Evans. 
 the pages of St. Paul's Magazine [vol. xiii., p. 
 332], " True, the proximate cause of these lines is 
 the various motions of the hands; but what gave 
 your hands these particular varieties of motion ? Is it 
 not as easy [and much more natural] for fate to guide 
 the motions of your hand, so that its lines, rightly 
 interpreted, shall exactly represent your career, as it 
 would be to stamp these lines in an arbitrary posi- 
 tion on your chest, as men impress the image of a 
 cow on butter ? And yet were the latter done, science 
 would have an objection the less to urge ! " 
 
 Every type of hand [vide If H 155 and 164] has cer- f 76. 
 tain characteristics which may be altered or modified Mod |^^ n 
 by forcing it to a labour entirely opposed to the in- 
 clination or talent of which it is the indication, but no 
 work can obliterate, far less alter, the original shape and 
 formations of a hand. It is only natural, and indeed 
 it is inevitable that a hand should betray the occupation 
 of a body or mind, more than anything else; this 
 obvious axiom seems to have struck Honore de Balzac, 
 when he makes the remarks quoted in ^[ 60, p. 62. 
 
 There are some who have not the courage utterly f77. 
 to deny that Cheirosophy is entitled to rank as an sceptics, 
 exact science, and who compromise by saying that it 
 is the " shadow of a truth ; " I would submit in reply 
 that from its shadow the form of any object may be 
 ascertained and determined in its entirety, and that 
 the phrase is bad from a comminatory point of 
 view, because it places Cheirosophy in the position 
 of an interpreting diagram, which is as it were the 
 reflection of Nature. 
 
 Again, many of the " half-way " sceptics will say, ^f 78. 
 "We can believe in Phrenology and Physiognomy, P phj."^y d 
 but not in this." A moment's reflection will cause us Their superiority 
 
 , over Cheiro- 
 
 to remember and appreciate the circumstance tnat, as ^y discussed
 
 74 CHEIROSOPHY. 
 
 regards physiognomy, the expression of the face can 
 be varied at will, and by constant attention the features 
 may be permanently set into an entirely misleading 
 expression ; but the hand, no ; the hand cannot be 
 altered, be the effort to do so ever so strong. " For 
 n >gny- t ^ e h ant j nas jj- s physiognomy like the face, only, as 
 this particular physiognomy reflects only the immov- 
 able basis of the intelligence, it has all the immobility 
 of a material symbol. Mirror of the sensations of the 
 soul, of the heart, of the senses, and of the spirit, the 
 physiognomy of the face has all the charms of variety ; 
 but, as to a certain extent, it may be dominated by the 
 will ; nothing can guarantee to us the truth of its 
 revelations, whilst the hand preserves invariably the 
 same expression, whatever it may be, of our natural 
 be Balzac, bent ; " 68 and Balzac, in the work I have recently 
 quoted, has been struck by the same thing; for he 
 says : " We acquire the faculty of imposing silence 
 upon our lips, upon our eyes, upon our eyebrows, and 
 upon our forehead; the hand does not dissemble, and no 
 feature is more expressive than the hand. 69 The hand 
 has a thousand ways of being dry, moist, burning, icy, 
 soft, hard, unctuous, it palpitates, it perspires, it 
 hardens, it softens. In fact, it presents an inexplicable 
 phenomenon that one is tempted to name the incarna- 
 
 w D'ARPENTIGNY, "La Science de la Main" (Paris, 1865), 
 p. 94. 
 
 !a The physiognomist Lavater, in the work I have already 
 quoted, Note 6 * ) p. 69, continues the passage I have there 
 noticed by saying : " La mam est . . . un object de la 
 physionomie, un objet d'autant plus significatif, et d'autant plus 
 irappant parce-que la main ne peut pas dissimuler, et que sa 
 mobilite le trahit a chaque instant. Je dis qu'elle ne peut pas 
 dissimuler, car 1'hypocrite le plus raffine, le fourbe le plus exerce, 
 ne saurait alterer ni la forme, ni les contours, ni les proportions, 
 ni les muscles de sa main, ou seulement d'une section de sa main ; 
 il ne saurait la soustraire aux yeux de 1'observatcur qu'en la 
 ' cachant tout-a- fait,"
 
 AN INTRODUCTORY ARGUMENT. 
 
 75 
 
 tion of thought. ... In all ages sorcerers have tried to 
 read our destiny in the lines which are in no way 
 fantastic or meaningless, and which correspond with 
 the principles of the life and of the character." And 
 we may here call attention to the point, and I have 
 noticed it in another place [If 108] that the Cheiro- 
 gnomy, the shapes of a hand, are very frequently 
 hereditary, whilst the lines of the palm become 
 traced by the other and more exterior influences to 
 which I have already alluded. Then, as regards the 
 superiority of phrenology, here again I beg leave to 
 differ ; by calling attention to the points that in that 
 science it is very easy to mistake the position of a 
 bump, or to ascribe to it an erroneous signification by 
 reason of its displacement, and that by reason of the 
 growth of the hair it is difficult to put into practice, 
 and indeed, cannot be exercised without the consent 
 of the subject, whereas in Cheirosophy the positions 
 of the formations are much more clearly defined, and 
 every displacement of a line r mount carries with 
 it its own particular signification, whilst it can be put 
 into operation without the consent or even the know- 
 ledge of the subject of your scrutiny. 
 
 " It is the word ' absurd ' " (says Balzac), " which 
 condemned steam, which condemns to-day aerial navi- 
 gation, which condemned the inventions of gunpowder, 
 of printing, of spectacles, of engraving, and the more 
 recent discovery of photography. . . . Very well then, 
 if God has traced for certain clear-sighted beings the 
 destiny and character of every man in his physio- 
 gnomy [taking this word to mean the whole expression 
 of the body], why should not the hand resume in itself 
 the whole of the science of physiognomy, seeing that 
 the hand represents human action in its entirety, and 
 its only mode of manifesting itself? And thus we 
 attain to Cheiromancy." [" Comedie Humaine," book 
 V., cap. vi.] 
 
 Heredity of 
 Cheirognomy. 
 
 f W. 
 
 Ridicule. 
 fe Balzac.
 
 76 CHEIROSOPHY. 
 
 It must not, however, be thought that I object, in 
 Value of sceptic fae slightest degree, to the scepticism with which the 
 
 arguments. . 
 
 science is frequently received ; on the contrary, the 
 sceptic acts towards Cheirosophy in the relation that 
 darkness bears to light, i.e., it brings it into prominence, 
 and, indeed, is the main evidence of its existence ; for, 
 as without shadow, light could not be proved to exist, 
 so without scepticism the truths of Cheirosophy 
 would be lost in the unquestioned presence of their 
 evident and eminent reality. 
 
 [80. In all my arguments on this science I have strenu- 
 
 Evils of ously endeavoured to avoid that irritation and impa- 
 
 tmpatience in _ 
 
 argument. tience which is too often the inseparable concomitant 
 of argument. "Along with the irrational hope so con- 
 spicuously shown by every party having a new project 
 for the furtherance of human welfare, there habitually 
 goes this irrational irritation in the presence of stern 
 truths which negative sanguine anticipations. Be it 
 . . . some plan for reforming men by teaching ; . . . 
 anything like calm consideration of probabilities as 
 estimated from experience is excluded by this eager- 
 ness for an immediate result ; and, instead of submis- 
 sion to the necessities of things, there comes vexation, 
 felt, if not expressed, against them, or against those 
 who point them out, or against both." 70 I have 
 laboured to avoid this fault by courting adverse 
 criticism with a thankful appreciation of its value. 
 
 ^[81. Some persons there are who actually look upon the 
 
 ^k^*sj>f science as something wicked and uncanny, averring 
 that it is not to be permitted to presumptuous man 
 to read the secrets of the Most High. 
 
 rg2 That such a line of argument should be taken up by 
 
 Degeneration of even the most narrow-minded sectarians, can only 
 
 the science. . - 
 
 result from the evil repute into which the science at 
 one time undoubtedly fell, a state of things which 
 
 " HERBERT SPENCER, " Study of Sociology " (London, 1873), 
 chap, vii., " Emotional Subjective Difficulties."
 
 AN INTRODUCTORY ARGUMENT. 
 
 77 
 
 called forth from Ferrand the expostulation, I might j. Ferrand. 
 almost say the " Cheiromantiad," with which I have 
 headed the Introduction to a former work : 72 " This 
 art of Chiromancy hath been so strangely infected 
 with superstition, deceit, cheating, and (if I durst 
 say so), with magic also, that the Canonists, and 
 of late years Pope Sixtus Quintus, have been con- 
 strained utterly to condemn it; so that now no man pro- 
 fesseth publicly this cheating art, but theeves, rogues, 
 and beggarly rascals, which are now everywhere 
 knowne by the name of Bohemians, Egyptians, and 
 Caramaras, who have arrived in Europe since the 
 year 1417, such as G. Dupreau, Albert Krantz, and 
 Polydore Vergil." 
 
 To those who would say, in the words of the 
 Hierophant in the Zauberflote [Act I., Sc. xvi.] : 
 
 " Wo willst du kiihner Fremdling bin ? 
 Was suchst da hier im Heiligthum ? " 
 
 I answer that the Book of Nature is open to all men 
 to read, but that Nature imposes the necessity of 
 assiduous study, before she will surrender the secrets 
 she has veiled, with a not impenetrable cloud of 
 obscurity. If this is not so, why has she marked the 
 past, the present, and the future on the hands of 
 man, who, if he will devote himself to the study, 
 may read them ? Why has she marked indelibly and 
 unalterably upon the hands of the hypocrite his 
 real character, which, written on his head or face, 
 he may conceal by the growth of his hair, or the 
 distortion of his features ? 
 
 Other theological enemies of the science aver, by 
 
 ED. HERON-ALLEN, " Codex Chiromantiae " (Odd Volumes 
 Opuscula : No. VII.), London, 1883. 
 
 JACQUES FERRAND, " De la Maladie d' Amour, ou Mel 
 cholie Erotique " (Paris 1623), ch. x*ii., p. 134- English trans- 
 lation: "Erotomania; or, Love Melancholy" (London, 1040), 
 
 p. 173- 
 
 C84 
 
 Atheism.
 
 78 CIIEIROSOPHY. 
 
 what mode of reasoning I know not, that Cheirosophy 
 argues a disbelief in the existence of a Deity, and of a 
 future state ; on the contrary, it constantly brings before 
 the student the evidences of an all-powerful Agency, 
 and constantly directs his thoughts, both to the imme- 
 diate future, which concerns us all so nearly, and to 
 the ultimate future, which should concern us still more. 
 Desban-olles As Desbarrolles has said, at p. 484 of his magnum 
 opus : 72a "They wish to impede the progress of Cheiro- 
 mancy, under the pretext that it is wrong to go beyond 
 the limits of natural knowledge ; but do not spectacles, 
 which restore to the sight the vigour of youth, tres- 
 pass beyond the limits of nature ? must they, on that 
 account, be proscribed ? and microscopes, which make 
 visible the invisible ? and telescopes, which reveal the 
 nature of the heavens ? " [vide If 78a .] 
 
 I do not deny that there is a painful side to the 
 
 Painful duties of science . that the knowledge which we obtain is often 
 
 the science. 
 
 terrible and saddening, betraying the faults and the 
 misfortunes of our friends, as well as our own, and 
 often dissipating our most fondly-cherished illusions ; 
 but who dares to deny the inestimable value of the 
 Parallel to science ? The astronomer, in the observatory, predicts 
 astronomy* a storm ^ t h e means whereby the sailor's life may be 
 endangered [not his certain death], and the sailor 
 does not embark ; a few days or hours later the 
 storm supervenes, and the sailor's life is not wasted. 
 So the Cheirosophist predicts a blow by the observation 
 of the tendencies which will bring about a misfortune ; 
 the subject takes steps to escape it, and the blow 
 falls harmless. Aristotle spoke truly when he said, 
 " Homo sapiens dominabitur asfris." The astronomer 
 warns by the promptings of astrology, the influence 
 of the heavenly bodies upon the earth ; the astro- 
 logical Cheiromant will tell us that he also warns 
 
 " ADRIEN DESBARROLLES, "Mysteresde la Main." Revela- 
 tions completes. Suite et Fin (Paris, 1879),
 
 AN INTRODUCTORY ARGUMENT. 79 
 
 by astrology, as the basis of the science [vide 1168]; and 
 
 it is Cheirosophy which, thus based upon the highest 
 
 natural influences, finds out our natural tendencies 
 
 and the influences under which we principally are, 
 
 and enables us to see in ourselves and others the 
 
 rules by which the life, the actions, and the destiny 
 
 are governed. And Cheirosophy, thus based upon Effects of 
 
 astrology [if you will have it so], physiology, and Cheirosophy. 
 
 ethics, gives to youth the experience and foresight of 
 
 age, endows all men, who will study it, with that 
 
 prescience which, under the name of intuitive faculty, 
 
 is the cherished possession of so few, and enunciates 
 
 and solves the problem of " Know thyself." 
 
 TNQ0I 2EAYTON. 
 Again, it reveals the natural aptitude of the young T 8 ^- 
 
 ,, . ,.., .... Indications ID 
 
 mind, and points out the walk m life to which it is you th. 
 most adapted 73 ; it points out the obstacles which 
 beset the life, and how to avoid them ; it is the pilot, 
 which will, if properly consulted and obeyed, take us 
 through the shoals of human tendencies ; and thus 
 the science once proscribed, but now divested of its 
 deceit, its mystery, and its charlatanry, shines forth 
 with the radiance of a pure science, courting the 
 daylight of scientific investigation, the tests of adverse 
 criticism, time, and fanatic opposition, and the concen- 
 trated attention of all reasoning beings. 
 
 The writer in St. PauFs Magazine whom I have ,t 8 J- 
 
 Ebule-Evans 
 
 before quoted, remarks m connection with this argument*. 
 
 73 " Mais combien est petit le nombre des jeunes gens auxquels 
 il arrive d'etre divines assez a temps pour etre bien diriges ! et 
 combien aussi est petit le nombre des precepteurs qui consentent, 
 abdiquant tout systeme exclusif, a adopter un systeme a part 
 pour chaque genie a part. Ce ne serait pas trop attendre de la 
 sollicitude d'un pere, mais cet effort [et il faudrait le ranger 
 parmi les plus genereux] sera toujours au-dessus de la sollicitude 
 venale d'un etranger." D'ARPENTIGNY. 
 
 " A. EBULE-EVANS, St. Paufs Magazine, vol. xiii., p. 332, 
 " Chiromancy."
 
 80 CHEIROSOPIIY. 
 
 science: "It is as unscientific to gauge the 
 credibility of moral phenomena by physical tests as 
 it would be to attempt to demonstrate physical 
 phenomena by arguments drawn from the region of 
 moral speculation . . . the logical lesson to be learnt 
 from this is, Study them more closely, and endeavour 
 to get at their explanation ; the scientific conclusion 
 actually drawn is, We cannot explain them, ergo they 
 are all humbug ! I venture to say that this conclusion 
 will satisfy those alone who have never studied the 
 history of science, and who are, therefore, not aware 
 that every addition to our knowledge has been made 
 in the teeth of scientific opposition." It seems to me 
 to be a very easily conceivable thing to realize that 
 all these indications are brought about by what we may 
 impression ca ^> ^ or * ne sa ^ e f definition, " Currents of Impression," 
 by the agency of the highly sensitive nerve fluid to 
 which I have referred at length, which comes directly 
 from the brain, and is amassed in the greatest quantity 
 in the palm of the hand. Now, this constant passing 
 action of a fluid endued with this great power must of 
 necessity act upon the delicate tissues in which it 
 works, just as the continued drop of water, or the 
 constantly recurring footstep wears away the hardest 
 granite ; and, knowing that this powerful agency is 
 incessantly at work in the exquisitely sensitive palm 
 of the hand, which is [as my whole argument has 
 continued to show] the most important auxiliary of 
 the sense of touch, is it rational to say that the lines 
 there found are the result of "accident," and that 
 Omnipotent Nature [which " does nothing in vain"] 
 does not direct or control the clearly designated 
 features of her most sensitive organ ? 
 
 If 88. It is often considered the leading argument on the 
 
 charlatanry of the science, that the Cheirosophist 
 claims to predict a future malady, and even the time 
 of the death of the subject whose hand he holds in
 
 AN INTRODUCTORY ARGUMENT. 8 1 
 
 his own ; but a moment's rational thought will bring 
 
 the conviction that this is no charlatanry or empty 
 
 arrogation of power. It must be acknowledged that 
 
 in every system there must lurk the germ of the Germs of 
 
 disease which will ultimately supervene, and which dlseases> 
 
 may prove fatal ; at a greater or less distance of time 
 
 possibly, but still there it exists, and, as it is destined 
 
 to play so important a role in the history of one's life, 
 
 the Omniscient Soul must be aware of it, though its 
 
 knowledge may be unconscious, or rather, I would 
 
 prefer to say, supra-conscious; and imperceptibly 
 
 this knowledge becomes more and more strongly 
 
 developed till the malady supervenes, and passes away, 
 
 leaving its trace behind, or, carrying us to that bourne 
 
 whence no traveller returns : and, as of a line which is 
 
 destined to appear, the root must necessarily exist "Line-roots. 
 
 already in the hand, it is the study of the Cheirosophist 
 
 to discover that root, and predict the time of its full 
 
 development and its probable effects. Who shall deny 
 
 the presumption that the germs of a future disease 
 
 produce certain effects upon the nerve fluid which 
 
 direct the manner in which it works in the arrangement 
 
 of the tactile corpuscles [vide IF 47] to produce the 
 
 lines in our hands ? 
 
 That the tendencies of our natures combined with f 89. 
 other circumstances of our lives, shown by the Tendencies 
 examination of our hands, are such as will lead, * LuhL l 
 if unchecked, to certain specified results; that these 
 things are, there is no possibility of denial, and it is 
 the duty of the Cheiromant to point out those ends to 
 which he sees an existence tending ; but be it most 
 distinctly understood [and on this I cannot lay too 
 much stress] that the science of Cheirosophy never 
 pretends to say, " What is written shall be," only this, Non-fataiism 
 that it possesses the power of warning us of events of the sc ' tea ^- 
 which, unless controlled, will come to pass, to the end 
 that, the warning being given and accepted, the subject 
 
 6
 
 82 CHEIROSOPIIY. 
 
 under examination may so bridle himself as to obviate 
 the results [if bad] which will in all probability 
 supervene if permitted so to do. 75 Thus the Cheiro- 
 I-emosthenes on sophist can say with Demosthenes : " You need not 
 pry into the future ; but assure yourselves it will be 
 disastrous unless you attend to your duty, and are 
 willing to act as becomes you." " 6 
 
 1 90. The whole question of prediction turns, as will be 
 
 r ' turc> seen, on this question of the doctrine which lays down 
 the proposition that the future is the result of the 
 present, and that the result of present circumstances 
 [i.e., the future] may be foreseen by minds specially 
 trained to the minute analysis that this requires. It 
 turns also on the question whether the future exists 
 or not, that is to say, does " the middle of next week " 
 exist at this moment, or does it only come into actual 
 existence as the time comes round ; if it does not 
 exist [i.e., if we could be suddenly projected " into 
 the middle of next week," and were to find chaos, 
 nothing (if such a state is remotely conceivable)], then 
 it is simply manufactured by present events, and is at 
 
 74 Balzac on this point says : " Remarquez que predire les 
 gros evenements de Tavenir n'est pas pour le voyant un tour de 
 force plus extraordinaire que celui de deviner le passe. Le 
 passe, 1'avenir sont egalement impossibles a savoir, dans le 
 systeme des incredules. Si les evenements accomplis ont laisse 
 des traces, il est vraisemhlable d'imaginer que les evenements <J 
 venir ont leurs ratines [v. sup.]. Des qu'un diseur de bonne 
 aventure vous explique minutieusement les fails connus de vous 
 seul dans votre vie anterieure, il peut vous dire les evenements 
 que produiront les causes existantes. Dans le monde naturel les 
 memes effets s'y doivent retrouver avec les differences propres a 
 leurs divers milieux." 
 
 " Ou yap &TTO. TTOT' toreu Set ffKoireiv, d\X' Sri $aC\' &v p.)) 
 vpo<rix'n Te > T0 ' s irp6.yfj.affi, rbv vow Kal rd. irpoffrjKOvra iroifiv 
 M\IIT', (Z ftSirai." AHM020ENOTS KATA 4>IAinnOT. A'. 
 And again : EtVJ rolvvv rivls ot rdr' (t\iyx fl> ' rov ifapi^vra 
 otovrai eireidai> (pUTTrjffuffi, rl otv yfi] iroitlv ; oh iyu p.lv rb 
 SiKatoTarov Ka.1 &\ir)6t<TTO.TOV TOVTO dirvKptvovfiai ravra f*.r) voifiv 
 TON EN XEP20NH20 (38).
 
 AN INTRODUCTORY ARGUMENT. 83 
 
 the present moment in the process of manufacture, and 
 the task of the seer is greatly simplified, for he can so 
 direct present circumstances as to evolve a certain 
 future ; but if, as is more likely the case, the future is 
 pre-existent as the flight of swallows, the variations of 
 the barometer, and the premonitory symptoms of 
 disease would indicate, the task of the cheirosophist 
 becomes more complicated, for whatever shall be, now 
 ts ; and it is his apparently marvellous task to raise a 
 powerful presumption of its exact nature. " Our 
 thoughts," says Professor Owen, " are free to soar as Owen, 
 far as any legitimate analogy may seem to guide them 
 rightly in the boundless ocean of unknown truth ! " 77 
 
 It is in dealing with future events and their ^jf91. 
 traditional signs that the Cheirosophist finds the Tr ^ na) 
 greatest difficulty and room for the greatest doubt. 
 Thus, in the case of sudden deaths and unforeseen 
 calamities, we cannot satisfactorily account for the 
 signs which predict them ; but it is a fact that 
 certain traditional signs are accepted by the 
 schools of Cheirosophy to indicate certain unfore- 
 seen occurrences, and until they shall fail to 
 predict correctly, we must accept them and retain 
 them, but use them and cite them warily and dis- 
 creetly. Cardan remarked that of forty-five persons Cardan, 
 to whom Barthelemy Codes had predicted a sudden Codes, 
 death, only two failed to fulfil his prediction. 78 M. 
 Desbarrolles, in the introduction to the i5th edition 
 of his work already cited [note w , p. 67], says on this 
 point : " I warn the reader that of the ancient Cheiro- Desbaniie& 
 mancy, and particularly of the prophetic nonsense 
 
 " Professor Sir RICHARD OWEN, Op. cit., p. 83. 
 
 78 BARTHOLOM^EUS COCLES, " Chyromantie ac Physiognomic 
 Anastasis," etc., 1503, fol. Bartholomsei Coclitis "Physiogno- 
 miae et Chiromantise compendium" (Argentorati) 1533 [1534, 
 1554, and 1555]. "Le Compendion et brief enseignment de 
 Physiognomic et Chiromancie " de B. Codes (Paris, 1550).
 
 84 CHEIROSOPHY. 
 
 of the sixteenth century, I have only retained certain 
 signs which, repeated by all authorities, deserved some 
 consideration ; I have found them to be correct, and I 
 have adopted them ; but I must add that since the first 
 edition of my book [now some ten years since] I have 
 not found, in the innumerable applications I have 
 made of them, a single instance in which I could 
 recognize their exactness." And, in his larger and later 
 work, he continues, " It is good to seek for the meanings 
 of popular traditions; there is always evidence of a 
 something which has preserved the idea from oblivion. 
 Good sense is often hidden beneath the cloak of folly, 
 and the people gather them together; but adepts 
 should apply themselves to the separation of the 
 D'Arpentigny. nuggets from the dross." M. le Capitaine d' Arpentigny 
 has an almost parallel passage in his work, " La 
 Science de la Main," and so it must be with us. In 
 the following pages I have carefully excluded every 
 indication of which I have not, by my own repeated 
 experiences, recognized the reliability ; it is only after 
 experience that the Cheirosophic student will be able 
 to decipher these apparently inexplicable signs. It is 
 in this manner that Cheiromancy has survived all the 
 other so-called "arts of divination "; many of the older 
 Cheiromants turned their attention to other occult 
 sciences, 79 but their works on Cheiromancy are the 
 only ones which command attention at the present day. 
 |92. The time has come when the sciences which aim 
 
 imitations of the a t reading the character of man from the indications 
 
 body. . 
 
 of his body have become the objects of assiduous and 
 scientific study, and of carefully directed research. 
 At the end of the last century Johann Casper 
 
 79 Thus Codes and Tricasso both wrote works on Geomancy, 
 or the practice of divination by the chance coincidences of objects, 
 viz. : TRICASSO DA CESARI, " Geomantia di Pietro d' Abano 
 nuovamente tradottata per il Tricasso Mantuano " (Curtio Troia- 
 no di Navo) 1542 ; and BARTHELEMY COCLES, "La Geomantia 
 nuovissimamente tradotta " (Venice, 1550).
 
 AN INTRODUCTORY ARGUMENT. 85 
 
 Lavater published to the world the results of Lavt. 
 
 his investigations in Physiognomy, 80 showing how 
 
 the propensities and inclinations of man are written 
 
 in the features of his face, and F. J. Gall and his Gall. 
 
 pupil Dr. Spurzheim, following in his footsteps, devoted Spurzheim. 
 
 their labours to the study of phrenology or craniology, 
 
 with the result of presenting to succeeding generations 
 
 of savants their well-known treatises on the subject 
 
 they had studied to such good effect. 81 These two 
 
 sciences of physiognomy and phrenology, having thus 
 
 been established on a firm basis, it was only natural 
 
 that the claims of the Hand should receive as much 
 
 attention as those of the Face and Head, 82 in a word, 
 
 that Cheirosophy should be lifted out of the slough of 
 
 fanatical mysticism into which it had fallen, should be 
 
 freed from the clouds of superstition and of charlatanry, Purification of 
 
 which hid the nugget of pure gold amid the amalgam 
 
 * J. C. LAVATER, " Physiognomische Fragmente zur 
 Beforderung der Menschenkenntniss und Menschenliebe " 
 (Leipzig, 1775-8), 4 vols., 4to. Translated into French : " Essais 
 sur la physionomie, destines a faire connoitre 1'homme et a le 
 faire aimer " (traduit en Francais par Madame de la Fite et MM. 
 Caillard et Henri Renfner) (La Haye, 1781-7 and 1803), 4 vols., 
 4to ; And into English : " Essays on Physiognomy designed to pro- 
 mote the knowledge and the love of mankind " (translated from the 
 French, by H. Hunter, D.D.), (London 1789-93), 3 vols., 8vo. 
 
 81 F. J. GALL, "Anatomic et Physiologic du systeme nerveux 
 en general, et du cerveau en particulier, avec des observations sur 
 la possibility de reconnaitre les plusieurs dispositions intellec- 
 tuelles et morales de 1'homme et des animaux par la configuration 
 de leurs tetes" (Paris, 1809-11-18-19), 4 vols., 4to, plates in fol : 
 and " Sur les fonctions du cerveau et sur celle de chacune de ses 
 parties, avec des observations sur la possibility de reconnaitre les 
 instincts, les penchans, etc, . . . des hommes et des animaux par 
 la configuration de leur cerveau et de leur tete " (Paris, 1822-5), 
 6 vols., Svo. 
 
 82 " La main est, aussi bien que les autres membres du corps 
 un objet de la physionomie." " L'Art de Connaitre les Horcmes 
 par la Physionomie " par GASPARD LAVATER. Nouvelle edition 
 par M. Moreau. (Paris, 1806), vols., 4^0 (vol. iiL, p. l).
 
 86 CIIEIROSOPHY. 
 
 of baser metal, and should claim its right to rank as a 
 science worthy the consideration of high intellects, 
 and the unbiassed judgment of men capable of ex- 
 pressing a sterling opinion. It is, therefore, the duty 
 of the student of Cheirosophy to winnow the wheat 
 from the chaff, and from the superabundant literature 
 of the subject, from practical experience, and from 
 personal observation, to deduce the scientific bases of 
 the art of Cheirosophy ; and to account for the fact 
 that in the formations of, and in the signs visible in, the 
 human hand an expert Cheiromant sees revealed the 
 past life and present circumstances of the possessor 
 of that hand, the tendencies of his nature and the 
 future to which those tendencies, if unchecked, will 
 lead him. 
 
 The arguments which may be adduced in favour of 
 Arguments in th s t u dy of the subject, are the same as may be 
 
 favour of the J 
 
 study. brought forward in support of almost any science 
 which may be stigmatised not as occult but as 
 super-physical ; and they may be found in most works 
 which deal with psychic phenomena. They have 
 never, perhap? , been more clearly stated by anyone 
 Roden Noel. tnan by the Hon. Roden Noel, 83 who states fairly 
 categorically rrcst of the methods of reasoning which 
 will lead to a just appreciation of these studies. He 
 points out the leading fact that, though many people feel 
 
 Conviction, the truth of what he calls spiritual laws, their brains 
 suggest difficulties which they find it impossible 
 to get over. A propos of the investigation of 
 
 Trickery. trickery and the like agencies, which have always 
 stood in the way of such study, he very pertinently 
 remarks that one's own evidence ought not to be 
 relied upon, unless one is accustomed to this species 
 of investigation ; but that we ought to rely upon the 
 
 Authorities, experiences of such leading men as Crookes, Barrett, 
 
 63 RODEN NOEL, " Philosophy of Immortality " (London, 
 1882).
 
 AN INTRODUCTORY ARGUMENT. 87 
 
 Varley, and Zollner, whose investigations, in which 
 he was assisted by his colleagues Weber, Scheibner, 
 and Fechner, afford a marvellous table of statistics for 
 the student. 84 It is, however, of no real use to keep Registratiw. 
 
 .... c i ! of cases. 
 
 continually registering striking instances of the relia- 
 bility of a science such as cheirosophy as shown by 
 individual cases ; the registration of such cases only 
 proves the fact of their existence [which needs no sup- 
 port, their very existence affording their own proof], 
 without explaining, in any way, the principles which 
 lead to the existence of the fact ; it is the principles 
 which we ought, and which I have endeavoured in 
 this argument to establish. Still, it is a leading axiom 
 of research that new truths have ever to run the 
 gauntlet between ridicule and persecution [vide f f 71 
 and 78 a ], and discoverers are always regarded as foolish 
 or fraudulent, until the absolute certainty of their dis- 
 coveries has been established. 
 
 " Religion," says the scholiast, "has been given to f 94. 
 men by revelation," and it has been the mental activity ^IIL 
 of the founders of religion which has caused it to 
 take its acknowledged place ; why, therefore, should 
 we keep the principia of 3 new study [eclectic though it 
 may be] bound hand and foot in the swaddling clothes 
 of mental stagnation. Many there are who refuse to 
 exert their brains on the behalf of eclectic science, 
 who refuse to do the simplest things to test the truth 
 of the dicta which they contemn. Are not such people 
 like unto Naaman the Syrian, who "was wroth and 
 went away" when he was commanded to do a simple 
 thing, to demonstrate the power of the God of the 
 prophet Elisha? The whole history of science is a 
 record of great discoveries, arising from trivially 
 simple circumstances ; let us instance the kettle-lid, 
 and the falling apple and the copper hook which led 
 
 A summary of the labours of Zollner may be found in C. C, 
 Massey's "Transcendental physics" (London.
 
 88 
 
 CHEIROSOPHY. 
 
 195. 
 
 Birth of 
 
 chemistry and 
 
 astronomy. 
 
 196. 
 
 Ignorant 
 incredulity. 
 
 Incapacity to 
 comprehend. 
 
 H. Spencer's 
 illustration. 
 
 JamesWatt, Isaac Newton, and Galvani to the discovery 
 of steam, the laws of gravitation, and of galvanism. 84 * 
 
 We must remember that chemistry and astronomy 
 had both their origin in pursuits which were looked 
 upon as evil and occult sciences, and we may, I think, 
 safely say with Honore* de Balzac, " In the present 
 day so many established and authentic facts have 
 been developed from occult sciences, that one day 
 these sciences [*>., those of so-called divination] will 
 be professed as nowadays men profess chemistry and 
 astronomy ! " 84a 
 
 " The self-complacent stolidity of lazy incredulity," 
 says Noel, " is invincible," and this is epigrammatically 
 true ; the jeers of ignorant sceptics remind me always 
 of the objectionable youth in the gallery at the play- 
 house, who, disapproving [he knows not why] of the 
 performance, or not understanding the pabulum offered 
 upon the stage to his debilitated intellect, finds expres- 
 sion for his feelings in profanity and " cat-calls." The 
 laughter of people who have not given to this science 
 a moment's rational thought, is to me as reasonable 
 as if persons who have been born blind were to 
 laugh at people who have that gift of sight of 
 which they know nothing ; the keen-sighted person 
 only pities the blind man, and in like manner. . . . ? 
 How much less cause still would the blind man 
 have to laugh if his blindness resulted only from 
 his own laziness which refused to see. Of course, 
 a great factor in the ridicule and abuse with which 
 the science meets is the incapacity which exists in 
 a majority of minds to grasp the complex com- 
 binations of a science so deep as Cheirosophy. 
 A perfect illustration of this is Herbert Spencer's 
 old gentleman, who expresses authoritatively his 
 
 M " Some most interesting notes on these points may be found 
 in Sir Lyon Playfair's " Speech on the second reading of Mr. 
 Reed's Bill for the total suppression of scientific experiments upon 
 animals" (London, 1883), subsequently printed in pamphlet form.,
 
 AN INTRODUCTORY ARGUMENT. 89 
 
 disapproval of classical music and preference for airs 
 of the " Polly, put the kettle on " and " Johnny comes 
 marching home" order, and whose mental state 
 Herbert Spencer thus sums up : 85 " On contem- 
 plating his mental state, you see that, along with 
 absence of ability to grasp complex combinations, 
 there goes no consciousness of the absence ; there is 
 no suspicion that such complex combinations exist, and 
 that other persons have faculties for appreciating them." 
 
 " If one could account for the thing ! " says the seep- ^97. 
 tic, and yet how many things he accepts that he cannot Unnecessary 
 
 explanations. 
 
 account for. Take, for instance, the every-day " pheno- 
 menon " of speech. He can examine by acoustics 
 the vibrations of the air, he can examine by anatomy 
 the tympanum of the ear and the otolithes, and 
 by histology the auditory nerves, and the brain; but 
 the minutest examination will not account for the 
 sensation of sound which results in the production of 
 language. Let him examine all his nerves, he will Differentiation 
 find them to all appearances identical with one of nerves, 
 another ; yet how can he account for the absolutely 
 different functions which the nerves perform, the 
 differentiated actions of the sensory, the motor, the 
 visual, the auscultatory, and the olfactory nerves, 
 and of those which produce the sensations of taste ? 
 The phenomena cannot, by modern sciences, be 
 accounted for, they are, they simply ARE. So with 
 the indications of the hand. " Only a moiety of 
 science," says Herbert Spencer, " is exact science ; 
 only phenomena of certain orders have had their 
 relations expressed quantitatively as well as qualita- 
 tively. Of the remaining orders there are some 
 produced by factors so numerous and so hard to 
 measure, that to develope our knowledge of their 
 relations into the quantitative form will be extremely 
 
 M HERBERT SPENCER, " Study of Sociology" (London, 1873), 
 Chap, vj., " Intellectual subjective difficulties."
 
 go CHEIROSOPIIY. 
 
 difficult, if not impossible. 86 But these orders of 
 phenomena are not, therefore, excluded from the 
 conception of science. In geology, in biology, in 
 psychology, most of the previsions are qualitative 
 only ; and where they are quantitative, their quantita- 
 tiveness, never quite definite, is mostly very indefinite. 
 Nevertheless, we unhesitatingly class these previsions 
 as scientific." The above arguments point to what 
 I think may some day be the line of reasoning which 
 will lead to the physiological explanation of Cheiro- 
 sophy ; but, even if the indications cannot be accounted 
 for, it does not alter the fact that they absolutely ARE. 
 ^"98. The MATERIALISM of the age stands in our way; 
 
 the mat erialism which seeks to " account for " every- 
 thing, and which commences the process by doubting 
 everything ; the materialism which bids fair to lead us 
 to doubt the existence of mind, of soul, of everything. 
 Stewart. " Of all the truths we know" says Dugald Stewart, 87 
 " the existence of the mind is the most certain. Even 
 the system of Berkeley concerning the non-existence oj 
 matter is far more conceivable than that nothing but 
 matter exists in the universe." And this same thought 
 has been expressed by Francis Bacon, who commences 
 his essay " Of Atheism " [1612] thus : " I had rather 
 believe all the fables of the ' Legend ' and the 
 ' Talmud ' and the ' Alcoran,' than that this universal 
 frame is without a mind." Doubt of the existence of 
 mind [soul] is one of the least evils of this " fashion- 
 able materialism." I have had it hurled at me, in 
 defence of materialist views, that electricity and steam 
 are the outcomes of nineteenth-century materialism ; 
 but I have also heard it very ably debated that 
 these very forces are ruining us by the facilities 
 they afford for living at a headlong pace, that is 
 
 81 HERBERT SPENCER, Op. cit, chap, ii., p. 45. 
 91 DUGALD STEWART, " Elements of the Philosophy of the 
 fluman Mind " (London, 3 vols, 4to, 1792, 1814, and 1827).
 
 AN INTRODUCTORY ARGUMENT. QI 
 
 rapidly whirling us towards a vortex of over-civilized 
 annihilation. 
 
 The dispute as to whether this science is " genuine " 
 or not is simply a scandal. As I have said in another ^ science. 
 place, 88 " If this our science is a monstrous piece of 
 assurance, of charlatanry, and of deceit, or if, at best, it 
 is only a metaphysical amusement for a few minds, 
 greedy of the marvellous and mystic, it cannot fail to 
 be, in its very nature, repugnant to the soul of every 
 thinker worthy the name, and of every student with 
 the remotest inclination towards a love of the innately 
 true. But, if, on the other hand, it possesses, as it must 
 appear to do to any mind capable of an analysis of the 
 study, the attributes I have claimed for it above, does it 
 not deserve to rank as one of the highest and purest 
 sciences which it has been vouchsafed to man to place 
 himself in a position to comprehend ? " 
 
 " It has been going on for so long, this old science," 1 10 - 
 you say. Yes, it has indeed ; but who shall say that it 
 has not progressed ? is not progressing ? The world of 
 thought laughs considerably less than it formerly did 
 at this science, which it used to class with the other 
 mystic or occult arts which cannot approach it in 
 reasonableness, and which cannot produce for their 
 support one single proof or hypothesis, where Cheiro- 
 sophy can produce a thousand. The philosopher is 
 not nearly so certain in his condemnations as he was 
 formerly; the march of enlightenment and the love 
 of progress have carried with them the noise of this 
 Science of the Hand, till it has been so powerfully re- 
 presented that the world is commencing to stand still, 
 to let the science assert itself for what it is worth, and 
 then to laud or damn it, as the case may be ; is com- 
 mencing to turn its attention towards the investigation 
 
 * " Codex Chiromantiae," Codicillus, i (London), Odtf 
 Volumes Opuscula, No. VJI., 1883, p. 46,
 
 92 CHEIROSOPHY. 
 
 of this science which is rising to the top of the crucible 
 of knowledge, whence its dross and foreign impurities 
 are passing away, volatilized by the blast-furnace of 
 Common Sense. 
 
 ^f 101. There is also an astounding tendency among sceptics 
 
 Obstinate to declare, if they can find nothing else in the way of 
 
 incredulity. 
 
 objection, that the " subject " is " in the swim," and 
 agrees with the Cheirosophist so as to produce an 
 effect upon a credulous audience. 89 Such ignorant 
 incredulity as this is beneath our notice ; but scientific 
 and rational scepticism is the most valuable factor in 
 the establishment of the science, for it shows us where 
 our case requires strengthening, and by its reasonable 
 counter-hypotheses shows us where we can strengthen 
 the line of argument, which thus becomes every day 
 stronger and stronger, fas est ab hoste doceri ! 
 ^ 102. Again, it is a common thing for me to hear people 
 
 investigation. sav tnat ^ IS IS a subject unworthy the attention of 
 scientific men on account of its triviality. Unfortunately, 
 the opinion expressed in Bacon's essay " Of Super- 
 stition," viz. : " The master of superstition is the 
 people, and in all superstition wise men follow fools, 
 and arguments are fitted to practise in a reverse order," 
 was a painfully correct one, and its truth is evident 
 even to-day. Wise men will not, as a rule, take the 
 trouble to investigate even so pertinent a matter as 
 
 88 When Dr. Esdaile made his now celebrated experiments 
 and investigations in mesmerism as an anaesthetic in the Calcutta 
 hospital, cutting out tumours, amputating limbs, and performing 
 terrible operations on patients who had merely been thrown into 
 an hypnotic trance, without the administration of any other 
 anaesthetic, there were not wanting persons who stated that the 
 patients had been bribed not to scream under the agonies that they 
 suffered. A full account of these most fascinatingly interesting 
 experiences may be found in Dr. Esdaile's works, " Mesmerism in 
 India, and its practical application in Surgery and Medicine " 
 (London, 1846), and "The Introduction of Mesmerism (with 
 the sanction of Government) into the Hospitals of Jndja " 
 Condon, 2nd edition,
 
 AN INTRODUCTORY ARGUMENT. 93 
 
 Cheirosophy, and what can be more mistaken than 
 this neglect ? Once allow that the claims of the 
 science are genuine, and we have before us a 
 science of the most astounding importance to 
 humanity; let it, therefore, be investigated, and if 
 investigation proves that the science is chimserical, 
 the time which will have been thus employed 
 will not have been wasted, but will have been most 
 profitably spent in the timely suppression of a vast 
 and degrading illusion. 
 
 We know, all of us, by bitter experience, that ^ 103 
 religion, and even on occasion science, will denounce Narrow-minded 
 
 arguments of 
 
 and deny not only theories, but even facts, when religion and 
 they are opposed to them. [Thus, for instance, at science. 
 the end of the last century, it was firmly denied 
 that aerolites fell, or could fall, from the sky, 
 and the idea was utterly ridiculed.] The term 
 "scientific impossibility" is too often nothing more or 
 less than a synonym for " reasonable improbability." 
 A writer in the Allgemeine Zeitung, in March 
 1884, summed up these points with much concise- 
 ness, pointing out the counter-danger that once 
 people begin to be convinced they are painfully apt 
 to take everything and anything upon trust ; he sums 
 up his discourse by saying : " In our opinion, super- 
 stition will only come to an end when exact science 
 will take the trouble to examine, without prejudice, 
 the facts it has hitherto distinctly denied ; that is to 
 say, when it will approach them with the admission 
 that things are not necessarily untrue, because they 
 are unexplained." 
 
 The causes of psychological ignorance are princi- ^ 104. 
 pally these: the imperfections of language, which Obstacles to the 
 prevent people from explaining and defining what 
 they really mean; the tendency to grasp general 
 principles without studying particular facts; the 
 extreme difficulty we experience in getting at any
 
 94 CHEIROSOPHY. 
 
 accurate description of mental conditions ; the preju- 
 dices which arise from reverence for great opposing 
 authorities and local traditions ; and a deeply rooted 
 penchant to run after, and, so to speak, to " swallow 
 whole " any opinions, etc., which may be in their very 
 nature singular or paradoxical, a readiness to believe 
 improbabilities, like that of the Levantine family, 
 who insisted on believing that "The Arabian Nights " 
 were true histories. 90 
 
 IF 105. Now I have done. Experto crede ! " I have said all 
 
 Conclusion. tnat j fa^ necessary, and trust you will adopt that 
 course which is best for the community and for 
 yourselves." 91 Believe, I pray you, intelligent 
 reader, that the science I have done my best to 
 place before you, in its highest state of development, 
 in the following pages, and which I have endea- 
 voured to explain and prepare you for in the 
 foregoing argument, is no idle pastime, is no frivolous 
 passe-temps, is no exercise of assurance ; but that this 
 little work is a simple manual towards the interpreta- 
 tion of one of the pages of the greater Book of Nature ; 
 and that, seeing yourself as no one else sees you, and 
 understanding the characters of those among whom 
 your lot in life is cast, you may, in promoting the 
 welfare of the individual, be advancing the welfare of 
 the community ; and that you may appreciate the 
 privileges, with a due regard for the responsibilities 
 of the Cheirosophist. 
 July iyh, 1885. 
 
 90 BAYLE ST. JOHN, " Two Years' Residence in a Levantine 
 Family " (London, 1850). 
 
 91 AEMOS6ENOTS OATNeiAKOZF" (36). ZiceSbv t'lp^a. d 
 
 $ Xow0e 8 Ti nal Trj iro\fi KO.I &iraai
 
 SECTION L
 
 1. J. B[ULWER] "Chirologia or the Naturall Language of the 
 
 Hand, composed of the Speaking Motions and Dis- 
 coursing Gestures thereof, whereunto is added Chiro- 
 nomia, or the Art of Manuall Rhetoricke," etc. 
 (London, 1644.) 
 
 2. S. D'ARPENTIGNY "La Chirognomonie ; oul'Art de recon- 
 
 naitre les Tendences de 1'Intelligence, d'apres les 
 P'ormes de la Main." (Paris, 1843.) 
 "La Science de la Main; ou 1'Art de reconnaitre, '' 
 etc., etc. (Paris, 1865.) yd edition. 
 
 3. ANONYMOUS " The Hand : phrenologically considered, 
 
 being a glimpse at the relation of the Mind with the 
 Organization of the Body." (London, 1848.) 
 
 4. R. BEAMISH "The Psychonomy of the Hand, or the Hand 
 
 an Index of the Mental Development." (London, 1865.) 
 
 5. C. WARREN "The Life-size Outlines of the Hands of Twenty- 
 
 two Celebrated Persons." (London, 1882.) 
 
 6. E. HERON- ALLEN " Codex Chiromantiae, being a com- 
 
 pleate Manualle of ye Science and Arte of Expoundynge 
 Ye Past, Ye Presente, and Ye Future and Ye Charactere 
 by Ye Scrutinie of Ye Hande, Ye Gestures thereof and 
 Ye Chirographie." Codicillus I. Chirognomy. (Lon- 
 don, 1883.) Odd Volumes Opuscula, No. vii. 
 
 7. R. BAUGHAN " Chirognomancy or Indications of Tempera- 
 
 ment and Aptitudes manifested by the Form and Texture 
 of the Thumb and Fingers." (London, 1884.)
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 CHEIROGNOMY; OR, THE SHAPES OF THE 
 HANDS. 
 
 'H niv oJy ijr6<r<ce<ris ovrot ftryoAij, TO Si irpoyji* 
 t\ey\ov Sucre i ^ Kpirol 5" v/ieis e<rT0e. 
 
 AHMO2eENOY5 KATA *IAIimOY A'. 
 
 FOREWORD. It is usual to divide the science of ^[106. 
 Cheirosophy into two principal sections : Cheiro- b ^* h ^ of 
 gnomy, or the science of interpreting the characters Cheirosophy. 
 and instincts of men from the outward formations 
 and aspects of their hands; and Cheiromancy, or 
 the science of reading the characters and instincts of 
 men, their actions and habits, and the events of their 
 past, present, and future lives, in the lines and for- 
 mations of the palms of their hands. Though, as 
 will be seen anon, the line of demarcation which 
 has been drawn between these two branches of the 
 science is not only false in principle but misleading 
 in practice, [for, as will be seen in the following 
 pages, the two sections are inextricably intermingled, 
 and cannot be separated if accuracy of result is aimed 
 at,] it is still convenient to preserve the semblance 
 of separation, so that the student may master the 
 principia ol cheirognomy before he begins to apply 
 it to the interpretation and elucidation of the more 
 intricate rules of cheiromancy, and for this reason 
 
 7
 
 98 CHEIROGNOMY. 
 
 I have divided the one great subject of cheirosophy 
 into its two constituent and companion elements of 
 cheirognomy and cheiromancy. 
 
 Cheirognomy, therefore, is that branch of the 
 
 Cheirogncmy. sc j ence o f the hand which enables us, by a mere 
 superficial observation of the exterior formations and 
 appearance of the hands, and by the impressions 
 produced by them on the senses of vision and of 
 touch, to arrive at an accurate estimate of the 
 character, disposition, and natural propensities of any 
 individual in whose presence we may find ourselves. 
 It is of the highest importance that the student of 
 cheirosophy should first master this very important 
 branch ; for what is more obvious than that the 
 character and tendency of the mind and the natural 
 inclinations of the subject 92 under examination should 
 so materially influence his actions, manner, and speech, 
 his physical and moral bases of life, and the events ot 
 his existence, that by getting at the former by the 
 aspect of his hands the knowledge of the latter 
 follows almost of itself? 
 
 Again, it will be borne in mind that the cheiro- 
 g nom y of a subject that is to say, the shape of his (or 
 
 Cheiromancy her) hands is often hereditary and inborn, the physio- 
 logical legacy of a long line of ancestors, whose 
 characters and peculiarities of mind he may possibly 
 inherit (as Aristotle has pointed out in his treatise on 
 the "Generation of Animals" 93 ), whilst the lines, signs, 
 and mounts of the palm that is to say, the cheiro- 
 mancy of a subject are more often the results of the 
 external and internal influences, such as the astral and 
 
 ' By the word " subject " throughout this work, I mean the 
 person whose hands are, for the moment, under examination. 
 
 93 ARISTOTLE : IIEPI ZfiQN FENESEQS. /3i/3X. A' ; Ketf>. n}. 
 Upoa-fjKft Si /j.a\\ov air Ixelvuv' irporepa, yap iKeiva Kal rdy Keren 
 ra avafj.oiofj.eprj e| IK('H>UV Kal Sxrirep irpbfftairov Kal 
 toiKores, O/TU> Kal o-dp/coj Kal ovvxas.
 
 THE SHAPES OF THE HAND. 99 
 
 cerebro-nervous fluids to which I have adverted at 
 length in the Introductory Argument. 
 
 Cheirognomically speaking, hands are divided into ^ 109. 
 seven classes or types, each of which will in due ^S^ 
 course receive careful attention; firstly, however, it 
 is necessary to consider the interpretation of the 
 many general features of a hand, which carry with 
 them their own significations, to whatever type that 
 hand may belong.
 
 SUB-SECTION I. 
 
 CONCERNING THE HAND IN GENERAL AND THE INDICA- 
 TIONS AFFORDED BY THE ASPKCTS AND CONDITIONS 
 OF ITS VARIOUS PARTS IN PARTICULAR. 
 
 To whatever type a hand may belong, there are 
 fte Seven cer tain aspects and formations of its constituent parts 
 which materially affect the tendencies indicated by 
 the development of that particular type, and these 
 aspects and conditions must be carefully considered 
 in the preliminary examination of that hand. Such 
 are the developments and formations of the palm, the 
 fingers, the joints, the thumb, the relative size and 
 proportions of the whole hand and of its constituent 
 parts, all of which matters must be observed care- 
 fully, to arrive at the true influence of the developed, 
 or mainly developed, type ; and to explain the indica- 
 tions which are read in these circumstances and 
 conditions is the aim of the present sub-section, 
 
 THE PALM. i. The Palm of the Hand. 
 
 ^ 111. In the first place, you will notice the formation and 
 
 lu, indkations. the physiological conditions of the palm. In it are
 
 THE PALM OF THE HAND. IOI 
 
 found the physical attributes of the character and the 
 intensity with which they are developed. 
 
 If the palm is thin, skinny, and narrow, it indicates IT 112. 
 timidity, a feeble mind, narrowness and paucity of ^"or. d 
 intellect, and a want of depth of character, energy, 
 and moral force. 94 
 
 If, on the other hand, it is in perfect proportion ^j n3. 
 with the fingers, the thumb, and the rest of the body, w *"' 
 
 proportioned 
 
 firm without being hard, elastic without approaching 
 to flabbmess, the mind thereby indicated is evenly 
 balanced, ready to accept impressions, -appreciative, 
 intelligent, and capable of sustaining and directing 
 the promptings of the instinct. If, however, this last 
 hand is too highly developed, and its proportions are Over-develope<l 
 too strongly accentuated, the exaggeration of these 
 qualities tends to produce over-confidence, selfish- 
 ness, and sensuality ; whilst if, going a step farther, 
 the hand joins to these highly-developed propor- 
 tions a hardness and resistance to the touch, and Hardnes*. 
 the palm is longer than the fingers, the character 
 tends towards brutality of instinct, and a low grade 
 of intelligence is betrayed by the animality of the 
 ideas. [It will be noted infra [f 265] that these 
 last characteristics are those par excellence of the 
 elementary type.] 
 
 A hollow, deep palm denotes almost invariably c m 
 misfortune, loss of money, misery, and danger of Hollow palm, 
 failure in enterprise. [It will be seen infra that this is 
 caused by a defection of the Plain of Mars (vide f 380, 
 and p. 217), and is a sign of ill luck even when the 
 rest of the hand is favourable.] 
 
 The palm, therefore, must be absolutely normal, 
 and naturally proportioned to the rest of the hand 
 (i.e., to the thumb and fingers), and thus to the rest 
 
 91 This is also one of the rules laid down by Aristotle in his 
 treatise on Physiognomy: *T2IOrNOMIKA, Ke<. j : 
 Xtirral Kai
 
 102 CHEIROGNOMY. 
 
 of the body. 98 In any other case its indications will 
 be found to modify those of the rest of the hand, to 
 the consideration of which we can now turn. 
 If 118. Any excess in the formation of any part of the 
 
 ^atiorT* hand is bad, denoting disorder and demoralization of 
 the qualities indicated by the formation which is in 
 excess, and this is the more infallible [as will be seen] 
 if the phalanx of the thumb, wherein are seated the 
 indications of the will, be long. 
 
 2 - The J mts the 
 
 f 117. Looking at the fingers of the whole world, they 
 
 Smooth and divide themselves, cheirognomically speaking, into 
 
 jointed fingers. , 
 
 two great classes : (a) Fingers which are knotted, 
 and (/?) fingers which are smooth ; that is to say, 
 (a) those in which the joints are so developed as to 
 cause a perceptible " bulge " where they occur between 
 the phalanges of the fingers, and ((3) those in which 
 the joints are so little pronounced as to be imper- 
 ceptible at first sight; and the former class divides 
 itself again into two sub-classes : (a i) those fingers 
 which have both joints developed, and (a 2) those 
 which have but one. 
 
 ^fll8. Development of the joints of the fingers indicates 
 
 The joints, thought and order, which are greater or less in their 
 influence on the life, according as one or both joints 
 are to a greater or less degree prominent. 
 
 ^f 119. If the first joint [i.e., that which connects the first (or 
 
 The upper joint. na ji e d) phalanx and the second (or middle) phalanx] 
 is developed, accentuating the junction of the first and 
 second phalanges of the fingers, it indicates a method 
 and reason in the ideas, a well-ordered mind, and a 
 neat administrative disposition. The development of 
 this joint, if the phalanx of will [on the thumb] is 
 long, is generally indicative of remarkable intelligence ; 
 
 ** Palma truncata et digitis impar indicat in manu foeminre 
 difficilem et periculosam lucinam,
 
 THE JOINTS OF THE FINGERS. IL>3 
 
 but if the phalanx of will is short, this development 
 of the first joint often betrays excess of ill-directed 
 reasoning, tending to paradoxicalism, and this is more 
 certainly the case [as will be seen infra, ^f 583] if the 
 Line of the Head decline upon the Mount of the Moon 
 and the fingers are pointed. 96 When the Mount of 
 Jupiter is high in the hand, the development of this 
 joint denotes vanity. 
 
 If this first joint be very prominent there is always m jjjo. 
 a great deal of talent in the subject ; but if the lines l^ 6 u PP er J inl 
 of the palm are thin and dry, and the thumb is small, 
 a lamentable want of soul is generally apparent. 
 Reason, however, remains always the prevailing 
 instinct. 
 
 If the second joint [i.e., that which connects the ^[121. 
 second (or middle) phalanx and the third (or lower) Both joints 
 
 x ' r , ' developed. 
 
 phalanx] is also developed, the instincts of reason and 
 order are the more strongly pronounced. In this 
 case the prevailing instincts of the subject will be 
 symmetry, order, and punctuality. The mind will 
 be well regulated, the ideas will be good and equit- 
 able, and the actions will be governed by reflection 
 and deliberation. There will be the love of analysis 
 and of inquiry, and a strong penchant towards the 
 sciences. Both joints thus developed, and the Mount 
 of the Moon high in the palm, indicate a love of influence of th 
 poetry and of music, but the poetry must be grand 
 and reasonable (not fantastic or erotic), and the music 
 will be scientific and true [harmony, counterpoint, 
 fugue, and the like]. 
 
 96 The reader is requested not to take alarm at sentences like 
 the foregoing, which at present must seem to him to be unintelli- 
 gible, and savouring of astrology and charlatanry. The reason 
 of their use, as well as their meaning, will become quite clear 
 to him as he reads the following pages, and as I have said 
 suprd, ^ 106, it is useless and impossible to endeavour to sepa- 
 rate wholly the two branches of cheirosophy known for distinc- 
 tion as cheirognomy and cheiromancv.
 
 104 CHEIROGNOMY. 
 
 ^f 122. The development of the second joint only, gives to 
 
 The ower joint. a su kject order and arrangement in things material 
 and worldly, as opposed to the orderliness in things 
 mental and psychological, which is indicated by the 
 development of the first [or upper] joint The order- 
 liness of the second joint is that which appertains 
 to things connected with one's self, a selfish order 
 which produces merchants, calculators, speculators, 
 and egoists. 
 
 5 123- If on the other hand your fingers have tteitker joint 
 
 moo fingers, highly developed, [i.e., no perceptible bulge is to be 
 seen at the joints,] your penchant will be towards the 
 arts. Your proceedings and actions will be governed 
 by inspiration and by impulse, by sentiment and by 
 fancy, rather than, as in the former case, by reasoning, 
 knowledge, and analysis, and whatever the type of the 
 hand, if the fingers are smooth, the first impression of 
 that subject is always the correct one, and subsequent 
 reflection will not help him in arriving at a con- 
 clusion. 
 
 1 124. Smooth fingers with the first joint indicated by a 
 
 Smooth fingers b j which is not very much accentuated, often 
 
 With upper joint J 
 
 perceptible, denote a talent for spontaneous invention and in- 
 tuition in the pursuit of science, but these qualities 
 are never in this case the result of calculation. This 
 first joint rising only on the back of the fingers, 
 not bulging out at their sides, indicates a talent for 
 invention. 
 
 <[125. When with smooth fingers the Line of the Head 
 
 Bad line of head, r^yr, ^ 572 an d 583] is bad and twisted, declining upon 
 the Mount of the Moon, which is high, with a short 
 phalanx of logic in the thumb, though the intuition 
 remains, it will generally be all wrong, and give to 
 the subject the most false conceptions. 
 
 ^126. Thus it is easily explained that whilst knotty- 
 
 Effect of joints, fingered [*>., prominent-jointed] subjects have most 
 taste intellectually speaking [taste, properly so called,
 
 THE JOINTS OF THE FINGERS. IO5 
 
 being born of reason and intellectual consideration], 
 those with smooth fingers have the larger share of Effect of smooth 
 natural and unreasoning grace. Passion [as opposed 
 to sensuality] is the worldly instinct of the former, 
 whereas sensuality [as opposed to passion] is gener- 
 ally a characteristic of the latter. 
 
 By a like chain of argument, smooth-fingered sub- IT 127. 
 jects often fail in their undertakings through pursuing Smooth &DSCTS - 
 them too hotly and impulsively, and when with 
 smooth fingers the Line of Head is separated from 
 the Line of Life [vide f 582] the badness of the latter Bad line of head, 
 sign is the more pronounced, for the impulse of the 
 smooth fingers will carry into prompt and uncon- 
 sidered action the false impressions and mistaken 
 self-confidence of the separated lines. 
 
 Throughout the examination of hands, these two f 128. 
 principia must be borne in mind that the jointed Di r p e u n s of 
 subject works by calculation, reason, and knowledge, 
 whilst the action of the smooth-fingered subject is 
 born of, and governed by spontaneity, instinct, im- 
 pulse, and inspiration. 
 
 At the same time one must never lose sight of this ^ 129. 
 particular ; that, though with the first joint developed Effect f Joints, 
 a hand may betray artistic instincts, if both joints are 
 prominent, art becomes a thing tolerated merely, and 
 not a thing understood. 
 
 Education, self-discipline, and cultivation may de- ^ 130. 
 
 _ . . 11 Development 
 
 velop joints in a hand, and may cause fingers originally and dUappear- 
 rounded to become square, or even spatulated, but ence of joints, 
 they can never erase the joints and produce a smooth- 
 fingered hand, or mould square or spatulated fingers 
 into roundness, for it is easier to go from artistic to 
 scientific instincts, from intuition to knowledge, or 
 from idealism to materialism, than vice versa.
 
 106 
 
 CHEIROGNOMY. 
 
 LENGTH OF THB 
 
 FINGERS. 
 
 gers< 
 
 f 132. 
 
 1 133. 
 
 Weak hand, 
 
 1134. 
 
 Short fingers 
 
 with joints. 
 
 3. The Comparative Length of the Fingers. 
 
 Again, the fingers of a hand are either short or 
 long. That is, on first sight they may strike one as 
 being either short or long by comparison with the 
 palm and rest of the hand, or by comparison with 
 the majority oi fingers one is in the habit of seeing. 
 
 People with short fingers are quicker, more im- 
 pulsive, and act more by intuition and on the spur of 
 the moment, than people with long; they prefer 
 generalities to details, jumping hastily to conclusions, 
 and are quick at grasping the entirety of a subject. 
 
 They are not particular about trifles, caring little 
 for a PP earanc e s and for the conventionalities of life ; 
 but their leading feature is their quickness of instinct 
 and action. Their judgment is quick, and their action 
 is prompt, and they have, to a remarkable degree, the 
 instinct of the perception of masses. They are brief 
 and concise in expression and in writing, but often 
 when the rest of the hand is weak such subjects are 
 given to frivolity and chattering. 
 
 If the fingers are thick as well as short it is a sign 
 of cruelt y- Short fingers with a short line of head 
 denote want of tact, and carelessness in acting on 
 impulse, especially if the Mount of the Moon is highly 
 developed; but with short nails and a long line of 
 head, the instinct of synthesis [which is the great 
 attribute of the short-fingered subject] gives a talent 
 for grasping particulars and comprehending a scheme 
 which produces a rare faculty for administration. 
 
 If with short fingers either or both of the joints 
 
 , , , . ... , 
 
 are developed, they will have a certain amount of 
 reason and calculation to assist the quickness of their 
 intellect, which will thus be supplemented by a 
 powerful auxiliary, for the calculation indicated by 
 the joints will be able to apply itself with the rapidity
 
 COMPARATIVE LENGTH OF THE FINGERS. 107 
 
 of comprehension indicated by the shortness of the 
 fingers. 
 
 With long fingers we find a love of detail even to 
 frivolousness, an instinct ol minutiae which often 
 blinds the subject to the appreciation of the har- 
 monious whole, carefulness in dress and behaviour, 
 and consequent hate of slovenliness or brusquerie of 
 manner. Such a subject will be respectful and dig- 
 nified, easily put out, and easily pleased by an atten- 
 tion to the minor peculiarities of his nature. 
 
 If long fingers have the first joint developed, such 
 a subject will be inquisitive, watchful, always on his 
 guard against liberties, observant of small things, and 
 addicted to manias and idiosyncracies about things, 
 especially if the phalanx of logic in his thumb be long. 
 
 Artists with such fingers as these will often ela- 
 borate detail at the expense of the mass of the subject 
 upon which they are working, and all persons whose 
 fingers present this formation will be distrustful, 
 always trying to seek out second meanings for one's 
 remarks, and attributing motives and deep signifi- 
 cations to one's most meaningless speeches and most 
 trivial actions. 
 
 Long fingers, therefore, betray a worrying dispo- 
 sition, worrying both to themselves and to others, 
 unless a long Line of Head and a well-developed 
 phalanx of will modify the indications of the fingers. 
 
 In literature such subjects pay an attention to detail 
 which is maddening to see in print ; for they go off at 
 a tangent, and discourse on matters more or less ger- 
 mane to the subject in hand, until one loses sight 
 of the prime object of the argument, which thus 
 becomes confused and wearisome. 
 
 Such hands, also, often betray cowardice, deceit- 
 fulness, and affectation ; but these tendencies may be 
 overruled by a good Line of Head and a well-developed 
 Mount of Mars. [Vide Iff 47 6-7-] 
 
 I 135 - 
 
 Long fingers. 
 
 If 136. 
 
 Long fingers and 
 upper joint. 
 
 f 137. 
 
 Long fingered 
 
 artists and 
 
 others. 
 
 : 138. 
 
 Effect of long 
 fingers. 
 
 ^139. 
 
 Long fingers 
 in literature. 
 
 ^140. 
 
 Bad effects of 
 long fingers.
 
 108 CHEIROGNOMY. 
 
 ^ 141. With both joints developed you will find pugnacity, 
 
 ts and ar S um ent, and a didactic mode of expression, boldness 
 of manner and speech, and even malice, especially 
 when to these long jointed fingers a subject adds a 
 large thumb, which indications generally reveal chi- 
 canery, dishonesty, a controversial humour, and a 
 penchant towards scandal and mischief making; the 
 latter particularly when the fingers terminate in short 
 nails. 
 
 ^ 142. Thus, to recapitulate : a large hand indicates a love 
 
 atcU^ e hMd:L and a PP re ciation of details and minutiae ; a medium- 
 sized hand denotes comprehension of details and 
 power of grasping a whole ; whilst very small hands 
 betray always the instincts and appreciation of syn- 
 thesis. 
 
 f 143. The large-handed subject will have things small in 
 
 SnT a rg S e b a e nd themselves, but exquisitely finished, whilst the small- 
 
 smaii-handed handed subject desires the massive, the grandiose, 
 
 and the colossal. Artists in horology have always 
 
 large, whilst the designers and builders of pyramids 
 
 and colossal temples have always small hands. In 
 
 Egyptian papyri and hieroglyphic inscriptions the 
 
 smallness of the hands of the persons represented 
 
 always strikes one at first sight. 
 
 ^[144. In like manner people with small hands always 
 
 Handwritings. wr j te i arge> w hilst people with large hands always 
 
 write [naturally] small. 
 
 1145. Thus it will be seen that it is only medium-propor- 
 
 Medium hands. tioned hands ^ possess the fe^g of synt hesis and 
 
 of analysis, the power of appreciating at the same time 
 the mass, and the details of which it is constituted. 
 
 THE FINGERS . The Fingers generally. 
 
 GENERALLY. 
 
 The three phalanges of the fingers have also their 
 
 phalanges, significations. Thus, the first phalanges of the fingers 
 
 represent the intuitive faculties, the second phalanges 
 
 represent the reasoning powers, and the third or
 
 THE FINGERS GENERALLY. 
 
 IO9 
 
 lowest phalanges represent the material instincts. 
 Thus, therefore, if the third phalanges are relatively 
 the largest, and are thick and full by comparison with 
 the others, the prevailing instincts will be those of 
 sensuality and of luxury ; if the second phalanges are 
 the most considerable, a love of reason and reasoning 
 will be the mainspring of the life, whilst with a high 
 development of the first [or exterior] phalanges the 
 intuitive and divine attributes will be the prevailing 
 characteristics of the subject. 
 
 Thus, it will be seen, the joints seem to form, as it 
 were, walls between the worlds ; the joint of philo- 
 sophy and of reason dividing the phalanx of intuition 
 and instinct from the phalanx of reason and know- 
 ledge; and the joint of material order forming the 
 boundary betwixt the reasoning faculties and the world 
 of materialism. 
 
 From what has gone before it will be comprehended 
 that thick fingers will always denote a love of ease 
 and luxury ; but also unless the hand is hard the subject 
 will not seek and require luxury ; he will only enjoy 
 and appreciate it when it comes in his way. 
 
 When the fingers are twisted and malformed, with 
 short nails, and only the elementary lines [those of 
 head, heart, and life] are visible in the hand, it is 
 almost infallibly the sign ol a cruel and tyrannical 
 disposition, if not of a murderous, instinct ; but if 
 these twisted fingers are found on an otherwise good 
 hand the deduction to be made will only be that of a 
 mocking and annoying disposition. 
 
 If a hand is stiff and hard, opening with difficulty 
 to its full extent, it betrays stubbornness of cha- 
 racter. 
 
 People whose fingers have a tendency to turn back, 
 being supple and elastic, are generally sagacious and 
 clever, though inclined to extravagance, and always 
 curious and inquisitive. 
 
 Effect of the 
 joints. 
 
 f 148. 
 Thick fingers. 
 
 ^149. 
 
 Twisted finger v 
 
 Stiff and hard 
 hands. 
 
 ^ 151. 
 
 Fingers turning 
 back.
 
 110 CHEIROGNOMY. 
 
 1T152. The fingers fitting closely together without inter- 
 
 in^ on7 another st i ces between them denotes avarice, whereas if there 
 
 or not. are considerable interstices and chinks between them 
 which show the light through when the hand is held 
 between the eye and the light, it is a sign [like the 
 turning back of the fingers] of inquisitiveness. 
 
 If 153 - Smoothness and transparency of the fingers betray 
 
 Transparent . . 
 
 fingers. indiscretion and loquacity. 
 
 T 154. Whatever may be the formation of the fingers, the 
 
 Bail at the type to which they belong, or the other conditions of 
 
 finger tips. J 
 
 the hand, if a little fleshy ball or knob be found on 
 the face of the first phalanx it is a sign of extreme 
 sensitiveness and sensibility, of tact, [from the dread 
 of inflicting pain upon others,] and of taste, [which is 
 the natural heritage of a nature so gifted]. 
 
 It may be noted, also, in this place that there are 
 certain indications to be read in the greater or less 
 length and development of each separate finger ; but 
 this I shall notice further on under the heading of the 
 Cheirognomy of the Individual Fingers. \Vide p. 125.] 
 
 Gaule the sceptic. Gaule, 97 who never loses an opportunity of railing 
 against Cheiromancy as it was practised in his day, 
 in mentioning the science as it existed then, says, 
 
 His indications. q uo ting the Cheiromants in derision : " A great thick 
 hand signes one not only strong but stout ; a little 
 slender hand one not only weak but timorous ; a long 
 hand and long fingers betoken a man not only apt for 
 mechanical artifice but liberally ingenious ; but those 
 short on the contrary note a foole and fit for nothing ; 
 an harde, brawny hand signes dull and rude ; a soft 
 hand witty but effeminate ; an hairy hande luxurious ; 
 long joints signe generous, yet if they be thick withal, 
 not so ingenious. Short and fat fingers mark a man 
 out for intemperate and silly ; but long and leane for 
 
 ** JOHN GAULE, " Hvffnavrla : the Mag-astromancer, or the 
 Magicall-Astrologicall -Diviner posed and puzzled " (London, 
 1652, p. 187).
 
 THE FINGER TIPS. Ill 
 
 witty ; if his fingers crook upward that shows him 
 liberal, if downward niggardly " ; and it will be inter- Their 
 esting for the reader to note, during the perusal of the correctness, 
 following pages, that these indications are quite correct. 
 
 5. The Finger Tips. THE FINGER 
 
 TIPS. 
 
 The first [or exterior] phalanges of the fingers of a ^"155. 
 hand present four principal formations. They are The four pnn- 
 either (a) " Spatulate," i.e., the tip of the finger is c '' 
 broad and flat, or club-shaped, like the "spatula" with 
 which a chymist mixes his drugs. (/3) " Square," 
 i.e., the tip of the finger, instead of being round 
 and cylindrical and curved over the top, is flat 
 upon the tip, and so shaped that a transverse sec- 
 tion of the tip would present the appearance of a 
 square, at least as regards three sides thereof: [the 
 inside of the finger tip is in almost all cases curved], 
 (y) " Conic," i.e., the tip is cylindrical, and rounded 
 over the top like a thimble ; or (8) " Pointed," i.e., the 
 finger ends in a more or less extended circular point : 
 and each of these forms has such marked and different 
 characteristics as almost to constitute types by them- 
 selves. [With certain concomitant signs they do con- 
 stitute the Types of Cheirognomy which will be fully 
 considered in a future sub-section ; but it seems right 
 here to notice the particular instincts indicated by 
 each one in particular.] 
 
 If your fingers terminate in spatule your first desire ^ 159. 
 will be for action, activity, movement, locomotion, and 
 manual exercise ; you will have a love of what is useful, 
 physical, and reasonable; yours will be the appre- 
 ciation of things from the utilitarian point of view, 
 love of animals, and inclination for travel, war, agri- 
 culture, and commerce. You will interest yourself 
 principally in the things of real life physical and 
 mechanical force, calculation, industry, applied sciences, 
 decorative art, and so on.
 
 112 CHEIROGNOMY. 
 
 And here [to recede a little] you must take into 
 jointed or consideration what we said about the joints (p. 102), 
 
 smooth spatulate 
 
 fingers. understanding that the subject with spatulate knotty 
 fingers will develop and pursue the propensities of 
 the spatulate finger-tip by reas on, calculation, and 
 knowledge, as opposed to the subject with spatulate 
 smooth fingers, who will develop the same charac- 
 teristics by spontaneity, by impulse, by rapid loco- 
 motion, and by inspiration. Thus, if your fingers 
 terminating in spatule have the joints developed you 
 will excel in practical science and scientific mechanics, 
 [such as statics, dynamics, navigation, architecture, 
 and the like]. And [as we shall see presently] the 
 tendencies of this spatulate formation of "the fingertips 
 are the more accentuated if you add to them a large 
 thumb and firm hands. 
 
 IT 158. If your finger tips are square your prevailing 
 
 Square fingers, characteristics will be symmetry and exactitude of 
 thought and habit. You will have a taste for 
 philosophy, politics, social science and morals, 
 languages, logic, geometry, [though you will pro- 
 bably only study them superficially]. You will 
 admire dramatic, analytic, and didactic poetry, and 
 you will require and appreciate metre, rhythm, 
 construction, grammar, and arrangement in literature, 
 whether poetic or otherwise, and your admiration 
 in art will be for the defined and conventional. 
 You will have business capacity and respect for 
 authority, combined with moderate but positive ideas. 
 You will incline to discovery rather than to imagina- 
 tion, to theory and rhetoric rather than to practical 
 action. 
 
 ^159. You will admire order and tidiness, but unless 
 
 Tidiness. your fingers have the joints developed, you will not 
 practise the tidiness you admire i.e., you will arrange 
 things that are visible, but your drawers and cup- 
 boards will be in confusion.
 
 THE FINGER TIPS. 113 
 
 Of course, as before, the distinctions of the knotty ^ 160. 
 and the smooth fingers apply to this formation of the .Smooth and 
 
 . * jointed squar 
 
 finger tips [vide 1 157] ; the former being always the fingers, 
 more sincere and the more trustworthy the more 
 ready to put their theories into practice. As we shall 
 presently see [vide ^[ 309], a high development of the 
 joints, combined with a large thumb, will give to these 
 square-tipped fingers the most fanatical red-tapeism, 
 regularity, and self-discipline. 
 
 Thus it will be easily comprehended that between f 161. 
 the spatulate and the square finger tips there are s P atulatea n d 
 
 r square finger tips. 
 
 great distinctions, the principal being those of sim- 
 plicity as opposed to politeness, and of freedom as 
 contrasted with elegance. 
 
 Amongst musical people the most thorough theo- f!62. 
 retical musicians have square fingers, by reason of * 
 the amount of rhythm and symmetrical exactitude 
 required. Brilliant execution and talent as an instru- 
 mentalist is always accompanied by spatulate fingers, 
 [which are not, as so many people imagine, the result 
 of instrumental practice, but of the temperament which 
 makes that practice a pleasure,] whilst singers [who 
 are essentially melodists] have nearly always conical 
 and sometimes pointed fingers. 
 
 Again, if your fingers terminate conically, your ^[163. 
 whole instinct will be artistic. You will love art in Conical finget> ' 
 all its branches, and adore the beautiful in the actual 
 and visible form ; you will be enthusiastic, and inclined 
 to romance and social independence, objecting to stern 
 analysis ; your greatest danger is that of being carried 
 away into fantasy. 
 
 If these fingers have either or both joints developed, f 164. 
 you will have more moral force, and will be able to finder 1 * 
 keep your more unruly instincts in control. And, as 
 we shall see presently, the tendencies of this conical 
 formation of the finger tips are the more accentuated 
 if the subject have also soft hands and a small thumb, 
 
 8
 
 114 
 
 CHEIROGNOMY. 
 
 ^165. 
 
 Effect of the 
 thumb. 
 
 1 166. 
 Jointed fingers; 
 
 1167. 
 
 Effect of 
 pointeduess. 
 
 The four 
 formations. 
 
 If 169. 
 
 Amorphous 
 finger-tips. 
 
 1170. 
 
 Excess of 
 formations. 
 
 1171. 
 
 Excessive 
 pointedness. 
 
 This remark also applies to the pointed formation of 
 the finger tip next below noticed. 
 
 When fingers of these formations [the conic and 
 the pointed] are gifted with a large thumb, their 
 instinctive art will expand itself logically and methodi- 
 cally, almost as if the finger tips were square. 
 
 And, lastly, suppose your fingers take the form of 
 a cone, drawn out even to pointedness, yours will be 
 exclusively the domain of ideality, contemplation, 
 religious fervour, indifference to worldly interests, 
 poetry of heart and soul, and yearning for love and 
 liberty, cultivation [even to adoration] of the beauti- 
 ful in the aesthetic abstract rather than in the visible 
 and solid. 
 
 Whatever may be the type, formation, or condi- 
 tions of a hand, a pointed formation of the finger-tips 
 will denote impressionability of the subject. This 
 formation [like the others] will be considered at 
 greater length under the heading of the type to 
 which it particularly belongs. 
 
 These are the four principal formations of the 
 finger tips, concerning which space renders it 
 impossible, and the intelligence of the average 
 reader renders it unnecessary, to go further at this 
 present. 
 
 If the fingers cannot be classed under any of these 
 formations, but have their tips absolutely shapeless, 
 and consequently irresponsibly ugly and malformed, 
 such a hand is that of a person whose intellect is 
 weak, and whose individuality is practically nil. 
 
 It must be borne in mind that exaggeration or 
 excess of any form denotes a diseased condition of 
 the instincts indicated, by reason of their too high 
 development. 
 
 Thus, an exaggerated pointedness is apt to be the 
 result of impossible and fanatical romanticism, fool- 
 hardiness, and imprudence, exaggeration of imagina-
 
 HAIRINESS AND COLOUR OF THE HANDS. 11$ 
 
 tion, which developes into lying, and particularly into 
 affectation and eccentricity of manner. 
 
 Fingers too square show fanatical love of order and 1 172. 
 method in the abstract, servile submission to conven- ^^^ s 
 tionality, and to self-prescribed and otherwise regulated 
 ordinances. 
 
 Exaggerated spatulation of the fingers indicates 1173. 
 tyranny, [especially in the thumb, vide infra, If 194,] ^^f^ 
 perpetual hurry, restlessness, and discontent with 
 one's fellow-creatures. 
 
 These excesses of formation are also much in- 1 174. 
 fluenced by the development or want of development ^^,uin 
 of the thumb [vide Iffi 197-198 and 202-3]. excesses. 
 
 6. The Hairiness of the Hand. HAIRINESS. 
 
 To leave nothing connected with the hand uncon- 
 sidered, the greater or less amount of hair found 
 thereon must also engage our attention. 
 
 A hand the back of which is very hairy betokens ^ 175 
 inconstancy, whilst a quite hairless and smooth hand Hairy hands and 
 
 , - ,. . ...... smooth hands. 
 
 denotes lolly and presumption. A slight hairiness 
 gives prudence and love of luxury to a man ; but a 
 hairy hand on a woman always denotes cruelty. 
 
 Hair upon the thumb [according to the Sieur de 1176. 
 Peruchio] denotes ingenuity : on the third or lower Hairy thumbs 
 
 J and fingers. 
 
 phalanges of the fingers only, it betrays affectation, and 
 on all the phalanges a quick temper and choleric dis- 
 position. 
 
 Complete absence of hair upon the hands betokens 1 177. 
 effeminacy and cowardice. Absence of hair ' 
 
 7. The Colour of the Hands. COLOU*. 
 
 If the hands are continually white, never changing 1 178. 
 colour [or only doing so very slightly] under the 
 influences of heat or of cold, they denote egoism, sel- 
 fishness, and a want of sympathy with the joys and 
 sorrows of others.
 
 CHEIROGNOMY. 
 
 ^ 179. Le Sieur de Peruchio observes, very truly, 98 that in 
 
 Persons whose cases suc [ 1 as those of soldiers, of servants, and of 
 
 colorations 
 
 ar. significant workpeople, whose daily occupations must neces- 
 sarily alter and affect the coloration of their hands, 
 the colours cannot be relied upon as a certain indica- 
 tion of the temperament ; but in the case of women 
 and of persons whose sedentary habits, whose light 
 occupations, or whose care of their hands, tend to 
 preserve them in their normal and natural colours 
 and conditions, the following data may with confi- 
 dence be gone upon. 
 ^ 180. Redness of the skin denotes sanguinity and hope- 
 
 and'dark hands. f umess f temperament ; yellowness denotes bilious- 
 ness of disposition ; " blackness, melancholy ; and 
 pallor, a phlegmatic spirit. 
 ^[131. Darkness of tint is always preferable to paleness, 
 
 Preferable tint. wn j cn betrays effeminacy ; the best colour being a 
 decided and wholesome rosiness, which betokens a 
 bright and just disposition. 
 
 THE THUMB. 8. The Thumb. 
 
 ^ 182. I have in the Introductory Argument [vide H1F 26, 31, 
 
 Il thTthumb. f 35] Sa ^ so mucn concerning the importance of the 
 thumb and its position in the physiological ceconomy of 
 the hand, that it is needless to repeat any of those things 
 in this place. It is sufficient to say that the thumb 
 
 08 " La Chiromancie, La Physionomie et la Geomancie, avec la 
 signification des nombres, et 1'usage de la Roue de Pythagore," 
 par LE SIEUR DE PERUCHIO. (Paris) P. L'Amy. 1657. 4to. 
 
 99 BARTEN HOLYDAY, in his " Tixvoyapia ; or, the Marriage 
 of the Arts" [a Comedie : London, 1618], says, by one of his 
 characters, " That a. yellow death mould may never appeare upon 
 your Hande." The colour yellow seems always to have been 
 regarded as ominous [vide ^f 262]. We find in an old play in 
 Dodsley's Collection [Edition of 1780, vol. vi., p. 357] the 
 following passage : 
 
 " When yellow spots do on your Hands appear, 
 Be certain then you of a corse shall hear "...
 
 THE THUMB. 117 
 
 is by far the most important part of the hand, both 
 cheirognomically and practically speaking, for without 
 it the hand would be comparatively [if not absolutely] 
 powerless, and in it the cheirosophist looks for the 
 indications of the two greatest controlling powers of 
 the human system will and logic. 
 
 " The hand denotes the superior animal" said D'Ar- 1183. 
 pentigny, " the thumb individualizes the MAN." 10 D'Arpentigny. 
 
 The thumb is divided into three parts the root [or ^f 184. 
 Mount of Venus], which will be considered fully in a The divisions of 
 
 J7 ' the thumb. 
 
 future chapter [vide p. 224], belonging more especially 
 to cheiromancy pure and simple ; the second phalanx, 
 which is that of Logic; and the first [or nailed] 
 phalanx, which is the seat of the Will. Thus it betrays 
 the whole hand, and interprets the direction in which 
 its indicated aptitudes have been, or are being, de- 
 veloped, for Will, Reason, and Passion are the three 
 prevailing motors of the human race. 
 
 The second phalanx indicates our greater or less 1185. 
 amount of perception, judgment, and reasoning power ; i^'and'of will 
 the first by its greater or less development indicates 
 the strength of our will, our decision, and our capacity 
 for taking the initiative. 
 
 If the first phalanx is poor, weak, and short, it 11186. 
 betrays feebleness of will, want of decision and p^!^ weak 
 promptitude in action, unreliability and inconstancy, 
 readiness to accept other people's opinions rather than 
 to act upon one's own, doubt, uncertainty, and indif- 
 ference. 
 
 When a subject has such a thumb as this, and is 
 at the same time devoted to any particular person or 
 cause, or heroic in his action on any particular emer- 
 gency, his devotion and heroism are spontaneous and 
 
 180 "L' Animal sitpeneur est dans la main ; Fhomme est dans le 
 flouct." D'ARPENTIGNY, "La science de la Main ; ou 1'Art de 
 reconnaitre les tendances de 1'intelligence d'apres les formes de 
 la main" (Paris, Dentu, 1865, 3rd edition).
 
 118 CHEIROGNOMY. 
 
 sudden, [t.e., they are emotional,] not premeditated or 
 lasting. 
 
 If with a weak phalanx of will, such as this, your 
 Weak will and secon( j phalanx [that of reason and logic] is highly 
 developed, you will be able to give excellent reasons 
 for this want of will and uncertainty of disposition, 
 and, though your reasoning powers are excellent, and 
 the promptings of your common sense are strong, you 
 lack the will and decision to put your common sense 
 into practice, and to act boldly on the suggestions of 
 your better judgment. 
 
 ^[ 189. And conversely, if your first phalanx be long, and 
 
 >ha\an X U stron Y our second phalanx be short, you will be quick, 
 
 and the lower impulsive, decided, tenacious of your own opinions 
 
 [however erroneous they may be], and enthusiastic ; 
 
 but your own want of logic to subdue and direct your 
 
 spirit of action and strength of will, renders that will 
 
 of little use to you, and in point of fact you tend 
 
 towards unreasoning obstinacy. 
 
 f 190. A well-developed phalanx of Will will often over- 
 
 P We wm. Str0ng come [or at any rate greatly modify] a bad fatality 
 foreshadowed in the palm of the hand. 
 
 With square fingers, and a good line of Apollo 
 [*'* *M P- 26 1], a well-developed first phalanx of 
 etc - the thumb indicates a strong will tempered and 
 With soft hand, modified by a love of justice, and with a soft hand 
 this decision of character will only be exercised by 
 fits and starts, in consequence of the natural laziness 
 of the disposition. 
 
 1"192. With a highly-developed Mount of the Moon, a 
 
 Eff Moon ^ l ve f re P ose an d quietude will soothe the activity 
 of a highly-developed phalanx of Will, which 
 under these circumstances will only show itself by 
 a dictatorial tone in conversation and a domination 
 in manner. 
 
 ^ 193. If the phalanx is broad, but not particularly long, it 
 
 betrays obstinacy and unreasonableness, unless with
 
 THE THUMB. 1 19 
 
 square fingers, when it indicates firmness of judgment 
 and the principles and practice of justice. 
 
 If besides being the longer the phalanx of will is 1 194. 
 excessively broad, even to ugliness, it betrays un- broad x n c e To7th, 
 governable passions and obedience to the promptings phalanx of wiL' 
 of an unreasonable will, obstinacy, furious impulse, 
 and exaggeration in all things. Tyrants, murderers, 
 brutal savages, and the like, illustrate greatly this 
 formation, and a man who has this clubbed develop- 
 ment of thumb is proportionately to be dreaded as 
 the formation is more or less pronounced. In a hand 
 which is essentially passive this thumb will denote in a passive 
 merely morbid melancholy, especially if the phalanx 
 of logic is short, as the latter, if long, will greatly 
 modify the indications of the form. 
 
 The sign of the clubbed thumb is, however, the 
 more certain when the Mount and Plain of Mars are 
 high and the line of the head is weak. It may, to a 
 great extent, be modified and corrected by a well- 
 developed Mount of Apollo [vide p. 211], of Jupiter 
 [vide p. 204], or of Venus [vide p. 224], or by a good line 
 of heart. With these modifying signs such a subject 
 will rather injure himself in his fits of temper than 
 wilfully do an injury to another. 
 
 When the phalanx of will turns back, as it often 
 does, it indicates extravagance, luxury, and, with other 
 propitious signs, generosity, though an excess of this 
 formation is bad from its unreasoning unthriftiness, 
 which argues a want of moral sense. If, in addition, 
 the Mounts of Jupiter and Mars are high, the ex- 
 travagance of the subject will be devoted to display 
 and the gratification of his personal vanity ; and, as 
 I have observed before, [5[ 151,] the same remarks 
 apply [though in a lesser degree] to the fingers, which, 
 if turned back, indicate also extravagance. 101 
 
 IW Si pollex, qui pierumque extra manum jacet, potius petit 
 medkm palmam mediosque digitos, libidinosam ostendit atque 
 impuram mentem.
 
 I2O CHEIROGNOMY. 
 
 ^[197. It must also be noted that broadness of the first 
 
 Effe thumb r0ad phalanx of the thumb [obstinacy] renders any excess 
 of formation found elsewhere in the hand additionally 
 serious and ominous, for it is almost invariably ac- 
 companied by a short and small phalanx of logic or 
 reason. 
 
 ^[198. Therefore, it will be seen, that the greater or 
 
 Effect of small j ess development of the various portions of the 
 
 thumb. r 
 
 thumb plays a most important part in the science of 
 cheirosophy : you may take it, as a rule, that a small, 
 ill-formed, feeble, or badly-developed thumb indicates 
 vacillation of mind, irresolution and want of decision 
 in affairs which require to be governed by reason 
 rather than by instinct or by sentiment. 
 
 *R 199. If the shortness of the second phalanx [logic] shows 
 
 Short logic in wan t of reasoning power ; pointed fingers, a weak line 
 of the head declining upon a high Mount of the Moon, 
 and forked at its extremity, all give unfailing indications 
 of a foolish-mindedness that cannot be counteracted 
 even by a well-developed phalanx of will, or a well- 
 formed line of fortune. 
 
 ^f 200. Small-thumbed subjects are governed rather . by 
 
 Bandsman heart, as opposed to large-thumbed subjects, who are 
 
 thumbs. governed by head ; the former have more sentiments 
 
 than ideas, the latter have more ideas than sentiments. 
 
 1 201. The bad indications [i.e., the weakness] of a small 
 
 Modifying signs. thumb ma y be counteracted by a high Mount or 
 
 Plain of Mars, which will give firmness and decision 
 
 to the character, as well as calmness and resignation. 
 
 Another modifying sign is softness of the hand, [i.e., 
 
 laziness,] for in this case the subject will not take the 
 
 trouble to get into mischief, [though he lacks the strength 
 
 of Will to resist temptation when it comes in his way], 
 
 ^[202. With a large thumb, you will be independent and 
 
 F 'h*mb f 'd^f se lf-reliant, inclining rather to despotism, governing 
 
 small thumb by will rather than by persuasion ; with a small one, 
 
 WI nneers. 0t vou w ^ he reliant on others, easily governed, and
 
 THE CONSISTENCY OF THE HANDS. 121 
 
 wanting in self-confidence, but you will possess, if 
 your fingers be smooth, [no matter what their termi 
 nation,] the instincts, the natural tendencies, [unde- 
 veloped though they may be,] of art. 
 
 So in the same way he who is poetic or artistic 
 by reason of his smooth, conic fingers, is the more 
 certainly so if he have a small thumb ; whilst he who 
 is exact and scientific by reason of his square or 
 knotted fingers, will be the more so if he have also a 
 large thumb. 
 
 ^203. 
 
 g. The Consistency of the Hands. 
 
 Another great class difference which exists among 
 hands is that of consistency. That is to say, of two 
 hands outwardly the same, one may be so firm as to 
 be hard, and the other may be so soft as to be flabby, 
 and the great distinction thus indicated is, that soft 
 hands betray a quiet temperament, inclining to lazi- 
 ness, and reaching even to lethargy, whilst hard hands 
 indicate an energetic longing for action and a love of 
 hard physical or manual labour. These differences 
 show themselves chiefly in the way in which the 
 different subjects undertake their work. 
 
 The soft hand has more poetry in its composition 
 than the hard. Thus, an artist with hard hands 
 will paint things real and actual rather than things 
 ideal, and his pictures will be more active and manly 
 than those of a softer-handed artist, who will paint 
 the images of his fancy, and whose works will show 
 greater soul, greater diversity, and more fantasy. 
 
 Again, a spatulate subject with hard hands will 
 engage in active exercises, athletics, and the like, 
 whilst the similar but softer-handed subject prefers 
 gentler exercise, and prefers to watch others engaging 
 in active occupations; the former will get up early 
 and work hard, whilst the latter will get up later, 
 
 f 203. 
 Indications. 
 
 "204. 
 
 Soft and hard 
 
 hands. 
 
 Artists.
 
 122 
 
 CHEIROGNOMY. 
 
 Soft hands. 
 
 f207. 
 
 Soft spatulate 
 hands. 
 
 though, when up, he will work as hard, or take great 
 interest in seeing others work as hard. 
 
 Again, people with soft hands have always a love 
 of the marvellous, being more nervous, more impres- 
 sionable, more imaginative than those with hard 
 hands. A very soft hand has to a still greater degree 
 developed this fascination for the strange and un- 
 canny, being rendered additionally superstitious by 
 their bodily laziness, which keeps their minds active. 
 The tendency is still more pronounced if the fingers 
 are pointed. 
 
 On the other hand, a soft spatulate subject, by 
 reason of his desire for movement, is always eager 
 to search and experimentalize in the marvellous ; dis- 
 coveries in the occult sciences are generally made by 
 people with pointed fingers, but these discoveries are 
 always followed up by people with soft spatulate hands. 
 In like manner a very hard hand will be super- 
 Very hard hands. st j t i ous f rom want of intellect to make him otherwise, 
 and the tendency will be the more accentuated if the 
 subject have also pointed and smooth fingers. 
 ^[209. But if a soft hand have a long phalanx of will, the 
 
 InflU th n u C mb f the sub J ect > though naturally lazy, will discipline himself, 
 and often compel himself to do work which is dis- 
 tasteful to him. 
 
 f210. I have in another place 102 called attention to the 
 
 Hardness of the circumstance that, as we increase in years and our 
 
 hands in age. . . 
 
 intellects get weaker, we are apt to take to hard 
 manual labour, such as gardening, carpentering, and 
 the like ; it will be observed that at the same time 
 our hands get firmer, even to hardness, and this 
 before natural decay renders them parchmenty and 
 bony. We become more philosophic, and less cre- 
 
 102 " Chiromancy, or the Science of Palmistry ; being a Concise 
 Exposition of the Principles and Practice of the Art of Reading 
 the Hand." By Henry Frith and Edward Heron-Allen. (London. 
 1883.)
 
 THE CONSISTENCY OF THE HANDS. 123 
 
 dulous, more logical, and less romantic, as with age 
 our joints thus develope. I have before alluded 
 [vide supra, f 130] to the fact that joints may develop 
 in a smooth hand, as a result of intellectual and 
 scientific cultivation. 
 
 Soft hands are often more capable of tenderness 
 and affection than true love; but hard hands are 
 generally the more capable of true love, though less 
 prone to demonstrative tenderness and affection. 
 
 To be perfect, a hand should be firm without hard- ^[212. 
 ness, and elastic without being flabby ; such a hand JjjJJjJjJ 
 only hardens very slowly with age, whereas an 
 already very firm hand often becomes extremely 
 hard. Smoothness, and a gentle firmness of the 
 hand, in youth, betoken delicacy of mind, whilst dry- 
 ness and thinness betray rudeness and insensibility. 
 
 A hard hand has, by its hardness, many of the ^J^ m 
 instincts of the spatulate, whatever may be its exterior like spatu i ate 
 formation. For instance, it can bear hardships and hands - 
 privations before which a soft-handed subject would 
 succumb. It also likes the life of constant effort and 
 struggle, so distasteful to the soft, and so welcome to 
 the spatulate hand. 
 
 It must be also noted that an exceedingly hard hand W^ 
 always denotes unintelligence, and if a short phalanx hardness. 
 of logic is superadded thereto, the activity of the hand 
 will be ill directed in the pursuit of pleasures and 
 other affairs useless to the owner of the hand. 
 
 THE ASPECT. 
 
 The aspect of the hand must also be taken into Wrin J le 2 d 15 han(K 
 consideration, in connection with the consistency; 
 thus, a soft wrinkled hand shows impressionability 
 and uprightness of soul, and a wrinkled hard hand 
 is that of a person who is pugnacious, irritating, and 
 teasing, especially if the nails be short [vide ^f 251-3]. 
 
 The back of the hand lined and wrinkled always Wj J M backs . 
 indicates benevolence of mind and sensitiveness of soul.
 
 124 CHEIROGNOMY. 
 
 f 217. A hand of a good firm consistency, having the joint 
 
 Firm hand and f d r tne seC ondl well developed, with a long 
 
 lower joint, etc. 
 
 phalanx of logic, is an almost invariable indication of 
 good fortune, which is well merited, well striven for, 
 and therefore thoroughly realized. 
 
 ^[ 218. People of sedentary occupations generally have soft 
 
 'epubHcfnt hands, and are generally the most republican in their 
 creeds, because their bodies being quiet their brains 
 are the more active. These soft-handed republicans 
 are those who rave at their followers and harangue 
 the mob with the premeditated verbiage of expe- 
 rimental incendiarism, whilst the hard-handed repub- 
 licans are those who organize, who act, and who 
 devote all their energies to the attainment of the 
 objects which their pointed fingers prompt them to 
 strive for. 
 
 ^[ 219. The man with the firm, strong hands and the deve- 
 
 Fi " I \ h , ands a " d loped Mount of Venus [vide p. 224] is the man who 
 
 the Mount of 
 
 Venus. will exert himself to amuse others with feats of grace 
 and of agility ; who will romp with children, and work 
 hard to contribute his share to the general harmony. 
 
 ^ 220. During an illness a hand which is naturally inclined 
 
 Softness during to be hard w jn o f te n become temporarily soft, re- 
 
 illness. t t ' 
 
 gaining its natural hardness when the ordinary habits 
 of life are resumed. It has been argued to me from 
 this, that the indications afforded by cheirognomy are 
 unstable and unreliable ; but on the other hand it is a 
 most interesting fact in support of the science, for the 
 enforced laziness during the time of illness produces 
 in the hand the cheirognomical sign of laziness, and 
 proves that a temporary abandonment of its charac- 
 teristic employments by a hand, will cause it to 
 conform cheirognomically to the indication of the 
 newly-acquired (though enforced) course of life.
 
 OF THE INDIVIDUAL FINGERS. 12$ 
 
 10. The Cheirognomy of the Individual Fingers. 
 
 There is also to be considered a separate cheiro- 
 gnomy of each individual finger, which must particu- 
 larly be studied in reading the indications of a mixed 
 hand [vide p. 170]. 
 
 Thus, if the first finger [or index] is long, it indi- 5 221. 
 
 L J . . . The first finger. 
 
 cates pride and contemplation ; if it is short it indicates 
 activity and impulse ; if it is very long [i.e., as long as 
 the second or middle finger] it indicates a sense of 
 luxury even to sensualism, love of pleasure and com- 
 fort rather than of art, combined with an indiscrimi- 
 nating arrogance and egoism which is ashamed of 
 poor relations or associates if surprised in their com- 
 pany. 
 
 A long and pointed first finger betrays religious ^ 222 - 
 
 i c -i. Ver y Ion 8 >ndex. 
 
 exaltation. If it is longer than the second finger, it 
 denotes that the life is ruled by ambition or [if the 
 hand is good in its other developments] by religion. 
 
 If the first [or nailed] phalanx is long it denotes 5 223. 
 
 jji 1 The phalanges of 
 
 religion and intuition ; if the second [or middlej the &Kt ^^^ 
 phalanx is long it indicates ambition; and if the 
 third [or lowest] phalanx is long it betrays pride and 
 love of domination. 
 
 If, whilst of normal length, the finger is pointed, 5824. 
 
 .... T c Pointed with a 
 
 the subject has intuition and religious instincts. developed 
 
 the Mount at the base of the finger [vide p. 204] is ount - 
 highly developed, and all the fingers are smooth, we 
 generally find a tendency to ecstacy and mysticism. 
 The intuition of the pointed forefinger applies itself, 
 as a rule, to the contemplation and perfection of the 
 qualities shown by the formations of the other fingers 
 and the rest of the hand. 
 
 If it is square, we find a love of and a search alter ^ 225. 
 truth. Such a subject will seek to discover truth Square index 
 from natural [not occult] sources of information. He 
 will have a love of landscape painting in art, whilst,
 
 126 CHEIROGNOMY. 
 
 with a good development of the Mount of Jupiter [vide 
 
 p. 204], he will have tolerance and reason in religion. 
 
 ^[226. A spatulate termination to this finger [fortunately 
 
 Spatuiation of a very rare f orm ~| indicates, as a rule, intense mysti- 
 
 the index. J ' 
 
 cism and error, especially in a smooth-fingered hand. 
 ^T 227. If the second [or middle] finger is highly developed 
 
 Th fi e ng e e C nd and flat [i.e., inclined to spatulation] it indicates sad- 
 Spatuiated or ne ss, fatalism, a morbid imagination, and melancholy. 
 [If it is twisted it is said to be a sign of murderous 
 instincts and inclination.] 
 
 ^[228. This finger is seldom pointed ; but when it is so the 
 
 Poin finger. C nd P oint modifies the sad and morbid influence which is 
 
 the inseparable evil of the development and conditions 
 
 of this finger, producing callousness and frivolity in 
 
 place of morbidity and moroseness. This result is 
 
 more striking if the hand bears also a small thumb. 
 
 ^[229. If the finger is square the character of the subject 
 
 SqUi fin lddle becomes grave in proportion to the greater or lesser 
 
 accentuation of the square formation of the finger. 
 ^[230. The spatulate is the most natural and ordinary 
 
 S ^ne U middie f termination for this finger, giving it activity of imagi- 
 finger. nation, and a morbid fancy in matters relating to art, 
 
 science, and literature. 
 
 ^f 231. If on this finger the first phalanx is long, it betokens 
 
 'of C the Second sadness and superstition, very long it betrays a morbid 
 finger. desire for death, and, in a weak hand with a small 
 thumb, a horrible temptation to suicide. If the second 
 phalanx is long by comparison with the others it 
 denotes love of agriculture and mechanical occupa- 
 tions, or, if the joints are prominent, mathematics 
 and the exact sciences. If the fingers are smooth 
 the development of this second phalanx will give a 
 talent for occult science. Lastly, if the third phalanx 
 is long and large it denotes avarice. . 
 
 1 232. If the finger incline at the tip towards the first 
 
 Middle finger fl nger t he fatalism indicated thereby is dominated, 
 
 inclined towards * 
 
 the third or first, and to some extent modified, by pride and selt-con-
 
 OF THE INDIVIDUAL FINGERS. 127 
 
 fidence. If it incline towards the third [or middle] 
 finger this same fatalism is dominated by art. 
 
 If the third [or ring] finger is as long as the first ^ 233. 
 it shows artistic taste, and a desire and ambition to The third fin 8 er 
 become celebrated and wealthy through artistic talent. 
 If it is as long as the second finger, however, it indi- 
 cates a gambler, or a person who is foolhardy and 
 rash, especially when the Mount of Mercury [vide 
 p. 214] is developed. When a hand is otherwise good 
 and strong, this length of the third finger merely indi- 
 cates a love of adventure and enterprise, especially if 
 the finger tips are spatulate. If the finger is longer 
 than the second or middle finger, it indicates that the 
 instinct and talent for art will triumph over the 
 fatality which will place obstacles in its way and 
 try to impede its progress. 
 
 If the tip of this finger is pointed it denotes intui- , 234. 
 tion in art ; but if all the other fingers present diffe- Pointed third 
 rent formations of the tips it will indicate frivolity 
 and levity of mind. 
 
 A square-tipped third finger will seek for positivism, ^ 35. 
 research and reason in art, and, with the third or Square third 
 
 ' linger. 
 
 lowest phalanx large, a love of wealth. 
 
 A spatulate termination to the finger will denote ^[236. 
 love of action and movement in art, battles, struggles, Spatuiation of 
 
 c 1_ O U the tlllrd n g er - 
 
 animated scenes, and representations ot them, bucn 
 subjects generally make good actors, elocutionists, and 
 orators. 
 
 If the finger is amorphic and shapeless at its extre- ^ 2 37. 
 mity, it denotes positivism cf mind and commercial Shapeless^ or 
 
 <** , . . , shortness of the 
 
 talent and instinct. If the finger is short whilst the third finger, 
 rest of the hand is decidedly artistic, the talent for 
 art will be there, but it will indicate a mercenary pur- 
 suit of art for the sake of its emoluments and rewards. 
 
 The first [or outer] phalanx long shows great ^ 238 
 artistic feeling ; the second, highly developed, denotes ^^"f" 
 reason and industry in art and the love of those f , neer
 
 128 CHEIROGNOMY. 
 
 qualities; the third phalanx dominating the others 
 betrays love of form and conventionality, vanity in 
 art, and a strong desire for wealth. 
 
 f 239. The development of the first [or upper] joint will give 
 
 ~ thinTfinger! * to this finger research and love of perfection and finish 
 
 in art, whilst a prominence of the second [or lower] 
 
 joint will indicate a love and appreciation of riches. 
 
 f 240. If the fourth [or little] finger is long [i.e., reaching to 
 
 Th fin f e" rth the middle of the nailed phalanx of the middle finger] 
 it indicates a search after knowledge, a love of educa- 
 tion, and a desire to perfect oneself in all kinds of 
 learning. Such a subject will gather quickly the 
 principia of a science, and [from the eloquence and 
 powers of expression, denoted by a development of 
 this finger] can discourse and converse with ease on 
 any subject he has ever taken up. If the finger is as 
 long as the third itself, the owner of the hand will be 
 a philosopher and a savant, unless the whole hand is 
 bad, when this formation denotes cunning and ruse. 
 In the rare cases where the little finger is so long as 
 to reach the top of the second finger, the indication 
 is that the love of science will dominate every fatality 
 of the life, and will surmount every obstacle which 
 may be thrown in his way. If, on the other hand, 
 the finger is very short, it betokens a very quick 
 perception and power of grasping things and reason- 
 ing them out with rapidity. 
 
 ^[241. A pointed little finger indicates intuition in applied 
 
 P m fin d UIth and occu ^ sciences, perspicacity, cunning, and elo- 
 quence, which can be brought into requisition to 
 discourse about the veriest nothings. Such subject* 
 make by far the best " after-dinner speakers " and 
 complimentary orators. 
 f 242. Squareness of this finger tip denotes reason in 
 
 SqU fin e Ule sc i en ce, love of research and discovery, combined 
 with logic, good sense, and facility of expression 
 when there is need for it
 
 ACTIONS AND POSITIONS OF THE HANDS. 
 
 A spatulation of the little finger gives movement, 
 agitation, and often fantasy in science, fervid and 
 moving eloquence, with a strong aptitude and talent 
 for mechanics. If the rest of the hand is bad, this 
 spatulated formation of the finger tips will indicate 
 theft. 
 
 If the first phalanx is long, we find love of science 
 and eloquence ; when the second phalanx is the 
 longest of the three, we find industry and com- 
 mercial capacity; and, with a development of the 
 third, we get cunning, cleverness, perspicacity, and 
 lying. 
 
 Prominence of the first joint indicates research in 
 science, and often divination; the salience of the 
 second betrays research and industry in business 
 and commercial skill and aptitude. 
 
 u. The Habitual Actions and Natural Positions 
 of the Hands. 
 
 In arriving at an estimate of a character by the 
 application of cheirosophy, there are also to be 
 considered the habitual actions of the hands and the 
 natural positions into which they unconsciously place 
 themselves when in a state of repose. This branch of 
 the science of Cheirosophy has been treated as a 
 distinct science under the name of Cheirology, 103 and 
 as such I purpose at a future date to treat it. At 
 
 193 There exists an extremely rare duodecimo by John Bulwer, 
 devoted entirely to this subject, and entitled "Chirologia; or, 
 the Naturall Language of the Hand : Composed of the Speaking 
 Motions and Discoursing Gestures thereof, Whereunto is added, 
 Chironomia : or the Art of Manuall Rhetoricke, Consisting of 
 the Naturall Expressions, digested by Art in the Hand, as the 
 Chiefest Instrument of Eloquence, by Historical Manifestos 
 exemplified, out of the Authentique Registers of Common Life, 
 and Civill Conversation, With Types, or Chyrograms, A long- 
 wish'd for illustration of this Argument." By J. B. Gent 
 Philochirosophus. (London.) Printed by Thos. Harper, 1644. 
 
 the little fingei 
 
 The phalanges 
 
 of the fourth. 
 
 finger. 
 
 GESTURES. 
 
 1 246". 
 Cheirology.
 
 130 CHEIROGNOMY. 
 
 present, however, a few of the elementary rules of 
 this branch cannot fail to be of use and interest to 
 the student of Cheirosophy, as being in a high degree 
 germane to the considerations wherewith we are in 
 this volume occupying our attention. 
 
 ^[246. To keep the hands always tightly closed denotes 
 
 s and secretiveness, and not unfrequently a tendency to 
 untruth. To keep them closed in this manner even 
 when walking betrays timidity and avarice, whilst to 
 carry the hands continually open indicates liberality 
 and openness of disposition. 
 
 ^247 To let the hands hang carelessly and loosely by the 
 
 Carelessness. s j(j es betokens laziness, restlessness, and often a sus- 
 picious disposition. 
 
 ^ 248. If in walking you keep the hands clasped, swinging 
 
 AB u^scence d them to an( ^ ^ ro > & shows promptness and impetuosity 
 of character, whilst to keep the hands motionless by 
 the sides betrays dignity and reserve. To keep them 
 absolutely and studiously impassive denotes vanity, 
 conceit, and often falsehood. 
 
 U249. If when the body is at rest the fingers are con- 
 
 The fingers s t an tiy tapping together, it denotes lightness, dreami- 
 
 Uppmg together. 
 
 ness, and fantasy. If they beat together strongly, it 
 indicates promptitude and decision of opinion, whilst, if 
 they tremble, it usually denotes [unless the subject is 
 nervous and highly strung, when it is a natural con- 
 sequence] folly and often want of principle. 
 f 250. Gaule [vide note 97 , p. 1 1 o] points out the fact that "the 
 
 Gauie. often clapping and folding of the handes note covetous, 
 
 Gesticulations , , . . 
 
 in speech, and their much moving in speech loquacious ; two 
 indications which, though correct, partake rather too 
 much of the nature of truisms. 
 
 THE FWGER- 12. The Finger Nails. 
 
 There existed formerly an extremely ancient art 
 of divination termed Onychomancy, or Divination by 
 the Finger Nails. Into the study of this art much of
 
 THE FINGER NAILS. !$! 
 
 the charlatanry, superstition, ignorance, and fraud of 
 the soi-disant sorcerers of the early and Middle Ages 
 necessarily was infused, and the rites whereby augu- 
 ries were drawn from rings suspended on the finger 
 nails, or from the figures formed by the reflection of 
 the sun's rays falling upon the finger nails of a child 
 which had been previously polished with oil, are too 
 absurd to receive a moment's consideration when 
 pursuing investigations, the aim of which is the dis- 
 covery of truth. The finger nails follow of course 
 to a very great extent the shapes of the tips of the 
 fingers, Nature having provided them, not as among 
 the brutes, for purposes of offence and defence, but 
 merely as a protection to the delicate tips of the 
 fingers. 104 Still, very considerable indications of cha- 
 racter may be found in the aspect of the finger nails, 
 which, as far as they are interesting to us, in the 
 study of Cheirosophy, are as follows. 105 
 
 If the nails are short, broad rather than long, with 
 the skin growing far up them, the subject will be 
 pugnacious, critical in disposition, fond of domination 
 and control in matters relating to himself and to 
 his surroundings ; in fact, he will be imbued with a 
 spirit of meddlesomeness. His establishment will be 
 minutely ordered, and regularly conducted. With 
 
 101 This is noted by Aristotle in his treatise, HEPI SOON MO- 
 PIfJN. Bi0\. A' E.e<f>. I. ES 8t Kal rb TWV MX UV /nfA"7X^"/ rat ' ri 
 Htv yap fiXXct fa ?x Ka * *$* XP^ 1 " wrote, rots 8' dvOpuiroit 
 iwiKaXviTTripta. ffictira<rfji.a. 7&/5 TUV d-Kpurripluv elffw. 
 
 105 Democritus Junior, [Robert Burton,] in his " Anatomy of 
 Melancholy" (Oxford, 1621), [Part I., Sect. 2, Memb. I, 
 Sub-sect. 4,] makes some extremely interesting observations on 
 the subject of the finger nails, which, for the benefit of those 
 who are so far interested in the subject, I here transcribe : 
 "Chiromancy hath these aphorisms to foretell melancholy. . . . 
 Baptista Porta makes observations from other parts of the body, 
 as, if a spot be over the spleen, ' or in the nails ; if it appear 
 black it signifieth much care, grief, contention, and melancholy ' ; 
 the reason he refers to the humours, and gives instances in him-
 
 132 CHEIROGNOMY. 
 
 spatulate fingers and a short thumb this subject will 
 be constantly tidying things away, arranging and 
 dusting his rooms for himself, and organizing the dis- 
 positions of his property. 
 
 ^"252. With short nails, a woman whose line of heart is 
 
 women! 6 small, whose head line is straight and inclined to turn 
 up towards the little finger, whose Mount of Mercury 
 [vide ^[ 468] is flat and covered with lines, and whose 
 Mounts of Moon and of Mars [vide pp. 217 and 220] 
 are high, with the joints of the fingers plainly visible, 
 will be undoubtedly of that kind of woman who is 
 known as " a virago." The above are all the signs of 
 harshness and quarrelsomeness in woman, and the 
 possession of short nails accentuates the certainty of 
 the indications. 
 
 ^[253. Short nails denote sharpness, quickness of intellect, 
 
 o7il n rS ! s S and perspicacity. With a good line of head they 
 indicate administrative faculty; with a good line of 
 Apollo they indicate irony and badinage. Short- 
 nailed subjects make the best journalists, by reason of 
 their love of criticism and readiness to engage in any 
 dispute or contention. On a good-natured and happy 
 hand, or in a lazy hand, short nails denote a spirit 
 of mockery and of good-humoured sarcasm, frivolity, 
 criticism, and contradiction. 
 
 self, that for seven years' space he had such black spots in his 
 nails, and all that while was in perpetual law-suits, contro- 
 versies for his inheritance, fear, loss of honour, banishment, 
 grief, care, etc., and when his miseries ended the black spots 
 vanished. Cardan, in his book ' De Libris Propriis,' tells such 
 a story of his own person, that a little before his son's death he 
 had a black spot which appeared in one of his nails > and 
 dilated itself as he came nearer to his end. But I am tedious 
 in these toys, which, howsoever in some men's too severe cen- 
 sures they may be held absurd and ridiculous, I am the bolder 
 to insert as not borrowed from circumforean rogues and gypsies, 
 but cut of the writings of worthy philosophers in famous univer- 
 sities, who are able to patronize that which they have said, and 
 vindicate themselves from all cavillers and icnorant oersons."
 
 THE FINGER NAILS. 133 
 
 It goes almost without saying that when the nails 
 are short from the habit of biting them they indicate Bitten nails - 
 nervousness, abstraction, subjection to fits of melan- 
 choly, a worrying, disposition, and continual irritation. 
 This is still more the case if the ends of the fingers 
 are spatulated. 
 
 White and polished, soft in texture, with a ten- ^"255. 
 dency to pinkness by reason of their transparency, Whlt n e ai s ooth 
 and of a normal and well-proportioned length, the 
 nails indicate a good spirit, delicacy of mind, sensi- 
 tiveness, tact, and good taste. 
 
 Albertus Magnus states that round and rough nails ^ 256. 
 show a great capacity for attachment, whilst very white Ex j remes r 
 or dark-coloured nails betray malignity of disposition. condition. 
 
 If the nails are long and curved they denote fero- ^[257. 
 city and cruelty. According to Gaule, they " signe La ^^ & ' 
 one brutish, ravenous and unchaste." Short and pale narrow, round, 
 they betoken falsehood and cunning. Black-toned nails 
 are a sign of treachery, and narrow and curled nails 
 of impudence and imposture. With large white 
 nails the morality is good. Round nails are the 
 indications of a luxurious disposition, and very thin 
 nails betray a subtle disposition, generally accom- 
 panied by weak health. 
 
 According to De Peruchio [op. cit. p. 116, note 98 ] ^"258. 
 points in the nails, whether white or black, mean Spo the 
 nothing if they are cloudy and diffused. If they are 
 star-shaped they indicate a vain worship of things to 
 which one is attracted, and if they merely present the 
 appearance of a clearly-marked point they are the 
 indications of some event the nature of which is not 
 specified. 
 
 White marks upon the thumb-nail denote affection, ^ 259 
 which is generally reciprocated. Rays of white on Spots upon me 
 
 J ' thumb- nails. 
 
 the same nail show a useless and ill-directed attach- 
 ment, whilst black spots denote faults [or even crimes] 
 resulting from passion.
 
 134 CHEIROGNOMY. 
 
 ^260. A white mark on the nail of the first, or forefinger, 
 
 pots on the 
 finger-nails. 
 
 c^- 5 . -"' 1 ! 6 foreshadows a gain, and a black mark a loss. On 
 
 the nail of the second finger the white mark tells of 
 a voyage, and the black one of impending destruction. 
 On the third finger nail a white mark denotes honour 
 and wealth, and a black mark infamy and baseness. 
 White marks on the little finger nail denote a faith in 
 science and commercial gain. These are the dicta of 
 traditional Onychomancy. 
 
 ^1 281 . Sir Thomas Browne, in his " Pseudoxia Epidemica," 106 
 
 r . rown*. as f u ows concerning the indications of the 
 
 finger-nails : " That temperamental dignotions and 
 conjecture of prevalent humours may be collected from 
 spots in the nails we are not averse to concede ; but 
 yet not ready to admit sundry divinations vulgarly 
 raised upon them, nor do we observe it verified in 
 Cardan. others what Cardan 107 discovered as a property in 
 himself to have found therein some signes of most 
 events that ever happened to him \yide note 105 , p. 
 132]. Or that there is much considerable in that 
 doctrine of Chiromancy, that spots in the top of the 
 nails do signify things past ; in the middle things 
 present ; and at the bottom things to come. That 
 white specks presage our felicity, blue ones our mis- 
 fortunes. That those in the nail of the thumb have 
 signification of honour; those in the fore-finger of 
 Tricasso and riches ; and so respectively in other fingers, as Tricas- 
 sus, 108 hath taken up, and Picciolus 109 well rejecteth." 
 
 '" SIR THOMAS BROWNE, "Pseudoxia Epidemica: or En- 
 quiries into very many received tenets and commonly presumed 
 Truths " (London, 1646), book v., chap. 24, i. 
 
 101 GIROLAMO CARDANO,"Cardani, de rerum varietate "(Basle, 
 1557), fol. 
 
 us p ATR j CIO TRICASSO, " Chyromantia del Tricasso da Csesari 
 Mantuano, Nuovame[n]te revista, e con so[m]ma dilige[n]tia 
 corretta" (Venice, 1534), 8vo. 
 
 * " Antonii Piccioli, seu Rapiti Renovati de manus in- 
 spectione libri tres " (Bergami, 1587).
 
 
 THE FINGER NAILS. 135 
 
 "To have yellow speckles in the nails of one's 
 hand," says Melton, " is a greate signe of death." 
 
 So much, therefore, for the preliminary Cheiro- A of 
 
 gnomic examination of the hand generally, and of its g en erai 
 various parts and their conditions in particular. It is principle 
 not necessary to pursue these analytical distinctions 
 further ; the student of Cheirognomy will easily under- 
 stand how to apply the modifications indicated by 
 these combined and analysed indications, to the 
 general tendencies and instincts suggested by the type 
 of a hand so as to arrive at a comprehension of the 
 most accurate nuances of the character and constitution 
 of his subject. 
 
 " JOHN MELTON, " Astrologaster : or the Figure caster* 
 (London, 1620), 8vo.
 
 f264. 
 
 THE SEVEN 
 TYPES. 
 
 Nomenclature 
 of the Types. 
 
 Mixed hands. 
 
 SUB-SECTION II. 
 
 THE SEVEN TYPES OF HANDS, AND THEIR SEVERAL 
 CHARACTERISTICS. 
 
 VIEWED by the light of the science of Cheirognomy, 
 all hands belong either to one of six principal classes, 
 or else to a seventh, which is composed of the hands 
 which cannot be rightly classed in any of the other 
 six. These, as determined by M. le Capitaine S. 
 d'Arpentigny, are as follows : 
 
 I. The Elementary, or Necessary Hand. 
 II. The Spatulate, or Active Hand. 
 
 III. The Conical, or Artistic Hand. 
 
 IV. The Square, or Useful Hand. 
 
 V. The Knotty, or Philosophic Hand. 
 VI. The Pointed, or Psychic Hand. 
 To these are added [as I have said] a seventh, 
 which is not so much a type by itself as a combina- 
 tion of several. This class comprises those hands 
 which seem to represent more than one type, and are 
 consequently known in Cheirognomy as 
 VII. Mixed Hands.
 
 . J THE ELEMENTARY
 
 THE ELEMENTARY, OR NECESSARY HAND. 139 
 
 i. The Elementary, or Necessary Hand. 
 
 This is so called because it belongs to the lowest THE ELEMEN- 
 grade of human intelligence, and seems only to be TARY *"> 
 gifted with the amount of intellect requisite to pro- 
 vide the merest necessities of life. 
 
 Its outward appearance presents the following ^265. 
 features : the fingers are short and thick, wanting in ^appearance 
 pliability ; the thumb short, often slightly turned characteristics. 
 back ; and the palm very large, thick, and hard. The 
 palm is, as a general rule, longer than the fingers. 
 These hands very frequently have absolutely no line 
 of Fate [or Fortune] at all. \Vide Plate I.] 
 
 Such a hand as this betokens a crass and sluggard If 266. 
 intelligence, incapable of understanding anything but In ^ a t '^ s ' 
 the physical and visible aspect of things, a mind 
 governed by custom and habit, and not by inclina- 
 tion or originality. Such a character, inaccessible to 
 reason from sheer want of originality of intellect to 
 understand it, is sluggish, heavy, and lazy as regards 
 any occupation beyond its accustomed toil It has no 
 imagination or reasoning power, and will only exert 
 itself mentally or physically so as to obtain that 
 which is absolutely necessary to its existence. Thus 
 in war such hands will only fight to defend them- 
 selves, and not for glory or honour ; such people fight 
 with a brutish ferocity, but without any attention to 
 the arts of modern warfare. They act by rule 
 and rote, not in obedience to their passions or imagi- 
 nation, which are conspicuous by their absence. 
 Such people, having no instinct of cultivation, would 
 regard education as a folly, if not as a crime or as 
 something unholy. 
 
 The Laplanders are the best specimens of this 1267. 
 type ; and out of their latitudes the true elementary Spedn ^ of 
 hand is very seldom found in its pure crass uninte|-
 
 140 CHEIROGNOMY. 
 
 ligence, except perhaps among the lower class Tartars 
 
 and Sclavs, who exist, rather live, with an existence 
 
 which is purely negative, dead to any of the higher 
 
 considerations which make life worth living. 
 
 ^"268. Though, as I say, this type, in its pure state, does 
 
 Quasi-eiemen- no j. ex j s t among us, still we often see hands with a 
 
 tary hands. 
 
 strong tendency to the elementary form. Such will 
 be noticed amongst mixed hands \yide infra, p. 170], 
 and it will be found that they always bring these 
 crass' and sluggish qualities to interfere with those 
 of the dominant type of the hand. 
 
 ^[269. Almost the only charm to which these minds are 
 
 cultivation accessible is that of music [and to this I shall recur 
 when considering the mixed hand, vide ^[ 346]. 
 Science is an unknown country ; they are generally 
 superstitious, and always ignorant ; and, having no 
 strength of mind, they are stricken most sorely by 
 any grief or disaster which overtakes them. 
 ^f270. With the Laps and Sclavs as the examples of this 
 
 types. ing tv P e > we mav ta ^ e tne Moslems and Hindoos as the 
 contrasting opposites. Among these poetic, cunning, 
 romantic, sensual peoples the elementary hand does 
 not exist, and to perform the degrading and menial 
 offices which are with us performed by hands show- 
 ing the developments of this type, these Oriental 
 nations have to employ a separate class of low-caste 
 creatures, to whose elementary hands such labours do 
 not come amiss. 
 
 THESPATULATB 2 . The Spatulate, or Active Hand. 
 
 HAND. 
 
 its appearance. This is the hand whose fingers have the first [or 
 outer] phalanx terminating more or less in a spatule 
 [vide Plate II.], and, bearing in mind what I have 
 already said in a previous sub-section [sub-sec. I., 
 ^ffl 202-3] concerning the thumb, it will be easily 
 conceived that this latter must be large to give the 
 true character to the spatulate hand.
 
 PLATE II. THE SPATULATE, on ACTIVE HAND.
 
 THE SPATULATE, OR ACTIVE HAND. 143 
 
 The great pronounced characteristics of this type are : 271. 
 action, movement, energy ; and, of course, the harder In ^. a [* f 
 or firmer the hand, the more pronounced will these 
 characteristics be [vide ^f 203]. A man of this type 
 is resolute, self-confident, and desirous of abundance 
 rather than of sufficiency ; [it is here that lies the 
 great distinction between the spatulate and elemen- 
 tary hands ; the former loving and seeking abundance, 
 the latter requiring only sufficiency ;] he will be more 
 active than delicate, more energetic than enthusiastic ; 
 in love he will be more constant and faithful [though 
 less tender and affectionate] than the conic or pointed- 
 handed subject, by reason of his want of inclination 
 towards things romantic and poetic. 
 
 With a small thumb a spatulate subject will try to ^ 272. 
 do much, but will fail, through want of perseverance, Effect of a small 
 to carry out his intentions, from uncertainty in his 
 course of action. He will voyage, but his voyages 
 will be aimless and objectless ; he will be active, but 
 his activity will be futile, and produce no results. 
 These diminutions of the force of the type will, how- 
 ever, be greatly modified if the small thumb be 
 largely composed of a long phalanx of logic, [the 
 second,] which formation will reduce within practic- 
 able limits his uncertainty, and quicken the intellect 
 to give a better direction to his activity. 
 
 If, with spatulate tips, his fingers be very smooth f 273. 
 he will admire elegance in his surroundings and in Smooth fis er - 
 the things which conduce to his comfort ; but it will 
 be a fashionable rather than an artistic form of 
 elegance. His will be the love of reality in art and 
 energy in its pursuit ; he will be fond of horses, dogs, 
 navigation, the science of agriculture, the mechanical 
 arts, the theory of warfare, and the talents of admini- 
 stration and command in fact, all pursuits where the 
 mind directs the activity. In all his active pursuits 
 he will seek inspiration for the motif of his procedure.
 
 144 CHEIROGNOMY. 
 
 Such subjects are generally musicians, and when this 
 is so, they are great executants. Such subjects, also, 
 are usually self-centred and essentially egotistical. 
 
 f 274. People with spatulate hands make the best colo- 
 
 handed'cdbnists. msts > because they are only attached to a country for 
 what it produces for them; they like \yide ^[ 271] 
 manual labour and all other forms of activity, being 
 intolerant of insufficiency ; if, therefore, their native 
 land is overcrowded, and the good things of this life 
 are scarce, they are quite satisfied to migrate in 
 search of abundance. They are only very slightly 
 sensual, and are greedy rather than epicurean ; they 
 like travelling about and seeing new places ; being 
 very self-confident, they have no objection to solitude, 
 and are clever at all utilitarian sciences, which enable 
 them to shift for themselves. 
 
 ^[275. A man of the spatulate type admires architecture, 
 
 Proclivities of but likes it to be stu p e ndous rather than ornate. 
 
 the type. 
 
 They are great arithmeticians, and to please them 
 things must be astonishing and exact, representing 
 a large amount of physical labour. With them the 
 artizan is more considered than the artist ; they appre- 
 ciate wealth rather than luxury, quantity rather 
 than quality. A town, to suit their views, must be 
 clean, regularly built, substantial, and of business-like 
 appearance. 
 
 ^[276. These subjects will be fond of order and regularity 
 
 Ol the r ci^ S f because of its appearance, and they will arrange and 
 tidy things more from the desire to be doing some- 
 thing than from the love of tidiness itself. 
 
 ^f 277. Their laws are strict and often tyrannical, but always 
 
 A ofthi S ty a pl 0n J ust ' and their lan g ua S e is forcible rather than ornate. 
 They are brave, industrious, and persevering ; not 
 cast down by trifles, but rather courting difficulties 
 so as to surmount them. They desire to command, 
 and are intolerant of restraint, unless for their indi- 
 vidual good. They are most tenacious of what is
 
 THE SPATULATE, OR ACTIVE HAND. 145 
 
 their own, and are always ready to fight for their 
 rights. Communists, members of exclusive sects 
 and secret societies, and thorough freemasons, are 
 generally of the spatulate type. 
 
 People who boast of an ancient lineage, and descent ^[278. 
 from the feudal barons of the Middle Ages, and show Hand of the 
 
 . ." hereditary 
 
 in support of their pretensions a fine, pointed, smooth nobility, 
 hand, make a great mistake, for the true old stock of 
 the fighting ancienne noblesse are always distinguish- 
 able by their spatulate fingers. The former must 
 seek a more poetic and romantic origin for their 
 ancestors and descendants. 
 
 If the spatulate hand has no need to fight, it will ^"279. 
 hunt, shoot, fence, race, and, in fact, do anything Occupations of 
 
 the type. 
 
 which conveys the impression of, and satisfies their 
 penchant towards activity and strife. 
 
 In religion the spatulate subject desires a belief ^280. 
 reasoned out and certain. His is the domain of Pro- Religion of th* 
 testantism as opposed to the more spirituelle, impres- 
 sive, and romantic Roman Catholicism. It is for this 
 reason that the northern nations [among whom the 
 spatulate and square types are the most common] are 
 more governed by Protestantism than the conic and 
 pointed-fingered southern races, whose warm, impul- 
 sive natures draw them, and make them cling closely 
 to the mysticism and poetry of the Catholic religion. 
 It is for this reason [i.e., their practicality as opposed 
 to romanticism] that in mechanical arts and sciences 
 the Protestant [or northern] nations excel the Catho- 
 lic [or southern] nations, whose pre-eminence is to 
 be found in the domains of imagination and the fine 
 arts. 111 The sentiment of religion is essentially Catholic, 
 
 111 " Partout les Protestants, non pas a cause de leur culte mais 
 a cause de leur organisation, surpassent les Catholiques dans les 
 arts mecaniques et sont surpasses par eux dans les arts liberaux. 
 Plus travailleurs, ils sont moins resignes." D'ARPENTIGNY, 
 "La Science de la Main." (Paris, 1865.) P. 153. 
 
 10
 
 146 CHEIROGNOMY. 
 
 but the ideas and practice thereof are essentially Pro- 
 testant. 
 
 ^[281. The North American is the embodiment of this 
 
 s-patuiatc- S patulate type, with his advanced notions, his indus- 
 
 handed nations. ' 
 
 try, perseverance, and cunning, his economy, caution, 
 and calculation ; and as a result of many of these 
 characteristics, we find the type largely represented in 
 Scotland, far more generally indeed than in England, 
 as a moment's consideration will prove to be natural. 
 [M. d'Arpentigny devotes a complete chapter of his 
 work (vide note m , p. 145) to the consideration of the 
 English hand, during the course of which he presents 
 his readers with a highly interesting and very care- 
 fully-worked-out analysis of the English character, 
 as demonstrated by the prevailing characteristics of 
 the English hand, the mistakes of which analysis one 
 loses sight of in the general shrewdness of the essay.] 
 
 ^[282. It is to the spatulate type, therefore, that we owe 
 
 Talents of the near iy a \\ our g re at men in the world of physical 
 
 exertion, of active enterprise, and of applied science ; 
 
 their watchwords being, from first to last, energy, 
 
 movement, hardihood, and perseverance. 
 
 ^[ 283. The excess of this type [i.e., a too highly developed 
 
 E fonnation he s P atu ^ at i n f tne finger tips] will produce a tyranni- 
 cal desire for action, and a tendency to be constantly 
 worrying and urging other people to increased acti- 
 vity. Such subjects are constantly finding fault, and 
 their freedom of manner and liberty of thought and 
 expression know no bounds. This excess will also 
 give brusquerie and roughness of manner, especi- 
 ally when the line of life is thin and red ; but a 
 good line of heart and well-developed Mount of 
 Venus will reduce these significations to those of 
 a rough good-nature. 
 
 ^f 281 When a hand whose spatulate development is thus 
 
 ^^eionh^ in excess has the joints developed and a small thumb, 
 
 type, the indication will be that of unsuccessfulness in
 
 THE SPATULATE, OR ACTIVE HAND. 147 
 
 research and invention, arising from the fact that 
 an excessive activity is perverted by want of will to 
 keep it in check. 
 
 If this type of hand have the first joint developed, \ 285. 
 its owner will be endowed with reasoning faculty and J^p^ 
 independence of rule in his active pursuits. He will 
 be eminently sceptical of tenderness or affection until 
 its existence is proved to him, intolerant of fanaticism, 
 and dead to the charms of imagination and the 
 interests of eccentricity. His will be the talent of 
 politics ; he will object to anything uncomfortable or 
 uncertain ; he will hate poetry and enthusiasm, and 
 will be endowed with an extreme self-confidence. 
 This development will give him a spirit of cohesion 
 to his fellow-men, resistance against innovation, and 
 a love of political freedom of the masses. 
 
 With both joints developed he will combine with 
 his physical energy exact sciences and practical 
 studies ; he will devote himself to all mechanical and 
 constructive arts, navigation, geometry, and the like ; 
 he will affect particularly the sciences which regulate 
 the laws of motion or action. Such men make the 
 best inventors and engineers, for the activity of their 
 bodies puts into execution and carries out the sugges- 
 tions and discoveries of their minds. 
 
 When a spatulate hand is very soft the spirit of 
 action will have a powerful enemy in an innate laziness 
 [vide *Hf 206-7]. Such a subject will be a late riser, 
 and a man of sedentary habits; but will love the 
 spectacle and noise of action and movement He 
 will like to travel and hear about travels, but he 
 will travel comfortably, preferring to hear and read 
 about the actions and movements of others than to be 
 active and energetic himself. 
 
 A subject whose soft spatulate hands have the first 1288. 
 
 J ... . ., .. Soft hand wui 
 
 [or upper] joint developed will be constantly forming upper joint 
 plans and projects, which will, however, come to develop^
 
 148 CIIEIROGNOMY. 
 
 nothing unless the phalanx of will is long in the 
 thumb, in which case he will make himself carry out 
 his plans [unless, of course, he can get some one else 
 to carry them out for him]. 
 
 FHK CONIC 3- The Conical, or Artistic Hand. 
 
 HAND. 
 
 This hand is, in its appearance and in the charac- 
 teristics of the type which it represents, a great 
 contrast to the one whose consideration we have just 
 relinquished. 
 
 ^289. It is subject also to three variations of formation 
 
 its three an( j concomitant characteristics which modify the 
 
 variations. ... 
 
 indications of the type as regards the ends to which 
 it works. Firstly, a supple hand with a small 
 thumb and a developed though still medium palm. 
 This hand is drawn invariably to what is actually 
 beautiful in art. Secondly, a large hand, rather thick 
 and short, with a large thumb. This hand is endued 
 with a desire of wealth, grandeur, and good fortune. 
 And, thirdly, a large and very firm hand, the palm 
 highly developed. This formation indicates a strong 
 tendency to sensuality. All three are governed by 
 inspiration, and are absolutely unfit for physical and 
 mechanical pursuits ; but the first goes into a scheme 
 enthusiastically, the second cunningly, and the third 
 with an aim towards self-gratification. 
 ^290. Hands of this type always present the following 
 
 its appearance, form [modified, of course, by the conditions enumerated 
 in the last paragraph] : the fingers, slightly broad and 
 large at the third [or lowest] phalanx, grow gradually 
 thinner, till the tips of the first [or nailed] phalanges 
 terminate in a cone [as in Plate III.]. The thumb is 
 generally small and the palm fairly developed. 
 ^291. Such a subject will be ruled by impulse and 
 
 Proclivities and j n stinct rather than by reason or calculation, and will 
 
 indications of ' 
 
 the type. always be attracted at once by the beautiful aspects
 
 PLATE HI.-THE CONIC, OR ARTISTIC HAND.
 
 THE CONICAL, OR ARTISTIC HAND. !$! 
 
 of life and matter. He will prefer that things should 
 be beautiful rather than that they should be useful. 
 Attracted by ease, novelty, liberty, and anything 
 which strikes his mind as being pleasant, he is at the 
 same time vain, and fearful of ridicule ; enthusiastic, 
 but outwardly humble, and his prime motive powers 
 are enthusiasm and impulse, rather than force or 
 determination. Subject to the most sudden changes of 
 temperament, he is at one moment in the seventh 
 heaven of excitable hopefulness, and the next in the 
 nethermost abyss of intangible despair. Unable to 
 command, he is incapable of obedience. He may be 
 attracted in a given direction, but never driven. 
 The ties of a domestic life are unbearable to him. 
 At heart he is a pure Bohemian. In lieu of ideas 
 he has sentiments. Light-hearted, open-handed, and 
 impulsive, his imagination is as warm as his heart 
 is by nature cold. In speech he gesticulates and 
 seeks to impress his meaning by movements of 
 the hands, and he generally succeeds in imparting 
 his enthusiasm to those around him. It is a hard- 
 surfaced hand of this type which characterises the 
 general whose soldiers follow him blindly, who acts 
 on impulse and under excitement for honour and 
 glory, and who leads his men without fear to death 
 or to victory. 
 
 If the characteristics of his type are still more de- f 292. 
 veloped [,>., the palm larger, the fingers smoother Acc ~ 0| 
 and more supple ; a small thumb, and the finger tips 
 a more accentuated cone] he is still more the slave of 
 his passions, and he has still less power to hold him- 
 self in check. His whole character may be de- 
 nominated spirilucl. To him pleasure is a passion, 
 beauty a worship. If he takes up any pursuit he 
 is wild over it, If he makes a friendship, it is an 
 adoration. Never taking the trouble to hate, he never 
 makes enemies. Generous and ooen -hearted even to
 
 I$2 CHEIROGNOMY. 
 
 extravagance, his purse, which is closed hermetically to 
 his creditors, is always at the service of his friends. He 
 is most sensitive to blame or suspicion, and greatly 
 touched by friendship and kindness. Such subjects 
 will conform to law [so long as it does not interfere with 
 them], because they cannot take the trouble to rebel 
 against it ; but they will not brook political despotism 
 which interferes with their comfort, in which cases 
 they will rush enthusiastically to the extremes of 
 republicanism, socialism, and nihilism. 
 
 Very often in an artistic nature I have found only 
 thTtype 165 the defects of the type, sensuality, laziness, egotism, 
 eccentricity, cynicism, dissipation, incapacity for con- 
 centration, cunning, falsehood, and exaggeration a 
 formidable list truly, but a moment's thought will 
 show how easily they may become the besetting sins 
 of an artistic nature. In these cases the hands are 
 large and very firm, the palm highly developed, the 
 Mount of Venus high, and the third [or lowest] 
 phalanx of the fingers always thick and large. 
 ^[294. Subjects of the artistic type are not nearly so 
 
 ^^the't 0115 f ca P ao ^ e f constancy in love as their square or spatu- 
 late brethren and sisters [vide supra, ^f 271], for they 
 are so apt to fall in love on impulse, and without 
 consideration, whereas with the spatulate, true love, 
 [as are all other subjects,] is a matter of reason and 
 calculation. Again, subjects of the artistic type are, to 
 a great extent, incapable of warm, platonic affection, 
 filial, paternal, or otherwise, for in all their emo- 
 tions they seek the pleasure of the senses rather than 
 the mental and moral satisfactions of attachment. 
 ^[295. Beauty is the guiding principle of these hands, but 
 
 taractlristics were tne world to be entirely populated by them, 
 of the type, want of foresight, folly, splendid poverty, and the 
 fanaticism of form would be universal. The artistic 
 type may, therefore, be summed up thus; its pre- 
 vailing; characteristics are love of the beautiful, pre-
 
 PLATE IV. THE SQUARE, OR USEFUL HAND.
 
 THE SQUARE, OR USEFUL HAND. t$5 
 
 ference of the ideal to the real, intuition, impulse, 
 and egotism ; and its motto is, " En tout cherchez 
 1'amiable." 
 
 4. The Square, or Useful Hand. THE T ^ A 
 
 This hand generally inclines to size rather than to ^[ 296. 
 smallness, the size being usually produced by an in- Its i vv ean 
 creased breadth of the hand, the fingers knotted [i.e., 
 with one or both joints developed, generally, in fact, 
 nearly always, the second or lower one], the outer 
 phalanx square [i.e., the fingers throughout their length 
 having four distinct sides, not being rounded, as is 
 the case with an artistic or psychic hand], the thumb 
 rather large, with the root [Mount of Venus, vide p. 
 224] well developed ; the palm of a medium thickness, 
 hollow, and rather firm [vide Plate IV.]. 
 
 The leading instincts on which this hand founds 1297. 
 all its characteristics are perseverance, foresight, In ^ c e 
 crder, and regularity. To these hands the useful is 
 far preferable to the beautiful ; their great passion is 
 organisation, arrangement, classification, regularity of 
 form and outline, and the acceptation of things pre- 
 scribed and understood as customary. They like 
 things of a sort to match, and they have essentially 
 the talent of perceiving in things apparently different 
 the points of similarity, and per contra in things 
 outwardly similar the points of difference. They 
 are great disciplinarians, preferring the good of 
 the community to the welfare of the individual. 
 They are only romantic within the bounds of reason, 
 and are constant in love, more from a sense qf 
 the fitness of things than from depth of feeling. 
 They have the greatest aptitude for conforming to the 
 observances of social life, for they are great respecters 
 of persons, and submissive to established authority, 
 from their great love of regularity and order in human 
 affairs.
 
 156 CHEIROGNOMY. 
 
 ^[298. We find the same submission to authority in the 
 
 spamtete 'types cnaracter of subjects of the spatulate type, but with 
 compared. them it arises from another cause. The spatulate 
 subject submits from personal love of his superior, to 
 whom he naturally attaches himself, whilst the square- 
 handed subject submits from admiration of the prin- 
 ciples of constituted authority. The dictator must 
 be powerful to obtain the allegiance of the spatulate 
 subject; he need only be properly constituted to be 
 sure of the allegiance of the square. 
 
 ^[299. They cherish their privileges, preferring them to 
 
 ^ihe'tyrT f com plete liberty ; and they have a passion for varied 
 
 experience, which they are always ready to pay for, 
 
 preferring acquired knowledge to intuitive perception. 
 
 f 300. A Croix mystique \yide ^[ 696] in a square hand will 
 
 Religion. gj ve - t ca j m an( j reasona b} e religion. 
 
 \ 301. They are slaves to arrangement that is, they have 
 
 Orderliness of i ' c ., , . , . .... 
 
 the type. a pl ace f r everything, and everything is m its 
 place ; unless their fingers have also the joints de- 
 veloped, it is quite possible [if not probable] that 
 their rooms and cupboards may be outwardly very 
 untidy, but, nevertheless, they always know where 
 everything is. Their books, of which they keep 
 catalogues and indexes, are inscribed with their 
 names and the date of acquisition, and are arranged 
 more in subjects than in sizes, though they love to 
 see them in even sizes as much as possible. They 
 are natty and handy with their fingers, neat and well 
 brushed in their persons, polite and courteous in their 
 manners, whilst they are great sticklers for the or 
 dinances of etiquette. 
 ^[802. As a rule, they will only comprehend things as far 
 
 Indications of ., ... *.i ' i *.i i 
 
 the type. as * ne y can positively see them, having themselves 
 far too well under control to allow themselves to 
 launch into enthusiasm; they are, therefore, strong 
 disciplinarians, prone to details, fond of minutiae. 
 Their course of life is regular and pre-arranged,
 
 THE SQUARE, OR USEFUL HAND. 157 
 
 they are punctual, and intolerant of unpunctuality, 
 except when they can regard it as a foil for their 
 own exactness; for they are always vain even to 
 conceit, though they are always too well bred to 
 obtrude their vanity in its more usual and vulgar 
 forms. They are graceful in their movements, gene- 
 rally good shots, and good at games and exercises 
 of skill, as opposed to exercises of mere physical 
 strength. 
 
 The best musicians [especially harmonists and ^[303. 
 musical theoreticians] have always delicately squared t he"t^e. 
 fingers, with slightly developed joints and small 
 thumbs [vide *fi 807], 
 
 Square-handed people can always govern the ex- ^"304. 
 pressions of their faces, their language, and their Mann t ^ oft 
 looks; they are most averse to sudden changes of 
 temperament or circumstance. Moderate, range's, 
 they mistake the perfect for the beautiful ; they 
 cannot bear excitements and " scenes," and they 
 hate when people obtrude their troubles, discom- 
 forts, or quarrels upon them. They dress very 
 quietly, but always very well, and they avoid studi- 
 ously anything like ostentation, or display in matters 
 of eccentricity, ornament, or jewellery, excepting on 
 fitting occasions, when their magnificence is striking 
 from its good taste. 
 
 They like poetry to be neat and geometrically per- ^ 805. 
 feet, rather than grand or rugged ; they call things by ^.^^.^fa 
 generic rather than by specific or distinctive names, o the typ. 
 and prefer terms which express the use of a thing 
 rather than its appearance. They are generally sus- 
 picious and quietly cunning, vigilant, and complete 
 masters of intrigue; they prefer common sense to 
 genius, and social observance to either ; they are often 
 flatterers, and are themselves most susceptible to 
 flattery, ambitious, but quietly and steadily rather 
 than enthusiastically and obviously so. They worship
 
 I$8 CHEIROGNOMY. 
 
 talent and cultivation, though without sycophancy; 
 they are fond of arithmetical calculations, though 
 very often not clever at them themselves, unless their 
 thumbs be large, and the Line of Apollo [vide p. 261] 
 absent, which are signs which always betray a talent 
 for mathematics. They are good talkers, listeners, 
 and entertainers ; they make many acquaintances, but 
 few friends. They do not require men to be sociable 
 so much as blind to the faults of themselves and others. 
 
 ^[306. When the fingers, besides being square, are de- 
 
 Sm0 fin h e S r q s Uare cidedl y smooth, the subject will take poetical views 
 of things material and useful, and will affect the 
 study of moral sciences, philosophy, metaphysics, 
 and the like. He will have the instincts of art, and 
 require truth therein : in poetry he will require 
 rhythm, form, and period. Such a mind is well 
 regulated, and he will check a natural tendency to 
 enthusiasm. 
 
 f 307. The smooth, square hand, is one of the cleverest 
 
 With declining , . . .. . . , . , 
 
 line of head, that exist ; love of truth in matters which concern 
 itself is one of its first principles, but if the line of 
 head come down upon the Mount of the Moon [vide 
 infra, ^f 583], this instinct will often be annulled, 
 especially if the line is forked, but there will always 
 be an order and a method in the chimaeras to which 
 such a subject is irresistibly addicted, which gives 
 them a strong semblance of truth. 
 f 308. A square hand, if it has the first joint developed, 
 
 developed! w ^ have the great advantage over its fellows of the 
 type, of a sincerity, a love of progress and justice 
 which elevates it above the defects of its class. Its 
 calm and cool research after truth will cause it to 
 re-quire reason in matters of art, and to object to 
 anything outre or unaccustomed. Law and rule are 
 the necessities of its life. 
 ^f 309. If both joints are developed, it will indicate a great 
 
 developed* ^ ove ^ e ^ e g ant sciences, of the studies of botany,
 
 THE KNOTTY, OR PHILOSOPHIC HAND. 159 
 
 archaeology, history, law, and orthography, geometry, 
 grammar, mathematics, and agriculture. This subject 
 will be aggressively methodical, and will insist upon 
 ticketing, docketing, classifying, arranging everything 
 and upon doing everything according to rule, or to a 
 prearranged order. 
 
 He will be fond of clearly-defined and ascertained f 310. 
 
 ..,_. ,. . ., ., With Mount of 
 
 studies. [History and politics rather than meta- t he Moon. 
 physics or occult science.] But a small thumb, or 
 a high Mount of the Moon, will give such a subject 
 as this a strange faculty for occultism. At the same 
 time he will have a strongly developed instinct of 
 justice, and is thoroughly trustworthy and true. 
 
 Good sense, therefore, is the guiding principle of ^311. 
 
 , ,, , ,, Character of the 
 
 the square type, but, were the world wholly popu- typfc 
 lated by them, fanatical " red-tapeism " and narrow- 
 minded despotism would be universal. 
 
 Excess of this formation will give fanaticism of f 312. 
 
 , . . , . , Excess of the 
 
 order and method, despotism in discipline, and nar- type- 
 row-mindedness. 
 
 A square-fingered hand, to be perfect, should have ^ 313 - 
 short nails [argument and self-defence] to defend its T 
 love of justice. 
 
 It would be easy to continue the interesting subject 
 of the square type to a considerable length if space 
 would allow of it, but we must leave these precise 
 but insincere hands, to turn our attention to another 
 type, which in some respects resembles them, and 
 this is : 
 
 5. The Knotty, or Philosophic Hand. THE KNOT-TV 
 
 M. d'Arpentigny divides this type into two classes I 3 ff 
 or sections : one, that of the sensualists, whose ideas 
 are derived from external influences ; and the other 
 that of the idealists, whose ideas are evolved from 
 their inner consciousness.
 
 r6o 
 
 CHEIROGNOMY. 
 
 ^[316. 
 Its 
 
 characteristics. 
 
 f 315. The appearance of the hands ot this type is most 
 
 hi appearance, distinctive. A large elastic palm, both joints de- 
 veloped, the outer phalanx presenting the mixed 
 appearance of the square and of the conic finger tips. 
 This formation, combined with the development of 
 the first or upper joint, gives the finger tips an oval, 
 clubbed appearance, which is rather ugly, but very 
 characteristic. The thumb is always large, having 
 its two phalanges [those of will and of logic] of 
 exactly the same length, indicating a balancing pro- 
 portion of will and common sense \yide Plate V.]. 
 
 The great characteristics indicated by this type of 
 hand are analysis, meditation, philosophy, deduction, 
 poetry of reason, independence, often deism and 
 democracy, and the search after, and love of, the 
 abstract and absolute truth. The development of 
 the joints gives this hand calculation, method, and 
 deduction ; the quasi-conic formation of the ex- 
 terior phalanx gives it the instinct of poetry in 
 the abstract, and beauty in things real ; and the 
 thumb gives it perseverance in its metaphysical 
 studies. In all things these subjects desire truth 
 more than beauty, and prefer the meaning of a 
 sentiment to the manner in which it is expressed : 
 thus, their literature is remarkable for its clearness, 
 its utility, and its variety as opposed to that of the 
 square type, which \yide supra, *[H[ 35-6] is notable 
 principally for its finish and regularity of style, 
 and they are great lovers and students of the pure 
 sciences whether moral, physical, aesthetic, or 
 experimental. 
 
 Such subjects like to account for everything, to 
 know the reason of everything, whether physical, 
 metaphysical, physiological, or psychic ; their ideas 
 they form for themselves, without caring in the least 
 for those of other people ; their convictions religious, 
 social, and otherwise are only acquired as the result 
 
 1 8 . 1 T- 
 
 Its religion.
 
 Pi ATE V. THE KNOTTY, OR PHILOSOPHIC HAND. 
 
 ii
 
 THE KNOTTY, OR PHILOSOPHIC HAND. 163 
 
 of careful analysis and consideration of the questions 
 involved; love, instinct, faith, are all made sub- 
 ordinate to reason, which is the principle more 
 powerful with them than rule, conventionalism, 
 inclination, or love, except in matters of religion, for 
 their religion is one rather of love and adoration than 
 of fear and conventionality. It is thus that among 
 the subjects of this type we find a large proportion 
 of persons who become known as sceptics of various 
 kinds, for they look upon doubt and scepticism as one 
 of the first necessary evils of life, which will give 
 way to reverence and adoration, and therefore do not 
 in any way worry themselves on this account. 
 
 The subjects of the philosophic type do not study m 313 
 detail to the exclusion of entirety, or the individual Synthesis and 
 to the exclusion of the community, but are capable of ualysa ' 
 considering and comprehending the synthesis and the 
 analysis of any subject to which they may turn their 
 attention. Therefore, they are tolerant of all forms 
 of rule, seeing at once the good and the bad points of 
 any or every system of government. 
 
 They are just, [from an intuitive sense of justice f 319. 
 and a discriminating instinct of ethics,] unsuperstitious, , Furth . er . 
 great advocates of social and religious freedom, and 
 moderate in their pleasures. It is in these respects 
 that they differ so totally from the subordination and 
 conventionalism of square-fingered hands. 
 
 Thus reasoning out everything, the philosophic f 320. 
 type constitute almost entirely the vast schools of Phil *>ph'c 
 the Eclectics. And besides hands which are distinctly of other typ* 
 of this philosophic type other types may, by the 
 development of joints, attain [as we have seen] 
 attributes of this one. Thus : a square [or useful] 
 or a spatulate [or active] hand may have its joints 
 developed ; this will give them [as we have seen] a 
 love of theorizing and speculating on matters of 
 practice, reality, and custom. In the same way a
 
 164 
 
 CHEIROGNOMY. 
 
 1321. 
 
 conic [or artistic] hand, whose joints are developed, 
 will search after truth in matters appertaining to art, 
 and will speculate upon, and analyze the means of 
 attaining the truly beautiful. 
 
 If the philosophic hand is small, it thinks and 
 Sma " a ^ n H d J arge reasons from the heart, studying the entireties of 
 matters which present themselves in masses ; if 
 large, and with a proportionate thumb, it thinks and 
 reasons with the head, studying the analysis of those 
 masses, but the result is always the same. 
 
 Attained possibly by different means, the end is 
 always identical, " En tout cherchez le vrai" and in 
 all things directed by reason, and by common sense 
 directed by will. Reason is the guiding principle 
 of these hands, but, were the world wholly populated 
 by them, fanatical reasoning and unregulated doubt 
 and liberty of opinions would be universal. 
 
 f 322. 
 
 The guiding 
 principle. 
 
 THE POINTED 
 TYPE. 
 
 [323. 
 
 Its rarity. 
 
 1324. 
 
 Its appearance. 
 
 ^325. 
 
 Their guiding 
 principle. 
 
 6. The Pointed, or Psychic Hand. 
 
 We have now reached the consideration of the 
 most beautiful and delicate, but, alas ! the most 
 useless and impractical type of hand. This hand is, 
 unfortunately, rare, but when you do see it you cannot 
 help remarking it, and will therefore recognize it at 
 once by its description. 
 
 It is very small and delicate, having a thin palm, 
 smooth, fine fingers, long and delicately pointed, [as 
 in Plate VI.] or with its joints only just indicated by 
 a very slight swelling. It has generally a pretty little 
 thumb. 
 
 To these subjects belong the domains of the 
 beautiful ideal, the land of dreams, of Utopian ideas, 
 and of artistic fervour ; they have the delicacy and 
 true instinct of art of the conic hand, without its bad 
 points, its sensualism, its egotism, and its worldliness. 
 They are guided only by their idealism, by impulse, 
 by their instinct of right in the abstract, and by their
 
 PUT. VI.-THK POINTED, OR PSYCHIC HAND,
 
 THE POINTED, OR PSYCHIC HAND. l6/ 
 
 natural love and attraction for the beautiful in all 
 things, whether mundane or celestial ; bearing the 
 same relation to the philosophic hands that the 
 artistic bear to the useful, the relation of contrast. 
 
 These hands never command, for they establish for 
 themselves far too lofty an ideal to care about earthly 
 domination or material interests of any kind ; they 
 are incapable of strife or struggles for glory, but, if 
 their instincts of the ideally just are aroused, they 
 will devote themselves even to death in defence of 
 what they consider to be ethically right. Such 
 were the heroes of La Vendee, such were the 
 persecuted followers of Huz, and in such manner is 
 accounted for the devoted enthusiasm of the Moorish 
 and Moslem tribes, who fight like wild beasts for the 
 defence of their faiths, for Allah, his prophet, and 
 the Qur'an. They will undertake huge forlorn 
 enterprises, but will disdain to embark upon small 
 practicable expeditions, in quest of some material 
 good. 
 
 [Desbarrolles, in calling attention to the fact that 
 they not unfrequently have the gift of prophecy, says 
 that he considers their attributes due to the fact that 
 the absence of joints produces a clear passage for the 
 currents of animal electricity or magnetism to which 
 he considers the gifts of prophecy, presentiment, 
 divination, and even ordinary intuition attributable. 
 He considers that the joints in the fingers of the 
 other types act as obstacles to the passage of "la 
 fluide " [which he believes man to receive (if at all) 
 at his finger tips] to a greater or less degree as those 
 joints are more or less developed, and that to the 
 absence of these joints in the psychic hand theii 
 intuition, divination, and presentiments are to be 
 ascribed.] 
 
 An artist with hands presenting the appearance of 
 psychic formation will paint subjects of wild 
 
 Idealism 
 
 J327. 
 
 Desbarrolles, 
 
 . the gift of 
 
 prophecy 
 
 1328. 
 
 Artists.
 
 168 CHEIROGNOMY. 
 
 romance, but will not seek to paint ideas which 
 convey an impression of truth. Such subjects have 
 no instinct of real life, nor are they [as the absence of 
 joints would denote, (vide ^ 118,)] orderly in them- 
 selves or in their ideas. 
 f 329. As I have said before, \vide supra. 5f 278,! these 
 
 Hereditary , ,..,.'"' ' J 
 
 hands. hands are not the exclusive inheritance of noble 
 birth; we find them in all classes of life from the 
 highest to the lowest, and wherever and whenever 
 they are found their characteristics are the same, 
 worldly uselessness, with aesthetic perfection and 
 poetry of soul in their highest state of development. 
 Soul is with them the first consideration ; form or 
 treatment is with them subordinate to subject ; as is 
 also execution to idea : amongst all classes they are 
 respected for their very incomprehensibility. 
 
 ^330. The excess of this type [t.e., when the exaggeration 
 
 development ^ tne pomtedness is extremely marked] produces 
 of the type, romancers, posturists, fanatics of various kinds, 
 persons prone to fantasies and ecstasies, foolhardi- 
 ness and deceitfulness, and often mysticism. If the 
 line of heart is strong we find in this case excess of 
 affection, which is carried to an extreme, and affecta- 
 tion of manner. 
 
 ^[331. The luxurious dreaming Orientals are almost 
 
 Orientals and exclusively of this type. Among them we find 
 
 spiritualists. 
 
 spiritualists, mediums, and all the so-called "weak- 
 minded " devotees of psychical science, who accept 
 all that is told them without investigation or analysis, 
 and are therefore the easy prey of " spiritualistic " 
 impostors. In countries where such hands pre- 
 dominate and hold the reins of government we 
 find that rule is maintained by superstition, by the 
 priests, and by fetichism. 
 
 ^f832. These subjects can, however, see beauty and good 
 
 administradon * n everv form of rule and government from Autocracy 
 and religion, to Republicanism, and in every form of belief from
 
 THE POINTED, OR PSYCHIC HAND. 169 
 
 Popery to Positivism. It is the psychic hand that 
 invents a religion, and it is the philosophic, the useful, 
 and the active hands that dissect that religion, and 
 analyse its claims to consideration. 
 
 Such subjects are ruled by heart and by soul ; their 
 feelings are acute, their nerves highly strung, and 
 they are easily fired with a wondrous enthusiasm. 
 Theirs are the talents which produce the most in- 
 spired poetry ; their influence over the masses is 
 extreme, from their power of communicating their 
 enthusiasm to their fellow-men, a power whereby 
 they appeal alike to the most refined and to the 
 most coarse, to the most intellectual and to the 
 most ignorant. 
 
 I could not in many pages give these beautiful 
 useless hands their due. We can only congratulate 
 ourselves that their refining influence exists among 
 us, and that we of the spatulate and square types can 
 work to support them, instead of allowing the world 
 to crush their beautiful characteristics and dull the 
 keenness of their pure intuition. 
 
 If the pointed hand have the first joint developed, 
 the character of the owner of that hand will be 
 changeable, and apt to rush from one extreme to 
 another, from ecstatic enthusiasm to suspicion, scep- 
 ticism, and levity; he will be essentially credulous 
 in things savouring of the marvellous and the mystic ; 
 he will be eccentric, and unable to reconcile himself to 
 any prescribed religion ; it is such subjects that become 
 fanatics and religious monomaniacs. 
 
 They have the inspiration and intuition of truth, 
 with a continual desire to analyse their impulses, and 
 to master their romantic emotions. This often causes 
 them to separate themselves from all recognized forms 
 of belief, and to strike out for themselves new religions 
 to satisfy the romantic instinct of piety, which with 
 them is so strongly developed.
 
 170 
 
 CHEIROGNOMY. 
 
 1337. 
 
 Both joints 
 developed. 
 
 ^338. 
 
 With both joints developed, a psychic hand will lose 
 much of its exaltation of character by mingling it with 
 calculation, reason, positivism, and the faculty of inven- 
 tion; at the same time it cannot complete and develop its 
 inventions and calculations itself, but leaves them un- 
 finished for square and spatulate hands to work out. 
 
 Such a subject, unless his thumb is large, will be 
 
 Effect of joints. prone to discontentedness, doubt, fear, and dejection ; 
 and also, with a weak hand, will be Utopian and 
 revolutionary in his views from his very instinct of 
 calculation. These jointed hands of the psychic type 
 have often all their spirit of spontaneous impulse 
 annulled or levelled ; their artistic intuitions are spoilt 
 by their instincts of calculation and invention, but still, 
 in that calculation and invention the old inspiration 
 and intuition will make itself felt and apparent. 
 ^339. Sometimes a hand of the pointed type is hard. 
 
 Hard hands. This win b eto k en an artistic use of strength, as in 
 the case of dancers, jugglers, acrobats, and the like. 
 
 THE MIXED 7. The Mixed Hand. 
 
 TYPES. 
 
 It is here that the task of the cheirognomist becomes 
 most difficult, calls forth all his intuitive perception 
 and skill of analysis, and gives him the greatest diffi- 
 culty in putting his perceptions into words. 
 f 340. The mixed hand is that one of which the shape is 
 
 its constitution. so uncer t a in, as to resemble, even to possibility of 
 confusion, more than one type. Thus, an artistic hand 
 may be so marked in its conicality as to become almost 
 psychic; a square hand may be confounded with a 
 spatulate ; or, having developed joints and a quasi- 
 conic tip, may be mistaken for a philosophic, and so on 
 ad infinitum. In such cases the cheirosophist must 
 so combine, mentally, the tendencies of both types 
 represented, as to arrive at a true analysis of the 
 character of the subject under examination.
 
 THE MIXED HAND. I/ 1 
 
 In reading the indications afforded by these mixed ^841. 
 hands, you will do well to bear very carefully in . Difficult y. of 
 
 * interpretation. 
 
 mind what I have said in a previous sub-section con- 
 cerning the cheirognomy of the individual fingers 
 \yide S.S. I., 10]. 
 
 But as they are the links between the types, so also 1 342 - 
 they are the necessary links which unite the various Val " e of the 
 classes of society, which, without these connecting 
 spirits, would either remain entirely separated, or 
 would be constantly at variance with one another. 
 To the mixed hand belongs the talent of dealing 
 between people .as merchants or administrators of 
 justice. They succeed best in intermediary arts i.e., 
 those of a plastic, regular, and acquired description, 
 such as illumination, carving, heraldry, or decoration. 
 A man endowed with a mixed hand may generally 
 be described as "Jack of all trades and master of 
 none." Such people are less exclusive, and more 
 tolerant of all classes and creeds than those of the 
 pronounced and certain types. 
 
 Such subjects attain to a certain skill in a quantity 1 343. 
 of pursuits, but seldom attain to an excellence in, or 'rfSqS* 
 a complete mastery of, any particular one ; they have 
 been well described as handy, interesting men, who, 
 to talk to, are always amusing, but seldom if ever 
 instructive. Their intelligence is large and compre- 
 hensive rather than strong in any particular direction ; 
 they can suit themselves instantly to the company in 
 which they find themselves, and can generally make 
 themselves at home in any discussion which may 
 arise. 
 
 The only chance they have of becoming really dis- J 344. 
 tinguished, is to take the best talent they have, and Ad b ,* f 
 cultivate that one to the exclusion of the others ; but 
 they seldom have the strength of purpose to effect this. 
 
 At the same time there are cases where it may be 
 an advantage to possess a mixed hand as, for instance, t
 
 1/2 CHEIROGNOMY. 
 
 where the idealism of a pointed hand is modified and 
 subdued to reason by the fusion of the square hand, 
 such a hand combining imagery and reason. 
 ^f 348. A common form of mixed hand is that which com- 
 
 ^theSsTc^ bines the artistic and the elementary ; and this becomes 
 and elementary more comprehensible if you have followed what I said 
 anent those two types ; for, as I have pointed out, the 
 intelligence of art or music, and the worship of the 
 beautiful, are the only feelings to which the true ele- 
 mentary hand is at all susceptible, and the artistic 
 hand, by the exaggeration of its failings, may often 
 degenerate into the artistico-elementary. Such a hand 
 will betoken a vacillating, unreliable, apathetic cha- 
 racter, without sympathy for the misfortunes, or 
 gratification at the good luck of others. Such people 
 are rude poets, superstitious, and very sensitive to 
 bodily pain. Such hands denote activity by their 
 hardness, and credulity by their pointed tips. 
 ^[347. Hands of the artistico-elementary type are softer 
 
 ^ins^ncu. 311 and narrower than those of the purely elementary 
 variety, their fingers are thick and smooth, the thumb 
 gross and conic, the hands closing more easily than they 
 open. Their prevailing instincts are selfishness and 
 greed ; they are not good at manual labour or in- 
 dustry of any sort, but they excel in negotiations and 
 schemes of self-aggrandisement. It is this hand that 
 we find in its highest state of development among the 
 low- class commercial races of the Jews. 
 
 ^[348. The ignorant enthusiasm which I attributed to the 
 
 d Vendeans [f 326] with their love of ease and repose, 
 is the natural result of a step further in this direction 
 i.e., the mixture of the elementary with the psychic 
 hand. A hand half psychic and half elementary will 
 give us innocence and want of capacity for self-protec- 
 tion. Such subjects will be constantly deceived by the 
 unprincipled. They have no head for business, but 
 pnly a desire for a quiet, passive, Arcadian life, unin-
 
 THE MIXED HAND. 
 
 173 
 
 tenectual and absolutely harmless, until a poetic idea 
 of justice shall rouse it, when its bigoted enthusiasm 
 is as sublime as it is deplorable. 
 
 A combination of the square and the conic will give 
 us the finesse and cunning of the square type, with 
 the demoralization of the conic, and the result will be 
 a great hypocrisy and talent for deception. 
 
 If your hand is at the same time square and 
 spatulated, to the energy of the spatulate hand will 
 be added the exactitude, the regularity of the square 
 type. You will have the same love of colossal archi- 
 tecture, but will require it to be regular and arranged. 
 You will have the talents of the tactician, of the 
 strategist, of the diplomatist, and of the constructive 
 scientist. Theory, method, and science will be the 
 mainsprings of your activity. 
 
 Squareness, confounding itself with spatulation, will 
 give you a love of the minutiae of an unintellectual 
 existence. You will love to do your own menial 
 work for yourself. You will have a wonderful 
 practical knowledge, which will incline to a fanaticism 
 of admiration for things which are practical and 
 useful. 
 
 And so on. These fusions are practically without 
 limit, and, as I have said, it is the task of the cheiro- 
 gnomist, which of all others brings out his skill and 
 aptitude in the science of cheirosophy, to decipher 
 and properly to interpret them. Their prevailing 
 character is always [as may be supposed] vivacity, 
 ubiquity, plurality of pursuits and accomplishments, 
 combined with laziness, insincerity, and want of 
 application and perseverance. 
 
 ^[349. 
 
 Square and 
 conic. 
 
 ^[350. 
 
 Square and 
 spatulate. 
 
 f 351. 
 Square and 
 spatulate. 
 
 352. 
 
 General 
 
 characteristics.
 
 SUB-SECTION III. 
 
 THE FEMALE 
 
 H AND . THE CHEIROGNOMY OF THE FEMALE HAND. 
 
 ALL that I have said in the preceding sab-sections 
 must [it should be understood] be taken to apply to 
 woman as well as to man ; but at the same time the 
 cheirosophist must take into consideration the vast 
 differences of constitution which exist between the 
 sexes, and which, in fact, constitute the base of the 
 relative positions in which they stand to one another. 
 ^"353. For without these differences that perfect com- 
 
 nary bination that of the male and female mind could 
 not be formed. The physical energy of the man 
 absolutely requires the passive, instinctive tact of the 
 woman to make his energy of any use to him. Thus 
 the woman originates an idea, but the man carries out 
 its active principles. The man will create, what the 
 woman has imagined. The idea of the woman is 
 generally rough, undefined, and vague; by its 
 passage through the man's brain it becomes clear, 
 defined, and practicable. A man cannot acquire the 
 woman's tact and instinctive intelligence without 
 losing much of his virile power, and in like manner 
 a woman cannot educate her mind to develop the
 
 CHEIROGNOMY OF THE FEMALE HAND. 1/5 
 
 energy and power of the man without losing much 
 of her natural and instinctive talent. It reminds one 
 of the Oriental fable of the camel, who, praying for 
 horns, lost its ears. If men would be content to be 
 guided in matters of principle by clever women, and 
 women would allow themselves to be governed in 
 matters of practice by men, the mutual advantage 
 would be incalculable. Proofs of the truth of this 
 are to be found in the fact that the greatest men who 
 ever lived have had clever wives, whilst in the East, 
 where the women are treated either as beasts of 
 burden or as pet animals, the nations are becoming 
 daily deteriorated, and of less importance, and will 
 gradually die out. Men reign and command, whilst 
 women demand and govern : men make our laws, 
 but women our morals ; for though the man is more 
 genuine than the woman, the woman is deeper than 
 the man. They argue with the heart, we with the 
 head : we are sensual where they are sensitive and 
 passionate. Their sentiments and ideas are generally 
 truer than our careful reasonings, and they meet our 
 reflection and comprehension with their more subtle 
 intuition and power of analysis. These preliminary 
 remarks it has seemed necessary to make before 
 entering upon the consideration of this sub-section, 
 and five minutes' reflection on them will greatly assist 
 the student of cheirosophy in applying its principles 
 to the interpretation of the female hand. 
 
 Thus, the characteristics of the more powerful types ^ 354. 
 [such as the spatulate and the square] will be much Z% 
 less developed with them than with men, by reason 
 of the greater softness which always characterises 
 the hands of the " softer sex." In like manner only 
 very few women have knotty hands a circumstance 
 arising from that absence of physical and mental com- 
 bination and calculation, which, as a rule, characterises 
 their movements. Thus they work more by tact than
 
 176 
 
 CHEIROGNOMY. 
 
 1355. 
 
 fointed fingers. 
 
 1356. 
 
 Effects of the 
 thumb. 
 
 1357. 
 Large thumb. 
 
 f 358. 
 
 Small thumb. 
 
 Weak hand. 
 
 1359. 
 
 Absence of the 
 elementary type 
 
 by knowledge, more by quickness of brain than by 
 rapidity of action, and more by imagination and in- 
 tuition than by judgment or combination. 
 
 When a woman has knotty fingers, she is less 
 impressionable, less imaginative, less tasteful, less 
 fantastic, and more reasonable. 
 
 If a woman have a large thumb, she is more in- 
 telligent than intuitively quick. If she have a small 
 thumb, she is quicker in expedient than intelligent in 
 action. The first will have a taste for history, the 
 second for romance. 
 
 With a large thumb, a woman will be sensible and 
 cautious in affairs of the heart. Love is with her a 
 " goodly estate " and not a passion. She will be more 
 apt to make a manage de convenance than if her thumb 
 be small. She will be sagacious, easy of conquest, 
 or else unapproachable. There is no medium, for she 
 will never descend to coquetry or jealousy. 
 
 If a woman have a small thumb, she will be more 
 capricious, more coquette, more prone to jealousy, 
 more fascinating, and more seductive than if she have 
 a large thumb. If the rest of her hand is weak, her 
 character may also be weak, uncertain, irritable, and 
 careless ; now enthusiastic, now despondent and 
 apathetic ; whilst, confiding and nai've, it is impossible 
 for her to keep a secret. With her, love is a passion, 
 an emotion, powerful and fervid. She will demand 
 an undivided fidelity, and a sentimental, romantic 
 form of adoration. 
 
 The elementary hand is never [or hardly ever] 
 found amongst women. Their natural intelligence, 
 the cares of maternity, the exquisite and complicated 
 physical constitutions of women requiring a higher 
 instinct, a greater intuitive intelligence than is ever 
 constitutionally necessary to man. Consequently, in 
 countries where, amongst the men, the elementary 
 type predominates, the women always have the upper
 
 CHEIROGNOMY OF THE FEMALE HAND. 1 77 
 
 hand, and direct the affairs of their husbands and 
 other "concomitant males." 
 
 Women who live only an objectless, butterfly life 
 of pleasure, love, and luxury, have small conic hands, ' 
 soft and rather thick. 
 
 English women, taking, as they do, so large a part ^[ 361. 
 in the administration and arrangement of household 
 affairs, have their fingers, for the most part, delicately 
 squared. 
 
 Women who have that inherent curiosity which f 362. 
 has been set down as the exclusive right of their sex Female curiosity 
 [but which I have heard defined in self-defence by 
 the more scientific phrase "excess of sympathy"] 
 have their fingers so much of different forms and 
 shapes, that, when the fingers are closed together and 
 held up against the light, there are chinks and 
 crannies between them through which the light is 
 visible. When, on the other hand, the fingers fit so 
 tightly against one another as to show no light 
 between them when so held up, it is a sign of 
 avarice and meanness, or, at any rate, of want of 
 generosity. And these last two indications apply 
 equally to men [vide ^ 152], 
 
 Women with spatulate fingers and a little thumb 1363. 
 
 . . . , . Spatulate fingers 
 
 are warm friends, affectionate and impulsive, un- and smaU t humb. 
 
 reserved and active, fond of exercise, of animals, and 
 
 of witnessing feats of skill or strength. Their 
 
 needlework is useful and complete rather than 
 
 artistic and showy, and they like to manage and 
 
 make much of children, whether their own or 
 
 other people's. 
 
 With square fingers and a small thumb we get f 364. 
 
 i. u u Square fingers 
 
 punctuality, order, and arrangement in household tLad ..^i thumb, 
 affairs, a menage well regulated and neatly appointed, 
 and a highly developed instinct of real life and of 
 the things which make it tolerable. Square-fingered 
 women require courtesy, order, and regulation in
 
 178 CHEIROGNOMY. 
 
 affairs of the heart; they like men to be distinguished 
 without being eccentric, spirited without being wild, 
 quiet, self-confident, and self-contained, untinged by 
 jealousy or inconstancy ; they are particularly careful 
 of social observance, and fly from anything extra- 
 ordinary, or worse still, vulgar! If, however, the 
 squareness is too pronounced we find a fussy, dis- 
 ciplinarian disposition, eminently respectable, but 
 horribly irritating to live with. 
 
 ^[365. With a large thumb and square or spatulate 
 
 Large thumb, fingers we find the tyrannical, " worrying " woman, 
 impatient of control, loud-voiced, and abusive of 
 power when it is entrusted to her. 
 
 IT 366 A little rosy, soft, smooth hand, thin, but not bony, 
 
 Pretty " hands, and with little joints slightly developed, indicates a 
 vivacious, sparkling little woman. To win her you 
 must be bright, clever, witty, spontaneous, amusing ; 
 in affairs of la grande passion you must be quick 
 and sparkling, rather than romantic and sentimental, 
 as you must be with the conic-fingered woman. 
 
 If 367. With the latter you must be ardent, timid, self- 
 
 Conic fingers, assured, humble ; explaining, excusing, justifying all 
 things. Such women are generally indolent, fantastic, 
 and strongly inclined to sensuality. 
 
 r 868 With slight, smooth, pointed fingers, a small thumb, 
 
 Small pointed and a narrow palm,- we find in the subject the highest 
 romanticism and ideality as regards affairs of the world 
 [for which they are eminently unsuited] and of the 
 heart [in which their ideal is never attained]. Pleasure 
 is with them more a matter of heart and soul than of 
 physical emotion : they combine fervour and indo- 
 lence, and they have the utmost disregard for the 
 conventionalities and realities of life ; they are more 
 prone to excessive piety and superstitious worship 
 than to real devotion. Genius is a thing with them 
 infinitely superior to common sense, and from tne 
 height of their radiant idealism they look down upon
 
 CHEIROGNOMY OF THE FEMALE HAND. 179 
 
 all intelligences of the beautiful in the abstract which 
 are less sublime than theirs. 
 
 Thus could I discourse through many sub-sections 
 on the more subtle and interesting interpretations of 
 the female hand ; but time, space, and an apprecia- 
 tion of my readers' mental capacity deter me. With 
 the data I have given above the student of cheirosophy 
 will easily learn to distinguish between the indications 
 of identical formations according as he finds them on 
 the male or on the female hand. 
 
 AFTERWORDS. I have therefore now, in the com- f 369. 
 pass of three sub-sections, presented the student Aftcrworil 
 with all such outlines as are necessary for him to 
 learn, of the important first section of the science of 
 cheirosophy. A few moments' reflection will convince 
 him of the vital necessity for mastering this branch 
 of the science of the hand, and of combining it in- 
 extricably with the practice of the more profound 
 cheiromancy, to which we are about to turn. I have 
 throughout this section kept rny notes as free as 
 possible from intercalations of the modifying influences 
 of the mounts and lines of the palm, but now that 
 the student is well grounded in the indications of the 
 outward forms of the hands I shall be able constantly 
 to refer back to this preceding section, in search of 
 modifications for the indications afforded by cheiro- 
 mancy proper; and in this way the inseparability 
 of the two sections will be more than ever made 
 manifest to the student,
 
 SECTION If,
 
 1. J. HARTLIEB " Die Kunst Ciromantia." (Augsburg, 1475.) 
 
 2. ARISTOTLE "Cyromantia Aristotelis cumFiguris." (Ulme, 
 
 1490.) [MS. Brit. Mus.] 
 
 3. B. COCLES " Le Compendion et Brief Enseignement de 
 
 Physiognomic et Chiromancie." (Paris, 1550.) 
 
 4. " La Chiromence de Patrice Tricasse des 
 Ceresars," etc. (Paris, 1552.) 
 
 5. TRICASSI CERASARENSIS . . . Enarratio pulcherrima princi- 
 
 piorum Chyromantise." (Noribergse, 1560.) 
 
 6. " Cheiromantise Theorica Practica Concordantia geneth- 
 
 liaca Vetustis novitate addita." (Erphordise, 1559.) 
 
 7. J. ROTHMANNUS " Keiromantia, or the Art of Divining by 
 
 the Lines, etc., engraven in the Hand of Man." 
 Translated by G. Wharton. (London, 1651.) 
 
 8. J. INDAGINE " The Book of Palmestry and Physiognomy," 
 
 etc. Englished by Fabian Withers. (London, 1651.) 
 
 9. " Palmistry, the secrets thereof disclosed." 
 (London, 1664.) 
 
 10. R. SAUNDERS "Physiognomic and Ciromancie." (Lon- 
 
 don, 1671.) 
 
 11. A. DESBARROLLES " Les Mysteres de la Main, reveles et 
 
 explique"s." (Paris, 1859.) i6tA edition, N. D. 
 " Revelations completes : suite et fin." (Paris, 1874.) 
 
 12. R. A. CAMPBELL "Philosophic Chiromancy, Mysteries 
 
 of the Hand revealed and explained." (St. Louis, 
 1879.) 
 
 13. H. FRITH AND E. HERON-ALLEN " Chiromancy, or the 
 
 Science of Palmistry," etc. (London, 1883.) 
 
 14. A. R. CRAIG " Your luck's in your Hand ; or, the Science 
 
 of Modern Palmistry " (London, N. D.) ; Third edition 
 of "The Book of the Hand" (London, N. D.) ; 
 
 15. "Dick's Mysteries of the Hand" (New York, 1884.)
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 CHEIROMANCY; OR, THE DEVELOPMENTS 
 AND LINES OF THE PALM. 
 
 NVP 6* CT' aSrjAois o'cri TOC; airb TOJTUIV e/uaurip yen)<ro/ieVois, opiwf (Vt 
 T< owoiVeK vfUVf iav jrpafvre, ravTa ireircicrdai Ae'yeti' atpoCfuxi. Nutwi; 
 i* o TI Traenv v/xtK fie'AAci (rvroiVecv. 
 
 AHMOSeENOYS KATA *IAinHOY. A'., 51. 
 
 FOREWORDS. Cheiromancy is that branch of the 
 science of cheirosophy which reveals not only the 
 habits and temperaments of men, but also the events 
 of their past, the conditions of their present, and the 
 circumstances of their future, lives, by the inspection 
 and interpretation of the formations of the palm of 
 the hand, and the lines which are traced thereon. 
 We have seen [^f^[ 106-8] how necessary it is that 
 in making a cheirognomic examination of a subject the 
 inspection should be conducted with a due regard to 
 the cheiromancy of the hands; it will be seen imme- 
 diately how much more important it is that the 
 shapes of the hands and fingers should be considered 
 in giving a cheiromantic explanation of any submitted 
 palm. For what is clearer and more easily to be 
 understood than that the character and temperament 
 of a man [chiefly revealed by the cheiroenomic eva- 
 
 CHEIROUANCV 
 
 f 370. 
 
 Forewords.
 
 1 84 CHEIROMANCY. 
 
 mination of his hands] should very greatly influence, 
 even if it does not absolutely bring about, the events 
 which are recorded in his palms, so that, as I have 
 said [^f^f 1 06-8], a glance at the fingers and thumb 
 will nearly always explain anything which appears 
 doubtful in the palm, and by making a preliminary 
 cheirognomic examination of a subject, the cheiro- 
 mantic examination will be rendered very much clearer 
 and easier of interpretation. Therefore, as we shall 
 immediately see, I shall combine cheirognomy with 
 cheiromancy far more than I combined cheiromancy 
 with cheirognomy, [because we had not yet entered 
 upon the. consideration of this more complicated 
 branch,] with a view to rendering my exposition 
 easier of remembrance. 
 
 We shall consider in turn the mounts and the lines 
 of the palm, with the signs and other modifications 
 which it is necessary to bear in mind ; but first, 
 we must arrive at a complete understanding of the 
 various parts of the hand, of the lines traced in the 
 palm, and of the names by which they are known 
 to cheirosophists. 
 
 ^1 371. And I take this opportunity of pointing out that the 
 
 Astrobgic names name s given to the Mounts [those of the principal 
 
 of the Mounts. 
 
 planets] are not given to them by reason of any 
 astrologic signification which they were at one time 
 supposed to bear, but because we have been accus- 
 tomed to connect certain characteristics with certain 
 gods of the pagan mythology, and because it is there- 
 fore convenient to give to the formations of the hand 
 which reveal certain characteristics, the names of the 
 particular gods whose characteristics those were ; a 
 principle obviously more reasonable than to describe 
 geographically in every instance the locality [in the 
 hand] of the formation which it is desired to designate ; 
 a course which would inevitably culminate in a con- 
 tusion only to be expected from the continual reitera-
 
 LINES OF THE PALM. 185 
 
 tion of an indicative verbosity. I shall therefore be 
 understood not to be using the expressions in the old 
 astrologic sense when I make use of such terms as 
 "The Mount of Venus," or "The Plain of Mars," but 
 merely to be indicating the characteristic betrayed by 
 a development of the hand at a certain point
 
 SUB-SECTION I. 
 
 AN EXPLANATION OF THE MAP OF THE HAND [PLATE VII.], 
 
 " Est pollex Veneris ; sed Juppiter indice gaudet, 
 
 Satumus medium ; Sol medicumque tenet, 
 Hinc Stilbon minimum ; ferientem Candida Luna 
 Possidet ; in cavea Mars sua castra tenet. 118 
 
 ^[372. On Plate VII. you will find a complete map of the 
 
 The hSd fthe nand > whereon is written the specific and technical 
 name given to each part thereof, the mounts being 
 indicated in their proper position by the planetary 
 signs [?. -4. TZ.. ?. (?. and J.] for the sake of 
 brevity and clearness. 
 
 f 373. The thumb is consecrated to Venus [?], and at its 
 
 Mount h of m venus. base wil1 be found the Mount of Venus, surrounded 
 
 112 These verses are of immense antiquity, and I quote them as 
 a heading to this sub-section, as they convey all that is required 
 to be known as to the localities of the mounts in the palm. 
 Their translation is as follows : " The thumb is the finger of 
 Venus, but Jupiter delights in the first finger [indice], Saturn 
 holds the second finger [medium], and Apollo the third [medictuii], 
 Mercury [Stilbon] is here at the smallest finger, and the chaste 
 Moon occupies the percussion \ferientei\ ; in the hollow of the 
 hand Mars holds his camp." Some of these terms require 
 explanation : " indice" the first or index-finger, so called from 
 its use in pointing or indicating ; " medium," the middle finger, 
 so called by persons who count the thumb as one of the five
 
 Mental Order/ 
 
 Material Order / 
 
 The Rascette 
 
 PLATE VII. THE MAP OF THE HAND.
 
 THE MAP OF THE HAND. 189 
 
 by the line of life. The base, or " ball" of the thumb, 
 is frequently looked upon as a phalanx distinct from 
 the hand, but, cheirosophically speaking, the thumb 
 has but two phalanges \yide S. I. ss. II., 5, ^f^f 184-5], 
 this base being termed the Mount of Venus. 
 
 The first finger [or index] is that of Jupiter [2A], 1374. 
 and at its base [i.e., immediately below it, at the top of F jup^" r ger 
 the palm] will be found the Mount of Jupiter. 
 
 The second finger [or middle finger] is that of 1375. 
 Saturn f h ], and the mount which should be found Sec ond fin s er 
 
 L -I' Saturn. 
 
 immediately below it is the Mount of Saturn. 
 
 The third finger [or ring finger] is termed the 1376. 
 finger of Apollo [0] [or of the Sun], and the Mount Th A r ?,of er 
 of Apollo will be found, if present, at its base. 
 
 The fourth finger [or little finger] is that of 1377. 
 
 _, r w i , MI 1-1 i- Fourth finger 
 
 Mercury [ ? ], whose mount will in like manner be Mercury. 
 found immediately beneath it. 
 
 Just below the Mount of Mercury [between the line 1378. 
 of heart and the line of head] is the Mount of Mountof Marfc 
 Mars [<?]. 
 
 Underneath this last mount, and extending from it 1 379. 
 
 . . _ . , ,, f , . r t> T Mount of Moon. 
 
 to the wrist, is found the Mount of the Moon [ J J. 
 
 The whole of the centre of the palm is occupied . r 
 
 .... . . Plain of Mars. 
 
 by the Plain or Triangle of Mars, which is comprised 
 between the line of life, the line of head, and the 
 Mounts of Mars and of the Moon. 
 
 fingers ; "medicum," the third finger, so called because it was 
 always used by doctors in mixing their drugs, for reasons given 
 at length in another place [vide p. 41, 1 37]. "Stilbon," the 
 little finger, i.e., that of Mercury. Stilbo was a name often 
 given by the ancients to the planet Mercury, in consequence, 
 Lempriere says, of its shining appearance [vide hereon Cicero, 
 "De Natura Deorum," Book II., cap. 20: "Infra hanc autem 
 Stella Mercurii est : ea SriX/awc appellatur a Grsccis "] ; "ferien- 
 tern," the percussion ; the outside of the hand, which is termed in 
 modern cheirosophy the percussion, and in ancient cheirosophy 
 feriens, on account of its being the part usually struck on the 
 table in argument, or generally used in driving anything into 
 its place
 
 igo 
 
 CHEIROMANCY. 
 
 f 381. 
 
 The triangle. 
 
 f 382. 
 The quadrangle. 
 
 The rascette. 
 
 1384. 
 
 Line of life. 
 
 f 385. 
 
 Line of head. 
 
 t386. 
 
 Line of heart. 
 
 f 387. 
 Line of fortune. 
 
 f 388. 
 
 Line of health. 
 
 This part of the hand is also called the triangle, 
 and is composed of the upper angle i.e., that formed 
 by the junction of the lines of life and of head ; the 
 inner angle i.e., that formed by the junction of the 
 line of head with the line of health or the line of fate, 
 at the Mount of the Moon ; and the lower angle, which 
 is formed by the approximation or junction of the 
 line of life and the line of health [when the latter is 
 present]. 
 
 The quadrangle is the rectangular space comprised 
 between the lines of head and of heart, and is 
 generally bounded on the one side by the line of fate 
 and on the other by the line of Apollo. 
 
 The rascette or restreinte is the poin t on the wrist 
 at which it joins the hand, which is gene rally occupied 
 by one or more lines, which are more or less appa- 
 rent, the upper one of which is known as the rascette 
 and the others as the restreintes, the whole forming 
 what are called the Bracelets of Life. 
 
 The lines generally found in the hands are as 
 follows : The line of life, which encircles the ball of 
 the thumb or Mount of Venus ; 
 
 The line of head, which, starting from the begin- 
 ning of the line of life [to which it is usually joined], 
 between the thumb and first finger, runs straight 
 across the hand ; 
 
 The line of heart, which, starting from the Mounts 
 of Jupiter or of Saturn, runs across the hand imme- 
 diately below the Mounts of Saturn, Apollo, and 
 Mercury, ending at the percussion ; 
 
 The line of fate or fortune, which, starting either 
 from the line of life, from the rascette, or from the 
 Mount of the Moon, runs up more or less directly to 
 the middle finger [the finger of Saturn] ; 
 
 The line of health or liver, which, starting near the 
 wrist, at the base of the line of life, ri ses diagonally 
 across the hand to meet the line of head, close to the
 
 THE MAP OF THE HAND. IQI 
 
 Mount of Mars, or at the top of the Mount of the 
 Moon; and 
 
 The line of art and brilliancy, which, rising from f 389. 
 the triangle or its vicinity rises to the finger of Apollo Line of A P olI - 
 [the third], cutting across the mount at its base. 
 
 To these are added three lesser lines sometimes ^[390. 
 found in a hand, which are : The line of Mars, which Line of Mars - 
 lies close inside the line of life, which it follows as a 
 sister line [vide ^[^[ 531 and 549] ; 
 
 The ring or girdle of Venus, which encloses the *f391. 
 Mounts of Saturn and of Apollo ; and 
 
 The Via Lasciva, or milky way, which, rising from ^ 392. 
 the wrist, traverses the Mount of the Moon. 
 
 The principal lines are also known by other tech- ^[393. 
 
 i !_ i_ Pi -j i-i- T MI Equivalent 
 
 meal names, which [to avoid repetition] will some- names, 
 times be used in the following pages. Thus the line 
 of life is also called the Vital. The line of head is 
 also called the Natural. The line of heart is also 
 called the Mensal. The line of fortune is also called 
 the Saturnian. The line of art or brilliancy is also 
 called the Apollonian, and the line of health is often 
 known as the Hepatic. 
 
 The ancient Cheiromants used also to consider the ^ 394. 
 
 ... / i e i i The signs of the 
 
 twelve phalanges of the fingers, as representing the zodiac, 
 twelve signs of the Zodiac, and used therefrom to 
 predict the seasons at which certain events would 
 come to pass. This is a branch of cheirosophy which, 
 it is needless to say, is now obsolete, having been 
 refined away with the rest of the dross which used 
 to disguise the pure metal of the science ; but Miss 
 Horsley has put them into the diagram at my request, 
 as they may be interesting to my readers. 
 
 Having, therefore, mastered what may be called J895. 
 
 ., The study of 
 
 the geography of the hand, we can now turn to the cheiromancy, 
 consideration of the cheiromancy of the hand, com- 
 mencing, as I have said, with the mounts, and con- 
 tinuing with the lines ; but before entering into the
 
 IQ2 CHEIROMANCY. 
 
 minute discussion and examination of each particular 
 mount and of each particular line, I wish to devote 
 a sub-section to the enunciation of certain general 
 principles, which, applying to all mounts and lines 
 equally, must be carefully borne in mind throughout 
 every cheiromantic examination. 
 
 Note. It has been suggested to me that I should 
 Modus operan i k ave O p ene( j this work with a sub-section, devoted 
 to an explanation of the modus operandi of cheiro- 
 sophy, of the method in which the cheirosophist 
 should proceed when he undertakes the cheirosophic 
 examination of a subject ; but I have reflected that 
 it is of no use deferring the real business of the book 
 by teaching my readers how to put into practice 
 principles which they have not yet acquired a 
 thing paradoxical in itself. I have, therefore, relegated 
 this matter to the conclusion of the work, as being 
 the more appropriate position for such a sub-section.
 
 SUB-SECTION II. 
 
 GENERAL PRINCIPLES TO BE BORNE IN MIND. 
 
 i. As to the Mounts. 
 
 THE mount, which is the highest in the hand, will 
 [as we shall see] give the keynote to the character of 
 the subject, and will be the first thing sought for ; and 
 when the characteristics are thus pronounced by the 
 development of a particular mount, the lesser [but 
 still noticeable] development of another mount will 
 indicate that the characteristics of the lesser will 
 influence those of the greater, modifying, and in a 
 manner perfecting, those of the reigning development. 
 
 You will seldom find that a subject has only one 
 mount developed, and you must bear in mind in all 
 cases that the modifying characteristics must be con- 
 sidered in reading the primary indications of the 
 principal mount. 
 
 A characteristic betrayed by a prevailing mount 
 can never lie dormant in a subject; opportunities 
 
 13 
 
 GENERAL 
 PRINCIPLES. 
 
 THE MOUNTS 
 
 The leading 
 mount and the 
 lesser mounts 
 
 398. 
 Modifying 
 indications . 
 
 ^399. 
 
 Action ol 
 quality.
 
 194 CHEIROMANCY. 
 
 for exercising the qualities indicated will always 
 arise, for the subject will, in a way, make their, 
 himself e.g., a man whose leading mount is that 
 of Mars will, by provoking others, call the talerfu, 
 of his character into play. 
 
 ^[400. If a subject have no particularly prominent mount 
 
 Eq mount? thC in his hand I.*., all the mounts are equal you will 
 find a singular regularity of mind and harmony of 
 existence to be his lot. 
 
 If 401. If all the mounts are null, and the places where 
 
 ^m^t&tM* tnev should be are merely occupied by a plain or a 
 hollow, you will find that the subject has never had 
 any opportunity of developing any particular cha- 
 racteristic, and the life will be a purely vegetative 
 one. 
 
 f 402. A mount may, instead of being high, be broad and 
 
 Dther indications full, or it may be covered with little lines. These 
 
 of the leading ... ,. , __&*. fc -r 
 
 mount. conditions of the mount give it the same effect as if 
 it were highly developed ; and it must be remarked 
 that, if a mount is much covered by lines, it will 
 
 Excess. betray an excess and over abundance of the qualities 
 of the mount, which prove an insurmountable obstacle 
 to the good effects thereof. Excess of a mount does 
 not give force, but fever to its quality, producing 
 monomanias, especially if the thumb and the line of 
 head are weak. 
 
 ^[403. One line upon a mount just emphasizes it enough 
 
 to be a fortunate sign upon it ; two lines show un- 
 certainty in the operation of the qualities, especially 
 if they are crossed ; and three, except in some rare 
 cases, give misfortune arising from the qualities of 
 the mount, unless they be even, straight, and parallel. 
 If no other mount is developed, the one upon which 
 most lines are found will be the leading mount in the 
 hand. 
 
 ^[404. Lines placed crosswise upon a mount always denote 
 
 " obstacles, and seriously interfere with the goodness of
 
 AS TO THE MOUNTS. 195 
 
 other main lines, which end upon the mount, as in 
 the cases of the mounts and lines of Saturn, or of 
 Apollo \yide pp. 206 and 211], unless the ascendung line 
 is deeper than the cross lines, in which case the evil 
 indications of the cross lines are destroyed. 
 
 De Peruchio [vide Note 98 , p. 116] affirms that little f 405. 
 capillary cross lines upon a mount signify wounds ; Capi j!^ cross 
 thus on the Mount of Jupiter they signify a wound to 
 the head ; on that of Saturn, to the breast ; on that of 
 Apollo, to the arms ; on that of Mercury, to the legs ; 
 on that of Venus, to the body. I have encountered 
 some strange confirmations of this statement, but such 
 instances are rare. 
 
 Thus it will be seen that the indications afforded 1 406. 
 by any particular mount may be greatly modified, if 
 not annulled, by the appearance of lines upon it, or in 
 its immediate vicinity, so that these must be care- 
 fully sought for and examined concomitantly. 
 
 It will be very frequently found that the mounts ^f 407. 
 are not exactly under the fingers, but lean, as it were, 
 in the direction of the neighbouring mount. In such 
 cases the prevailing development takes a modification 
 from that towards which it inclines. 
 
 Finally, the influence of the mount, which is 1f408. 
 principally developed, may be either good or bad. 
 Desbarrolles has stated that this may be determined 
 by the expression of the face, but I think by far 
 the surer and more scientific determination may be 
 arrived at by inspecting the formation of the tips of 
 the fingers, the consistency of the hand, and the 
 development of the thumb. Thus, pointed fingers 
 reveal an intuition, a lofty idealism of the quality. 
 Square fingers will look at the reasonable aspects of 
 character, and spatulate will cultivate the material 
 qualities of the mount e.g., Jupiter developed will 
 indicate, with pointed fingers, religion ; with square 
 fingers, pride; and with spatulate fingers, tyranny.
 
 196 
 
 CHEIROMANCY. 
 
 Apollo developed will indicate, with pointed fingers, 
 love of glory ; with square fingers, realism in art ; and 
 with spatulate fingers, love of wealth and luxury. 
 And so on with the other mounts. 
 
 Most authors have gone into the phrenology and 
 P n y s ig nom y characteristic of each type, but as I 
 consider this to be not only confusing, but irrelevant 
 to the study of pure cheiromancy, I have avoided 
 the consideration of this matter. 
 
 THE LINKS. 
 If 410. 
 
 Proper 
 appearance. 
 
 14T1. 
 
 Pale lines. 
 
 1412. 
 Red lines. 
 
 Yellow lines. 
 
 1 414. 
 Livid lines. 
 
 2. As to the Lines. 
 
 The lines in a hand should be clear and apparent. 
 They should be neat and well coloured [not broad 
 and pale], free from branches, breaks, inequalities, or 
 modifications of any sort, except in some few cases, 
 which will be pointed out in due course. A broad 
 pale line always signifies [by indicating excess] a 
 defect of, and obstacle to, the natural indications and 
 qualities of the line. 
 
 Pale lines signify a phlegmatic or lymphatic 
 temperament, with a strong tendency towards effe- 
 minacy [women nearly always have very pale lines]. 
 Such subjects are easily put out, and as easily calmed 
 again; they are generally liberal, and subject to strong 
 enthusiasms, which are of short duration. 
 
 Red lines indicate a sanguine temperament, and 
 are good ; such subjects are gay, pleasant in manner, 
 and honest. 
 
 Yellow lines denote biliousness and feebleness of 
 the liver; such subjects are quick-tempered, prompt 
 in action, generally ambitious, vigilant, vindictive, and 
 proud. 
 
 Livid lines, with a tendency towards blackishness, 
 betray a melancholy and often a revengeful disposition. 
 Such subjects are grave in demeanour and cunning in 
 character, affable, but haughty ; and these indications
 
 Fig. 1. Spots upon a line. Fig. Z. Sister Una?. 
 
 Pig. J. Forked Terminations Fig, 4.Tasselied lermwafww. 
 
 Ascending branches fa 
 
 dinff 6ranches(b) Fig. 6. Chained tinef. 
 
 Fig.Z TVa,vy lines'. Fig. 8. firoken lines 
 
 fu/.d. Capittaried iinef. 
 
 Ccndition$ oftAe lines. 
 
 PLATE VIII.
 
 AS TO THE LINES. 
 
 199 
 
 are the more certain if the fingers are long and the 
 thumb is broad. 
 
 Black spots upon a line indicate always nervous 
 diseases, whilst livid holes betray the presence of an 
 organic affection of the part corresponding with the 
 line [Fig. i, Plate VIII.]. 
 
 It must be noted that, however well coloured lines 
 may be, a feeble development of the mounts will 
 counteract their good indications. 
 
 The ancient cheiromants used to affirm that people 
 who had been born in the daytime had the lines 
 clearer marked in the right hand, whilst those who 
 had been born in the night had them more apparent 
 in the left; a statement which we must class with 
 the dicta laid down for ascertaining birthdays noted 
 in another place [vide Note ", p. 116]; they also 
 stated that the former resembled their fathers, whilst 
 the latter took after their mothers. 
 
 It must also be noted that lines may enlarge, 
 diminish, and even disappear, so that the province 
 of the cheirosophist is, as I have said below, [vide 
 ^[814,] to indicate the present condition and indica- 
 tions of the lines, and the likelihood of their future 
 modification. There is one thing to be noted in 
 connection with this matter, which is, that the indi- 
 cations of cunning never alter or become modified ; 
 cunning being a characteristic which is acquired, and 
 a characteristic thus acquired is never lost by a weak 
 character on account of inability to free itself, nor by 
 a strong one from a disinclination to do so. 
 
 Again, in reading the lines a single indication must 
 never be accepted as final, especially if it is a bad one. 
 To make any indication certain [whether good or bad] 
 corroborating signs must be sought for in both hands, 
 and the absence of corroboration in one hand will 
 contradict, or at any rate greatly modify, any evil sign 
 in the other. A single sign only affords a presump- 
 
 Black spots on 
 a line. 
 
 1418. 
 
 Feeble mount*. 
 
 Persons born bj 
 night or by day, 
 
 1418. 
 
 Alteration of 
 
 lines. 
 
 1419. 
 
 Necessity for 
 
 appearance of 
 
 indications in 
 
 both hands.
 
 200 CHEIROMANXTV. 
 
 tion of the tendency or event which it indicates, 
 and the cause of the danger must be found in the 
 aspect of the mounts, and other lines of the palm, or 
 the development and formations of the whole hand. 
 In the same way the indication of prudence in the 
 second joint of the thumb will go far towards modify- 
 ing an evil prognostic, which may be found in the 
 palm. 
 
 ^[420. When any principal line is accompanied throughout 
 
 Sister lines. j tg course by a sec ond line lying close to it, the 
 
 principal line is greatly strengthened and benefited 
 by this " sister line," as it is called. The consecu- 
 tiveness of the sister will contradict the evils fore- 
 shadowed by a break in the principal line, \yide ^ 
 531], but if both are broken, the evils are the more 
 certainly to be feared [Fig. 2, Plate VIII.]. 
 f 421. If the hand is covered with a multiplicity, a 
 
 Very many lines networ k o f ii tt i e lines which cross one another in all 
 
 in the palm. 
 
 directions, it betrays a mental agitation and dissatis- 
 faction with one's surroundings and oneself. It is 
 always the outcome of a highly nervous temperament ; 
 and in a soft spatulate hand these little lines denote 
 hypochondria. 
 
 ^[422. A fork at the end of a line is often a good sign, for 
 
 "'of ** Hne Cn it increases the powers of the lines without carrying 
 
 them too far. At the same time it often indicates a 
 
 duplicity in connection with the qualities of the line 
 
 [vide t 589] [Fig- 3]- 
 
 ^[423. When the fork is reduplicated so as to form a tassel 
 
 Tasselled at end. at the en( j of the jj ne> the j n( ]j cat i on i s bad, denoting 
 
 feebleness and nervous palpitation of the organ 
 represented [Fig. 4]. 
 
 ^424. All branches rising from a line increase its good 
 
 ^escen'ding 1 indications, whereas all descending branches accentuate 
 branches. its bad qualities. Ascending branches indicate rich- 
 ness, abundance of the qualities appertaining to a line ; 
 thus on the line of heart they denote warmth of
 
 1 
 ?$ 
 
 tf # 
 
 1 
 
 
 :S>
 
 AS TO THE LINES. 203 
 
 affection and devotion ; on the line of head they 
 denote cleverness and intelligence ; on the line of 
 Saturn they denote good luck, and so on. These 
 branches, when present, are nearly always found at 
 the beginnings and endings of lines [Fig. 5]. 
 
 A chained formation of a line indicates obstacles, If 428 ; 
 struggles, and contrarieties of the characteristics ( 
 afforded by it [Fig. 6]. 
 
 A wavy formation [Fig. 7] of a line signifies ill-luck, ^t 42 ?. 
 as does also a break in it. Breaks may be either 
 simple interruptions or cessations of the line, or 
 bars across it : they are always a bad sign, and the 
 interrupting influence must be carefully sought 
 [Fig. 8]. 
 
 When a line, instead of being single and clear, is f 427. 
 composed of a number of little capillaries, which here Capillaries, 
 and there, or at the ends, unite to form a single line, it 
 betrays obstacles and ill-success, in the same way as 
 chained lines [Plate VIII., Fig. 9]. 
 
 I have gone into these general principles at this 
 point, because it can never be too early to point them 
 out. The reader will understand them better, how- 
 ever, if he will return to them after a perusal of the 
 two succeeding sub-sections.
 
 I 428 - 
 
 i heir positions. 
 
 SUB-SECTION III. 
 
 THE MOUNTS OF THE HANDS. 
 
 I HAVE indicated at ^H[ 373-9 where the various 
 mounts should be placed. The prevailing mount is the 
 first thing to be observed in the palm of a hand, and it 
 must be sought for with a careful regard to the general 
 principles laid down in Sub-section I., i. In this 
 sub-section we shall carefully consider the indications 
 afforded by each mount in succession, as well as those 
 of some of the principal combinations of mounts. 
 
 MOUNT OF 
 JUPITER. 
 
 ^429. 
 
 Indications of 
 the Mount. 
 
 i. The Mount of Jupiter [V]. 
 
 The predominance of this mount in a hand denotes 
 a genuine and reverential feeling of religion, a worthy 
 and high ambition, honour, gaiety, and a love of 
 nature. It also denotes a love of display, of cere- 
 mony, and of pomp, and is, consequently, generally 
 developed in the hands of public entertainers of any 
 sort. Such subjects talk loudly, are extremely self- 
 confident, are just and well-minded, gallant and 
 extravagant, and are always impetuous without being
 
 THE MOUNT OF JUPITER. 
 
 205 
 
 revengeful. These subjects are fond of flattery and 
 fond of good living. They generally marry early, and 
 are always well-built and handsome, having a certain 
 hauteur, which enhances their charms without detract- 
 ing from their good nature. 
 
 An excessive development of the mount will give 
 arrogance, tyranny, ostentation, and, with pointed 
 fingers, superstition. Such subjects will be votaries 
 of pleasure, and vindictive, sparing nothing to attain 
 their selfish ends. 
 
 If the mount is absent [i.e., replaced by a cavity] 
 the subject is prone to idleness and egoism, irre- 
 ligious feelings, want of dignity, and a license which 
 degenerates into vulgarity. 
 
 The development of this mount gives to square 
 fingers a great love of regularity and established 
 authority. To long smooth fingers it imparts a love 
 of luxury, especially if the fingers are large at the 
 third phalanx [vide f 146]. This mount ought always 
 to be accompanied by a smooth, elastic, firm hand 
 [not too hard], with a well-developed first phalanx to 
 the thumb [Will]. 
 
 If to the good indications of this mount a favour- 
 ably developed finger, or Mount of Saturn, be added, 
 the success in life and good fortune of the subject is 
 certain ; Saturn denoting fatality, whether for good or 
 evil. 
 
 A single line upon the mount indicates success. 
 Many and confused lines upon the mount betray a 
 constant, unsuccessful struggle for greatness, and if 
 these confused lines are crossed, they denote un- 
 chastity, no matter the sex of the subject. 
 
 A cross upon the mount denotes a happy marriage, 
 and if a star be found there as well as the cross, 
 it indicates a brilliant and advantageous alliance. 
 
 A spot upon the mount indicates a fall of position, 
 and loss of honour or credit. 
 
 K430. 
 
 Excess of the 
 mount 
 
 Absence of the 
 mount. 
 
 *432. 
 
 With square and 
 smooth fingers. 
 
 "433. 
 Influence of 
 
 Saturn. 
 
 434. 
 
 Lines on the 
 
 mount. 
 
 ^435. 
 Cross and star 
 on the mount. 
 
 436 
 Spot.
 
 206 CHEIROMANCY. 
 
 ^437. A long thumb and a development of the first joint 
 
 its religion. j n ^ ne fi n g ers w jn gi ve to this mount free thought and 
 irreverence in religion. If, besides these, we find 
 pointed fingers and what is called the " Croix Mys- 
 tique," you will find ecstasy in matters religious, 
 tending even to fanaticism. 
 
 1438. If, instead of being in position immediately under- 
 
 DiS themo n u e nt t . f neath the fin g er of J u P iter [ or forefinger,] the mount 
 is displaced and inclines towards that of Saturn, it 
 acquires a serious tone and demeanour, and gives a 
 desire for success in science, theology, or classical 
 scholarship. 
 
 1439. If with the Mount of Jupiter we find also the 
 Unmount wife Mount of Apollo [] developed, it indicates good 
 
 others. fortune and wealth. Combined with the Mount of 
 Mercury [ $ ] we find a love of exact science and 
 philosophy. Such subjects are inclined to be poetic, 
 are well behaved and clever ; they make the most 
 successful doctors. To a bad hand this combination 
 will give vanity, egoism, a love of chatter, fanaticism, 
 charlatanry, and immorality. Combined with the 
 
 Mars. Mount of Mars [<?] it gives audacity and the talent 
 of strategy. Such subjects are self-confident, suc- 
 cessful, and fond of celebrity. To a bad hand such a 
 combination gives insolence, ferocity, revolt, dissipa- 
 tion, and inconstancy. A combination of the Mounts 
 of Jupiter and of the Moon [j] makes a subject 
 honourable, placid, and just. With the Mount oi 
 Venus [ ? ] a subject of this Jupiterian type becomes 
 sociable, simple-minded, gay, sincere, fond of plea- 
 sure, and generous. If the hand is, on the whole, 
 bad, the combination will denote effeminacy, feeble- 
 mindedness, caprice, and a love of debauch. 
 
 The Mount f Satu M- 
 
 1 440. The predominance of this mount in a hand denotes 
 
 mount.' 
 
 E '* a character in which to prudence and natural caution
 
 THE MOUNT OF SATURN. 2O/ 
 
 is added a fatality for good or evil, which is extreme. 11 * 
 Such subjects are always sensitive and particular 
 about little things, even though their fingers be short 
 [vide Iffl 131-2], The mount also denotes a tendency 
 to occult science, to incredulity, and to epicureanism of 
 temperament. Such subjects are always inclined to 
 be morbid and melancholy. They are timid, and 
 love solitude, and a quiet life in which there is neither 
 great good fortune nor great ill fortune ; they are also 
 fonder of serious music than of gay melody. They 
 take naturally to such pursuits as agriculture, hor- 
 ticulture, or mineralogy, having a natural penchant 
 for anything connected with the earth. These sub- 
 jects seldom marry, are extremely self-centred and 
 self-confident, and care nothing for what other people 
 may think of them. 
 
 The mount is seldom very high, for fatality is always, If 441. 
 to a certain extent, modifiable ; but when there is an development 
 excess of formation on this mount it betrays tacitur- ofthe oMt. 
 nity, sadness, an increased morbidity and love of 
 solitude, remorse, and asceticism, with the horrible 
 opposing characteristics of an intense fear and horror 
 of death, with a morbid tendency to, and curiosity con- 
 cerning suicide. The evil indications of an excessive 
 
 113 By fatality is meant certainty, i.f., the indications of the 
 middle finger are always looked upon as certain and unavoidable ; 
 and we find a curious parallel to this in comparative anatomy by 
 observing the greater constancy of this finger : i.e., the fact that 
 it is the one digit that is never discarded in the brute creation. 
 Professor Owen calls attention to this, in his work "On the 
 Nature of Limbs " [p. 38], where he points out the fact that the 
 extreme digits [the thumb and little finger] are the least constant 
 and universal, whilst the " digitus medius " is the most constant of 
 all in the vertebrate series, and most entitled to be viewed as the 
 persistent representative of the fingers; it shows a superiority of 
 size, though few would be led thereby to suspect that the bones 
 forming the three joints of this finger answer to those of the foot 
 of the horse, and that the nail of this finger represents the hoof 
 in the horse, etc. [vide ^ 33].
 
 208 
 
 CHEIROMANCY. 
 
 1442. 
 
 ' Saturnian ' 
 
 hand. 
 
 1443. 
 
 Absence of the 
 mount. 
 
 1444. 
 
 Lines on the 
 
 mount. 
 
 1445. 
 
 Spot on the 
 
 mount. 
 
 1446. 
 
 Branch from the 
 line of heart. 
 
 1447. 
 
 Displacement of 
 the mount. 
 
 development may be greatly modified by a well- 
 formed Mount of Venus [ <j> ]. 
 
 The Saturnian hand has generally long, bony fingers, 
 which give it philosophy, the second finger [that of 
 Saturn] is large, with the first [or nailed] phalanx 
 highly developed, the mount, if not high, being 
 generally strongly lined. A bad Saturnian hand has 
 a hard rough skin and a thick wrist 
 
 If the mount is quite absent the indication is of an 
 insignificant, " vegetable " existence, unmoved by any 
 great depth of feeling, and one which is continually 
 oppressed by a sense of misfortune. But when it is 
 thus absent it may be replaced by a well-traced line 
 of fate [or Saturn]. 
 
 A single straight line upon the mount signifies good 
 fortune and success, whilst a plurality of lines thereon 
 indicates a proportionate ill-luck. A succession of 
 little lines placed ladder-wise across the mount and 
 extending upon that of Jupiter indicate an easy and 
 gradual progression to high honour. 
 
 A spot upon the mount always indicates an evil 
 fatality, the cause of which must be sought for upon 
 the lines of head or of fate. 114 
 
 If a branch [not the end of the line of heart or of 
 Saturn] rises from the line of heart on to the Mount 
 of Saturn, it denotes worry, travail, and anxiety ; if 
 the branch is clean and single however, it will fore- 
 shadow wealth as a result of those anxieties [/, in 
 Plate X.]. 
 
 If, instead of being in its proper position beneath 
 the second finger, the mount is displaced towards 
 Jupiter, it has the same significance as the displace- 
 ment of the Mount of Jupiter towards Saturn [vide 
 If 438]. If, on the other hand, it is displaced towards 
 the Mount of Apollo, it betokens a fatality which can 
 be, and must be, striven against. 
 
 114 Signum crucis in Monte Saturnio sterilitatem indicat.
 
 PlATK X.-Lmi S UPON THE MOUNTS 
 
 OF THE PAI.M. 
 
 14
 
 THE MOUNT OF APOLLO. 
 
 211 
 
 If, together with the Mount of Saturn, we find the 
 Mount of Jupiter developed, we shall find gentleness, 
 patience, and respect in a good hand, or want of 
 appreciation, inability to make use of opportunities, 
 melancholy, hysteria, and want of taste in a bad hand. 
 Combined with that of Mercury this mount gives us 
 antiquarian research, and love of science from an 
 " amateur " point of view, a talent for medicine, and 
 a desire for information on various subjects. Such 
 subjects are clever at individualizing and classing, 
 and are generally happy. And this latter indication 
 generally holds good even when the rest of the hand 
 is bad, in which case the combination of Saturn and 
 Mercury gives us perfidy, perjury, sullen temper, 
 revenge, theft, want of filial affection, and charla- 
 tanry. 
 
 With the Mount of Mars equally developed this 
 mount betokens aggressiveness, bitterness of humour, 
 a false superiority, insolence, immodesty, and cynicism. 
 The combination of the Mounts of Venus and Saturn 
 will give us a love of and a search after truth in 
 matters occult, piety, charity, logic, self-control, with 
 a tendency to jealousy and love of display. If the 
 hand is bad the combination will betray frivolity, 
 curiosity, and, if the Mount of Saturn be the more 
 strongly developed of the two, we shall find pride, 
 envy, and debauchery. When the Mounts of the 
 Moon and of Saturn find themselves equally developed 
 in a hand, we have a subject whose intuition and 
 pure talent for occultism is remarkably developed. 
 It is a curious fact that these latter subjects are 
 generally frightfully ugly. 
 
 3. The Mount of Apollo []. 
 A hand in which this mount is developed 
 
 Combinatio 
 
 with other 
 
 mounts. 
 
 Saturn. 
 
 Mercury 
 
 11!). 
 
 Further 
 
 combin.itioof 
 
 Mara. 
 
 Venus. 
 
 Moon. 
 
 MOUNT or 
 APOLLO. 
 
 is 
 
 1460. 
 
 essentially that of a subject whose prevailing tastes Fort ^o' n t [ th 
 and instincts are artistic, and it always gives to its
 
 212 CHEIROMANCY. 
 
 possessor a greater or a less rlegree of success, glory, 
 celebrity, and brilliancy of fortune, denoting, as it 
 does, genius, intelligence, tolerance, and wealth, the 
 characteristics of the type being self-confidence, beauty, 
 grace, and tolerance in all things. 
 
 1451. Such subjects are inventive and imitative, being 
 
 "he C mount often great discoverers. Their principal failings are, 
 quick temper [though not of long duration] and a 
 certain incapacity for very close friendships, though 
 they are generally benevolent and generous, even 
 devoted were it not for the inseparable strain of fickle- 
 ness. Proud and eloquent on matters of art, they 
 love anything which is brilliant, such as jewellery 
 and the more ornamental forms of worship, for they 
 are religious from a gratitude for blessings received 
 rather than from a superstitious reverence. They 
 make stern and unrelenting judges, and their love is 
 rtiore affectionate than sensual. 
 
 ^[452. These Apollonian subjects love to shine before the 
 
 indications world, and not to be the cynosures of a small circle of 
 admirers, though they hate the idea of ostentation or 
 undeserved glory ; they will not explain themselves 
 in dogmatizing unless they think their audiences are 
 sympathetic, refusing to waste words on ignorant 
 cavillers, or to persuade people to accept their 
 opinions. In marriage they are, unfortunately, very 
 often unlucky, for their ideal, their standard of ex- 
 cellence, is unreasonably high. 
 
 ^[453. The normal development of a hand bearing this 
 
 ;I Apollonian" mount high shows smooth fingers, with the tips 
 
 hand* r 
 
 mixed [vide p. 170] or slightly squared ; the palm of 
 an equal length with the fingers, a well-marked 
 phalanx of logic, and either one very deep, or three 
 strong lines upon the mount. 
 
 ^[454. If the mount is developed to excess it indicates a 
 
 E *mount * he ^ ove ^ Wea ^ tn anc * f extravagance in expenditure, 
 
 instincts of luxury, fatuity, envy, and curiosity, a quick,
 
 THE MOUNT OF APOLLO. 
 
 213 
 
 unreasoning temper, and a strong tendency to levity, 
 frivolity, and sophistry. Such subjects are boastful, 
 vain, think themselves unappreciated, but highly 
 superior to their fellow-men ; these are the poets, 
 painters, and musicians and actors who dwell upon 
 the loss suffered by the world in their wow- 
 appearance at St. James's Hall, Burlington House, 
 and the Lyceum. This excessive development 
 is generally accompanied, and is emphasized by, 
 twisted fingers, spatulated soft hands, a grille [vide 
 If 701] on the mount, with a long phalanx of will and 
 proportionately short phalanx of logic. 
 
 If, on the other hand, this mount is absent in both 
 hands, its absence betrays materiality and indifference 
 to matters artistic, giving a dull, unenlightened life. 
 
 A single line deeply traced upon the mount indicates 
 fortune and glory ; two lines indicate considerable 
 talent, but a great probability of failure, whilst many 
 confused lines show a tendency to lean to the scientific 
 aspects of art. 
 
 If the mount is merely developed, having no line 
 marked upon it, it shows a love of the beautiful, but 
 not necessarily a talent for production of works of 
 art. 
 
 A spot upon the mount denotes a grave danger of 
 a loss of reputation or caste. 
 
 When in a hand the Mounts of Apollo and of 
 Mercury are found equally developed, we find a 
 character in which justice, firmness, perspicacity, love 
 of scientific research, combined with clearness of 
 diction and eloquence, are salient features. The 
 combination of Apollo and the Moon gives good 
 sense, imagination, reflection, and light-heartedness. 
 With an equal development of the Mount of Venus, 
 we get amiability and a great desire to please. 
 
 Absence of the 
 mount. 
 
 Lines of the 
 mount. 
 
 ^457. 
 
 Development 
 
 ^ 458. 
 
 Spot on tht 
 mount. 
 ^459. 
 
 Combinatior. 
 
 with other 
 
 mounts. 
 
 Mercury. 
 
 Moon. 
 Venus.
 
 214 
 
 CHEIROMANCY. 
 
 MOUNT OF 
 MERCURY. 
 
 f460. 
 adications of 
 the mount. 
 
 1461. 
 
 Eloquence. 
 
 | 462. 
 
 jndications o 
 the mount. 
 
 4. The Mount of Mercury [ $ ]. 
 
 The pre-eminence in a hand of this mount indicates 
 science, intelligence, spirit, eloquence, a capacity for 
 commerce, speculation, industry, and invention, agility, 
 promptitude in thought and action, and a .penchant for 
 travel and occult science. . 
 
 [The eloquence, which is one of the prevailing 
 characteristics of the type, is of a kind denoted by 
 the formations of the fingers. A high Mount of 
 Mercury will give, with pointed fingers, brilliant 
 oratory ; with square fingers, clearness and reason 
 in expounding ; with spatulate fingers, force and 
 vehemence in argument and dogma ; with long 
 fingers, details and parentheses ; and with short 
 fingers, brevity and conciseness. The great difference 
 between the eloquence of these subjects, and of those 
 whose prevailing mount is that of Apollo, is that the 
 oratory of the former is sophistical and clever, rather 
 than naive and direct like that of the latter ; it is 
 this that makes them such good barristers. To assist 
 their faculties in this respect still further, these sub- 
 jects should always have short nails (vide \ 251)]. 
 
 Such subjects are good athletes, are agile, clever at 
 games of skill, spontaneous in expedient, sharp in 
 practice, with a great capacity for serious studies. 
 Combined with these qualities we generally recognise 
 envy, but amiability therewith ; often [the other 
 conditions of the hand being favourable] we find 
 that these subjects are clever clairvoyants, seldom 
 sensual, and generally good-humoured, and fond of 
 playing with children so long as they are not other- 
 wise seriously employed. This tendency to envy, by 
 raising envious feelings at the aptitudes and successes 
 of others, constantly drives these Mercurial subjects 
 to take up and try a great variety of pursuits.
 
 THE MOUNT OF MERCURY. 
 
 215 
 
 These subjects are great matchmakers, and fre- 
 quently marry -very young, choosing equally young 
 persons for their helpmates. 
 
 The normal development of the hand which accom- 
 panies this mount is as follows : Long, smooth fingers, 
 hard, slightly spatulated, [athletics,] or very soft with 
 mixed tips [thought]. The finger of Mercury long 
 and sometimes pointed. The high mount cut by a 
 deep line, and the philosophic joint developed. 
 
 If the mount is developed to excess in a hand, it 
 denotes theft, cunning, deceit, treachery, with pre- 
 tentious ignorance. Such subjects are charlatans, run- 
 ning after the false and dishonest forms of occultism, 
 and are generally superstitious. These hands usually 
 have long twisted fingers, more or less turned back ; 
 soft hands, confused markings on the mount, and 
 the phalanx of will long. 115 
 
 A complete absence of the mount denotes inapti- 
 tude for science or for commercial enterprise. 
 
 A single line upon the mount indicates modesty 
 and moderation, and in many instances a strange 
 unexpected stroke of good fortune. A cross line 
 extending upon the Mount of Apollo betrays 
 charlatanry in science, and, in fact, the dishonest 
 occultism I have alluded to above [^ 465]. If this 
 line have an " island " [vide ^ 678] in it and cut the 
 Line of Apollo [p. 261] or brilliancy, it denotes ill-luck, 
 probably resulting from some perfectly innocent act. 
 
 Many mixed lines upon the mount denote astuteness 
 and aptitude for sciences. If they reach as low as 
 the line of heart, they denote liberality ; and if to 
 numerous rays on this mount a subject joins a high 
 Mount of the Moon, his penchant for medical science 
 will take the form of hypochondria. The elder 
 
 114 Mons Mercurialis prominens in manu qua Orbis Lacteus vel 
 Via Lasciva apparet, lasciviam et voluptatis sordidum appetitum 
 ostendiU 
 
 1463. 
 Marriage 
 
 Normal 
 development 
 o' the type. 
 
 Excess. 
 
 Absence. 
 
 ^ 467. 
 
 Lines on the 
 
 mount. 
 
 [468. 
 Rayed mount.
 
 2l6 CHEIROMANCY. 
 
 cheiromants have affirmed that a woman having 
 this mount well rayed is sure to marry a doctor, or, at 
 any rate, a man of science. If the lines on the mount 
 merely take the form of little flecks and dashes, it is a 
 practically sure indication of a babbling, chattering 
 disposition. 
 
 f 469. Lines on the percussion i.e., on the edge of the 
 
 Lines on the side hand, between the base of the little finger and the line 
 
 of the hand. . < 
 
 of heart indicate liaisons, or serious anairs of the 
 
 heart if horizontal, [i.e., parallel with the line of the 
 
 heart,] each line denoting a separate liaison or love 
 
 affair, a single deep line denoting one strong and 
 
 lasting affection. 116 If vertical they denote, almost 
 
 invariably, the number of children which the subject 
 
 has had. De Peruchio lays down the rule that if 
 
 they are strong they denote boys, if faint, girls ; and 
 
 if they are short or indistinct the children are either 
 
 dead or not yet born. Several vertical lines on the 
 
 percussion, crossed by a line which starts from a star 
 
 upon the mount, betrays sterility, whilst a marriage 
 
 line, ending abruptly by a star, indicates a marriage 
 
 or liaison of short duration, terminated by death. 
 
 ^]470. The mount quite smooth and unlined indicates a 
 
 Smooth mount. COQ ^ determined, and constant condition of mind. A 
 
 Grille. grille upon the mount is a dangerous prognostic of a 
 
 Circle. violent death, a circle also placed upon the mount 
 
 Spot. indicating that it will be by water. A spot upon the 
 
 mount indicates an error or misfortune in business. 
 ^471. If the mount is high, and the hand contain a long 
 
 Effect of Apollo. j me of Apollo, the commercial instinct will work itself 
 out in speculation rather than in recognized and per- 
 severing commerce. 
 
 116 Insula in qualibet brevium linearum quae percussionem 
 transcurrunt et stupii consuetudinem denotant [vide ^[^f 678-9] 
 ostendit consuetudinem cum propinquo vel etiam incestum. In- 
 sula in Lined Saturnia denotat adulterinm quod felicem vel in- 
 fdicem fert fortunam sicut fausta vel infausta linea.
 
 THE MOUNT OF MARS. 
 
 217 
 
 1 473. 
 
 ^474. 
 
 ^h'whe 
 mounts. 
 
 Venus. 
 
 Satum. 
 
 The mount leaning, as it were, towards that of ^[472. 
 Apollo, is a good sign, good enough to counteract a 
 bad line of Saturn, [vide p. 256,] betokening science 
 and eloquence. Leaning in a contrary direction [i.e., 
 towards the percussion,] it indicates commerce and 
 industry. 
 
 Connected with the Mount of Venus by a good line, 
 [e e, in Plate X.] this mount gives happiness and good 
 fortune. 
 
 Combined [i.e., equally developed] with the Mount 
 of Venus, we find wit, humour, gaiety, love of beauty, 
 often piety, easy and sympathetic eloquence. In a 
 
 " ,. r 
 
 bad hand [i.e., if the fingers are twisted, the line of 
 head weak, and the phalanx of will small] this 
 combination will give inconsequence, contradiction, 
 meddlesomeness, inconstancy, and want of persever- 
 ance. The combination of Mercury and Saturn in 
 a hand is always good, giving to the sobriety and 
 fatality of Saturn, a certain intuitive practicality 
 which seldom fails to give good results. The Mount 
 of Mercury is, however, one which is not often com- 
 bined with the other mounts of the hand. 
 
 5. The Mount of Mars [<?]. "SiIL ' 
 
 The discussion of the Mount of Mars is not fraught ^475. 
 with that simplicity which characterises that of the c*< 
 other mounts. It is, in a manner, divided intr* the plain of <?. 
 Mount of Mars properly so called, which is situated, 
 as may be seen, beneath the Mount of Mercury on 
 the percussion of the hand ; and that development or 
 extension of the mount into the palm of the hand 
 [shown in Plate VII. by a dagger] which is known as 
 the Plain of Mars. It will be seen that a development 
 of the Mount of Mars becomes the Plain of Mars, by 
 the swelling it produces in that part of the palm 
 occupied by the Triangle [vide f f 380-1] ; and as the
 
 218 
 
 CHEIROMANCY. 
 
 Interpretation. 
 
 1476. _ 
 
 Characteristics 
 of the mount. 
 
 1477. 
 Its indications. 
 
 |f478. 
 Marriage <J - 
 
 1479. 
 
 Aspect of the 
 
 hand. 
 
 Plain of Mars is treated of in my remarks upon the 
 triangle, but little notice need be taken of it here. 
 The keynote of the whole question may be struck by 
 bearing in mind that the Mount of Mars denotes 
 resistance, whereas the Plain of Mars betrays action 
 and aggression. This will be more fully demonstrated 
 later on. 
 
 The main characteristics indicated by a development 
 of the Mount of Mars are courage, calmness, sang 
 froid in moments of emergency, resignation in misfor- 
 tune, pride, resolution, resistance, and devotion, with a 
 strong capacity to command. 
 
 Well developed and not covered by lines or rays, 
 this mount will counteract the evil influences of a 
 short thumb by the calmness and resignation which 
 it imparts to a character. Such a subject [especially 
 if his thumb be large] possesses, to a marked extent, 
 the capacity for keeping his temper. He will be 
 magnanimous and generous to extravagance, loud of 
 voice, and hot-blooded, his passions carrying him even 
 to sensuality, unless counteracted by a strong phalanx 
 of logic. His eloquence, if he possess that faculty, 
 rare among subjects of this type, will be of the fas- 
 cinating rather than of the emotional description. 
 Spatulate fingers will give to this mount a love of 
 show and self-glory. 
 
 These subjects have always a great natural incli- 
 
 ' nation to love, though they nearly always marry late 
 
 in life, and marry women of the type of Venus [vide 
 
 p. 224]. These two types seem to have a natural 
 
 inclination for one another. 117 
 
 The hands to which these martial mounts belong 
 are generally hard, the fingers large, especially at the 
 
 117 "I know not how, but martial men are given to love. 1 
 think it is but as they are given to wine ; for perils commonly 
 ask to be paid in pleasures." FRANCIS BACON'S " Essay on 
 Love," 1612.
 
 THE MOUNT OF MARS. 
 
 219 
 
 third phalanx, the will long, and the logic small, the 
 
 hollow of the hand [Plain of Mars] rayed and lined. 
 
 An excessive development of this mount, ['.., a 
 
 1480. 
 
 spreading of the mount into the palm, " the Plain of Excess and lines 
 
 _ ,. ' . on the mount. 
 
 Mars, ] or a mass of lines upon the mount, will 
 indicate brusquerie, fury, injustice of mind, insolence, 
 violence, cruelty, blood-thirstiness, insult, and defiance 
 of manner. Lines on the mount always denote hot 
 temper. This excessive development generally be- 
 trays lasciviousness, and exaggeration in speech. 
 
 The Plain of Mars highly developed or covered 
 with lines indicates a love of contest, struggle, and 
 war, especially if the nails be short [vide ^f 251] and 
 a cross [vide ^[ 691] be found in the plain. This net- 
 work of little lines in the Plain of Mars always 
 indicates obstacles in the way of real good fortune. 
 
 These hands of the excessive type have generally 
 a feeble line of heart often joined to the line of head, 
 the line of life red in colour, and the thumb short and 
 clubbed. 
 
 If the mount be completely absent, its absence 
 denotes cowardliness and childishness. 
 
 De Peruchio and Taisnier both assert that a line 
 extending from the Mount of Mars to between the 
 Mounts of Jupiter and Saturn, with little spots of 
 the line of head, indicate deafness. I have never 
 recognized the sign. 
 
 Combined with the Mount of Apollo, this mount 
 becomes an indication of ardour and energy in art, 
 force, perseverance, and truth in action. With the 
 Mount of the Moon we get a love of navigation, or, 
 if the rest of the hand is bad, [vide f 4 8 ] follv - 
 Combined with the Mount of Venus we find a love 
 of music and of dancing, sensuality, ardour, and 
 jealousy in love. The combination of Mars and 
 Mercury denotes movement and quickness of thought 
 and speech, spontari'ty, incredulity, and a love of 
 
 "481. 
 
 Lines on the 
 
 mount. 
 
 1482. 
 
 cessive type 
 
 1483. 
 
 Absence. 
 
 1484. 
 Tradition. 
 
 Combinations 
 
 with other 
 
 mounts. 
 
 Apollo. 
 
 Moon. 
 
 Venus. 
 
 Mercury.
 
 220 CHEIROMANCY. 
 
 argument, strife of words, and mockery. An equal 
 Saturn. development of the Mounts of Saturn and Mars 
 gives cynicism, audacity of belief and opinion, and 
 want of moral sense; we find, in fact, in this case, 
 the energy of Mars rousing to action the usually 
 latent evil qualities of Saturn. 
 
 E 6 - The Mount f the Moon !>] 
 
 ^[486. The attributes of this mount, when found pre- 
 
 its attributes. Dominant in a hand, are imagination, melancholy, 
 chastity, poetry of soul, and a love of mystery, 
 solitude, and silence, with a tendency to reverie 
 and imagination. To it belongs also the domain of 
 harmony in music, as opposed to the melody, which 
 is the special attribute [as we shall see] of the 
 Mount of Venus. 
 
 If 487. Such subjects are generally capricious and change- 
 
 Characteristics. . . . . . 
 
 able, egoists, and inclined to be idle; their imagi- 
 
 nation often makes them hypochondriacal, and their 
 abstraction often causes them to develop the faculty 
 of presentiment, giving them intuition, prophetic in- 
 stincts, and dreams. They are fond of voyages by 
 reason of their restlessness, they are more mystic 
 than religious, phlegmatic in habit, fantastic, and given 
 to romance in matters of art and literature. They 
 make generally the best rhymists, but they have no 
 self-confidence, no perseverance, and no powers of 
 expression in speech. They are much given to 
 capricious marriages, which astonish their friends, 
 from disparity of years, or something of the kind. 
 ^488. These hands are generally swollen and soft, with 
 
 Formation of 
 
 the " lunar ' short, smooth, and pointed fingers, and a short phalanx 
 
 hand. o f i O gj C- p or the influence of the mount to be alto- 
 
 gether good, it should be fuller at the base [near the 
 
 wrist] than at the top [near the Mount of Mars] or 
 
 in the centre. Excessive fulness in the exact centre
 
 THE MOUNT OF THE MOON. 221 
 
 generally betrays some internal or intestinal weakness, 
 whilst excessive fulness at the top indicates, as a rule, 
 biliousness, goutiness, and a susceptibility to catarrh. 
 Bad concomitant signs are a forking of the head line, 
 [vide ^ 261,] a low Mount of Mars, with the Mount of 
 Apollo covered with a grille ; then we find betrayed 
 the vices of slander, debauchery, immodesty, inso- 
 lence, and cowardice. 
 
 The mount developed with a hard hand often 1*89. 
 
 r iU Hard hand. 
 
 betokens a dangerous activity and exercise ot the 
 imagination ; with spatulate fingers this subject will 
 be constantly forming projects and plans. 
 
 It may well be understood that a development of ^[490. 
 this mount emphasizes and harmonizes admirably ect ti s " 6 
 with pointed fingers, but its development makes a 
 square-fingered subject miserable by the constant 
 turmoil and struggle between the realms of fact 
 and fancy, unless there appear in the hand a good 
 and well-traced line of Apollo, [vide p. 261,] which 
 will give an artistic turn and instinct to the regu- 
 larity of the square fingers. But if the fingers of the 
 hand which bears this mount be very long, or very 
 square, the inevitable result will be a perpetual 
 
 discontent 
 
 A development of this hand should always [vide _JJ*J; er 
 Kf 131-2] be accompanied by short fingers, otherwise 
 the detail indicated by the fingers will be constantly 
 fretting the laissez aller instincts of the mount, or the 
 morbid imagination of the mount will turn the detail 
 of the fingers into a positive disease. 
 
 An excessive development of the Mount of ^m.^ 
 
 Moon will produce in a character unregulated caprice, devetopment 
 wild imaginations, irritability, discontent, sadness, 
 superstition, fanaticism, and error. Such subjects 
 are intensely liable to suffer from headaches; * 
 they take a morbid pleasure in painful thoughts and 
 humiliating reflections.
 
 222 
 
 CHEIROMANCY. 
 
 1493. 
 
 Long mount. 
 
 f494. 
 
 Absence. 
 
 Clairvoyance. 
 
 1496. 
 
 Idleness. 
 
 1497. 
 
 Boundaries of 
 the mount. 
 
 1498. 
 
 Lines on the 
 
 mount. 
 
 When the mount is not high, but very long, coming 
 down to the base of the hand, and forming an angle 
 with the wrist, it denotes a resigned and contem- 
 plative character, quite devoid of all strength, strength 
 being shown by thickness, as opposed to weakness, 
 which is indicated by length of the mount. 
 
 If the mount is absolutely absent, it betrays want 
 of ideas and imagination, want of poetry of mind, 
 and general drought of the intellect. 
 
 Highly developed with the " Croix Mystique," \yide 
 p. 277] well traced in the hand, and pointed fingers, 
 we find invariably a wonderful faculty of clairvoy- 
 ance, which may be marvellously developed and 
 cultivated. 
 
 I have remarked above [^[ 487] that this mount 
 indicates idleness ; the idleness betrayed in a cha- 
 racter by the development of this mount must not 
 be confused with ehe idleness indicated by softness 
 of the hands, \yide If 203",] the latter denoting idle- 
 ness of the body, and slothfulness, as opposed to the 
 idleness indicated by the former, which is that of the 
 mind [reflection, etc.]. 
 
 NOTE. It sometimes occurs that there is a diffi- 
 culty in determining the exact boundaries of the 
 Mount of the Moon. It may generally be assumed 
 that it joins the Mount of Mars at the extremity 
 of the line of head, and is separated from the Triangle 
 and the Plain of Mars by either the line of Saturn, or 
 of Health, or by the Via Lasciva [which is rarely found 
 in a hand, vide ^f 640], 
 
 One line upon the mount betrays a vivid instinct, a 
 curious vague presentiment of evils ; many lines and 
 rays on the mount denote visions, presentiments, 
 prophetic dreams, and the like. Such subjects are 
 much prone to folly and inconstancy. A single deep 
 ray across the mount, with a small line crossing it, 
 denotes gout or a gouty tendency.
 
 THE MOUNT OF THE MOON. 223 
 
 A subject in whose hand is found a clear strong ^[499. 
 
 line from the Rascette to the middle of the mount Line fr . om the 
 [as at b b, in Plate X.] will be a complaining, fretful 
 person. 
 
 A line extending in an arc from the Mount of Mer- ^ 500. 
 
 cury to the Mount of the Moon, fas at a a, in Plate X.,1 Connected with 
 
 J 8 by curved line. 
 
 with more or less developed rays upon the mount, is 
 an invariably sure sign of presentiments, prophetic 
 instincts, and dreams. 
 
 Horizontal lines traced upon the percussion at the ^ 501. 
 side of the Mount of the Moon denote voyages. Such a Horizontal lines. 
 travel line terminating with, or interrupted by, a star, 
 indicates that the voyage will be a dangerous, if not 
 a fatal one. If a travel line be so prolonged over the 
 Mount of the Moon into the hand as to cut the line of 
 head, making there a star, the subject will suddenly 
 abandon his position and prospects in life, for the sake 
 of a perilous voyage [vide ^f 773]. 
 
 A star upon the mount connected by a small line m 502. 
 with the line of life, is a prognostication of hysteria Star on the 
 and madness [c c, in Plate X.] when it is accompanied 
 by the other signs of dementia in a hand [vide 5F 583]. 
 
 A straight line from the Mount of Mercury to that ^ 503. 
 of the Moon betokens good fortune, arising from the Connected with 
 
 B by straight 
 
 imagination and guiding instinct developed in the ^ 
 mount. 
 
 The mount much cross-barred indicates a condition 
 of constant self-torment and worry, the cause of 
 which will be shown by some strong development 
 elsewhere in the hand, as, for instance, by a de- 
 velopment of the line of heart, [vide II" 553,], which 
 shows that the self-torment is from too much affec- 
 tion ; or by a raying of the Mount of Jupiter, which 
 shows ambition to be the disturbing element ; or 
 by a like condition of the Mount of Mercury, which 
 indicates that the worries arise from business or com- 
 merce. This worrying tendency may, however, be
 
 224 CHEIROMANCY. 
 
 counteracted by very square fingers, or a long phalanx 
 of logic ; or it may be annulled by the resistance and 
 resignation of a high Mount of Mars. 
 
 f 505. An angle on the mount [d, in Plate X.] indicates a 
 
 crescent* g reat danger of drowning. A crescent in the same 
 
 place is said to betoken the fatal influence of woman 
 
 upon one's life. I have not come across these signs in 
 
 practice. 
 
 ^506. If in a hand the Mounts of Moon and Mercury are 
 
 C wTthothlT S equally developed, it is a sign of subtilty, change- 
 mounts, ability, and intuition in the deeper sciences, bringing, 
 as their consequence, success and even celebrity. A 
 Venus. like combination of the mount with that of Venus 
 results in devotion of a romantic and fantastic kind, 
 curiosity and recherche in affairs of the heart. In a bad 
 hand such a combination will give caprice, eccentricity, 
 and unnatural instincts in affairs of the heart. A 
 Saturn combination with Saturn will give hypochondria and 
 cowardice, egotism, slovenliness, and a tendency to 
 indigestion. The constant attribute of the mount is 
 imagination and fancy. 
 
 MoUNT " 7. The Mount of Venus [ o 1. 
 
 VENUS. L T j 
 
 ^[507. The main attributes of this mount, shown in a 
 
 Its . , character by its prominence in the hand, are the 
 
 characteristics. r 
 
 possession of, and an admiration for, beauty, grace, 
 melody in music, dancing, gallantry, tenderness, and 
 benevolence, with a constant desire to please and to be 
 appreciated. It is essentially the Mount of Melody, 
 [vide ^[ 486,] and is, consequently, always to be found 
 in the hands of those who are talented as singers. 
 The attributes of this mount are the more feminine 
 forms of beauty, as contrasted with the masculine 
 forms of beauty, which are indicated by a prominence 
 of the Mount of Jupiter. 
 
 J 508. These subjects are great lovers of pleasure and 
 
 its indications. society . they are fond of aDn ] ause> but more from
 
 THE MOUNT OF VENUS. 
 
 22 
 
 their love of giving pleasure to others than for its 
 own sake. They hate any form of quarrel or strife, 
 and are essentially gay, though they are less noisily 
 gay, as a rule, than subjects of the type of Jupiter 
 [vide supra]. Men of the type are often effeminate ; 
 all of them, however, have the talents of painting, 
 poetry, and music, whether they have the persever- 
 ance to cultivate them or not. 
 
 A development of this mount will always mitigate 
 and soften the harsh effects, or malignities, of any 
 other mount. 
 
 The hands which usually accompany a develop- 
 ment of this mount are fat and dimpled, the fingers 
 smooth and rather short, the thumb also short. The 
 bad influence of the type is betrayed by extreme soft- 
 ness, pointed fingers, the mount much cross-barred, 
 the line of Mars indicated inside the line of life, and 
 the Via Lasciva traced upon the palm. 
 
 An excess of the mount will betray debauchery, 
 effrontery, licence, inconstancy, vanity, flirtation, and 
 levity. 
 
 The absence of the mount betrays coldness, lazi- 
 ness, and dulness in matters of art. Without this 
 mount developed to a certain extent, all the other 
 passions become dry and selfish in their action. 
 
 If the mount is completely devoid of lines, it 
 indicates coldness, chastity, and, very often, a short 
 life. 
 
 A quantity of lines on the mount denotes always 
 heat of passion and warmth of temperament. If 
 there are but two or three strong lines traced upon 
 the mount, they indicate ingratitude. 
 
 A worn-out libertine has always this mount flat, 
 but very much rayed, the Girdle of Venus [vide p. 268] 
 being also traced in the hand, which indicates that 
 the desire of the subject being beyond his powers, he 
 constantly seeks for change and new excitement. 
 
 ^509. 
 
 Modifying 
 effects of $ . 
 
 The typical 
 hand. 
 
 If Mi- 
 Excess. 
 
 Absence. 
 
 1513. 
 
 Very smooth. 
 
 Lines on the 
 mount. 
 
 Debauchery.
 
 226 CHEIROMANCY. 
 
 ^ 516. A line extending from the mount to that of Mercury 
 
 c ^ ec ' ed [e e, in Plate X.] is always a good sign, indicating good 
 
 fortune and love resulting from one another. 
 If 517. A line rising from the base of the hand into the 
 
 ristl mount is also a sign of good luck \_ff, in Plate X.]. 
 f 518. Lines from the phalanx of logic to the line of life 
 
 Marriage lines. ^ j n p^ x j are s&id fey many authorities to mdi . 
 
 cate marriages ; and if they are confused, they betray 
 troubles and worries in love and marriage \vide If 533]- 
 
 If 519- Islands [vide If 679] placed crosswise upon the mount 
 
 " *" [/ /> m Plate X.] indicate advantageous opportunities of 
 marriage which have been missed. These lost oppor- 
 tunities would have been all the more brilliant and 
 desirable if the islands are connected with the Mount 
 of Apollo [as at k, in Plate X.] by a line.* 
 
 ^[520. Three lines extending straight to the Mount of 
 
 Other lines. j u pj ter denote liberality and happiness [Mi, in 
 Plate X.]. A deep line cutting into the triangle [' *', 
 in Plate X.] betrays a tendency to asthma. 
 
 ^f 521. NOTE. It has been an almost invariable rule among 
 
 The seven type*. cne i rO sophists to make these mounts the bases and 
 distinguishing characteristics of seven clearly defined 
 types, assigning to each a special physiognomy, phreno- 
 logy, etc. I do not consider that this is expedient, 
 for hands are already divided into seven far more 
 practical and ordinary types cheirognomically [^f 264], 
 and in all my experience I have never found more 
 than five or six subjects whose hands were dominated 
 by one single pre-eminent mount [vide ^f 398]. 
 
 "* Lunula in Monte Venereo adultci ium monstrat ; si monies 
 Veneris atque Lunae seque prominent, lunula in Monte Venereo 
 obscenitatem prodit et crapulam ; quin etiam si in tali manu 
 Via Lasciva invenitur turpior atque apertior est lascivia.
 
 PLATE XT. AGES UPON THE LINES OF LIFE AND FORTUNE,
 
 SUB-SECTION IV. 
 
 THE LINES IN THE HAND. THK L ' NES - 
 
 I SHALL consider and discuss each line in turn, ... 
 
 Simplicity of the 
 
 according to its relative importance. The great study, 
 difficulty about the consideration of the lines in the 
 acquirement of the dogma of cheirosophy, is that the 
 amount of details to be learnt by heart is apparently 
 enormous. It is not, however, the case, ar/ will be 
 found when we reach the end of this sub-section, for, 
 as a matter of fact, a complete knowledge of cheiro- 
 mancy depends merely on a complete comprehension 
 of the indications of the three principal lines head, 
 heart, and life. It is the aspect and condition of 
 these lines, and the methods and causes of their 
 disarrangements and subdivisions, which, properly 
 observed, afford us all the information we can possibly 
 require. 
 
 i. The Line of Life. LINE or Lire. 
 
 This line should be long, completely encircling the ^ 523. 
 ball of the thumb [Mount of Venus], strong, not too
 
 230 CHEIROMANCY. 
 
 broad or too fine, without curvature, breakage, cross 
 bars, or irregularities of any description. Thus marked 
 in a hand, it denotes long life, good health, a good 
 character and disposition. 
 
 If 524. Pale and broad, it indicates ill-health, bad instincts, 
 
 Evil aspects of and a feeble and envious character. Thick and red, 
 it betrays violence and brutality of mind ; chained, 
 [vide fig. 6, Plate VIII.,] it indicates delicacy of con- 
 stitution ; thin and meagre in the centre, it indicates 
 ill-health during a portion of the life ; a spot termin- 
 ating this thinness indicates sudden death. If it is of 
 various thicknesses throughout its course it denotes a 
 capricious and fickle temper. 
 
 ^f 525. Perhaps the most important consideration connected 
 
 Age on the line. w j t h t hj s i me j s t ^ e determination of age. The line 
 is divided up into periods of five and ten years, in 
 the manner shown in Plate XI., and according as irre- 
 gularities or breaks occur at any of these points, an 
 illness or event whatsoever threatens the life at that 
 age. [Thus, for instance, say a break occurs on a 
 line of life at the point where you see the figure 40, 
 you may predict an illness at that age or say the line 
 ceases abruptly at the point 55, you may predict the 
 death of the subject at that age.] It has often been 
 objected to me that it is difficult to divide the line 
 in a living hand from a diagram like Plate XL, owing 
 to the difference in the size ; but the difficulty ought 
 not to exist, for the circumference of the Mount of 
 Venus has only to be divided [mentally] into eighteen 
 equal pa:ts, the points of division of which should be 
 taken to represent the ages indicated on the diagram. 
 A little experience will render this mental operation 
 quite easy. The diagram given at p. 238 of Adrien 
 Desbarrolles' smaller work on the science [vide Note ^ 
 p. 67], has led many would-be cheirosophists wide of the 
 mark, for the divisions are impracticable and incorrect, 
 and his treatment of the other lines in the same way, by
 
 PLATE X I J. MODIFICATIONS OF THP PRINCIPAL LINES,
 
 THE LINE OF LIFE. 
 
 233 
 
 rays from the line of life, is hopelessly and physically 
 impossible. The method in which this division was 
 obtained, and the astrological reasons and explanation 
 thereof are given at length at p. 236 of the same work, 
 but they are too lengthy and useless to transcribe 
 here. He himself has recognized the fallacy of this 
 method and subdivision, and hastens to correct them 
 in the very first words of his later and larger work, 119 
 where he gives a diagram practically identical with 
 Plate XL, as regards the divisions of the line. 
 
 The shorter the line the shorter the life, and from 
 the point at which the line terminates in both hands 
 may be predicted accurately the time at which death 
 will supervene. 
 
 A break in the line denotes always an illness. If 
 the line is broken in both hands, there is great danger 
 of death, especially if the lower branch of the break 
 turn inwards towards the Mount of Venus [as at a, in 
 Plate XII.], and the sign is repeated in both hands. 
 
 And here I would digress to impress upon my 
 readers a point of vital importance ; that is, the 
 absolute necessity to bear in mind that to be certain 
 a sign must be repeated in both hands; and this applies 
 particularly and especially to the indications of 
 accident and disease upon the line of life. A break 
 in one hand, and not in the other, betokens only a 
 danger of illness ; and in like manner, if in one hand 
 the line stop short at 35, death cannot be predicted 
 at that age, unless it also stop short at the same point 
 in the other. For example, I saw a pair of hands 
 some years since, in which the line ceased at 37 in 
 one hand, and at 41 in the other. I told the subject 
 that a fatal illness would attack him at 37, which 
 would kill him at 41. He replied that he was then 
 39, and that a constitutional defect had asserted itself, 
 
 Short 
 
 short 
 
 ^[527. 
 
 Breaks in the 
 line. 
 
 528. 
 Necessity of 
 corroborative 
 signs in both 
 
 hands. 
 
 " " Mysteres de la Main, 
 fin." (Paris, 1874.) 
 
 Revelations completes : Suite et
 
 234 
 
 CHEIROMANCY. 
 
 f 529. 
 
 Sudden death. 
 
 f 530. 
 
 Broken line. 
 
 Square. 
 
 f 531. 
 
 Sister line. 
 
 f 532. 
 
 Forked or 
 asselled. 
 
 in fact, at 37, and, as I had told him, he died two 
 years afterwards. These things must be very care- 
 fully learnt before they are put into practice, for to 
 make a deliberate statement like the above would be 
 a brutal and dangerous thing to do, unless one spoke 
 with absolute certainty. 
 
 The line ceasing abruptly with a few little parallel 
 lines as at b, in Plate XII., is an indication of sudden 
 death. If the line is continually crossed by little 
 cutting bars, it is an indication of continual, but not 
 severe, illnesses. 
 
 If the line is broken up and laddered, as at cc, in Plate 
 XII., it denotes a period of continued delicacy and ill- 
 health. If it is broken inside a square, as at a, in 
 Plate XIII., it indicates recovery from a serious illness ; 
 a square always denotes protection from some danger 
 \yide *[[ 669]. A bar across the broken ends [as at b, 
 Plate XIII.] also denotes a preservation from an illness. 
 
 Whatever may be the condition of the line, a sister 
 line, as at d d, Plate XII., will replace it and counteract 
 the evil effects of the irregularities found on the main 
 line, protect the subject against most of the dangers 
 which assail him, and indicate a luxurious, comfort- 
 able existence. [Of the inner sister line, or line of 
 Mars, we shall speak later on.] 
 
 The line should be free from forks and tassels 
 throughout its course. Tasselled at its extremity, as 
 at c, in Plate XIII., it indicates poverty and loss of money 
 late in life, if not earlier. Forked at the commence- 
 ment, as at e, Plate XII., it indicates vanity, indecision, 
 and fantasy ; but if the fork is very clear and simple, 
 [not confused as in the figure,] it may in a good hand 
 mean justice of soul and fidelity. In like manner, if 
 instead of the tassel ate, Plate XIII., we find a plain fork, 
 it points to overwork in old age resulting in poverty ; 
 it is, in fact, the first warning of the appearance of 
 te tassel. A ray of the tassel going to the Mount of
 
 PLATE XTTI. - MOPIFJCATIONS OF THE PRINCIPAL LINES
 
 THE LINE OF LIFE. 237 
 
 the Moon [as at d, Plate XIII.] shows a great danger of 
 folly resulting from these troubles. A fork going to 
 the line of head [as at e, Plate XIII.] equals faithfulness, 
 but if it be at the side of the hand as at /, it is, on 
 the contrary, a sign of inconstancy. A fork in the 
 very centre of the line is a warning of diminished 
 force, which must be attended to by a relaxation 
 of the efforts, especially if the tassel appears at the 
 base of the line, or the head is at all weak. 
 
 Rays across the hand from the Mount of Venus [as in ^ 533. 
 Plate XIV.] always denote worries and troubles. Across Rays 1 ^ s *" 
 the line of fortune to a star in the triangle, they denote Worry lines, 
 loss of money ; continued to the line of head, as at b, 
 a ray indicates a consequent loss of reason, or, at any 
 rate, danger to the mental faculties. Cutting the line 
 of Apollo, as at c, it betokens a worry or loss of 
 money early in life, by reason of the ruin or mis- 
 fortune of one's parents; if it starts from a star, 
 as at d, it shows that the misfortune was caused by 
 the death of a parent. The age at which these 
 troubles occur is shown by the place at which the 
 line of life is cut by the worry line. If the worry 
 line terminates at a point or star upon the lines of head 
 or heart [as from/, in Plate XIV.], or upon the Mount 
 of Mars, it denotes that the worry has brought about 
 an illness. If the line goes straight to the heart, as 
 at gg, in Plate XIII., it indicates an unhappy love affair ; 
 if an island appear in the line, [h t Plate XIII.,] the conse- 
 quences are likely to be, or have been, serious, if not 
 shameful ; a fork at the point where gg cuts the line 
 of life, as in Plate XIII., indicates an unhappy marriage, 
 or even a divorce. A worry line from a star in the 
 mount [i, Plate XIII.] indicates quarrels with relations, 
 ending in ruin if it goes up to the Mount of Apollo, as at 
 j ; but if it goes up and joins with the line of Apollo, as 
 at k, it is a prognostic of good fortune arising therefrom. 
 A line from the Mount of Venus, fust cutting the line
 
 238 CHEIROMANCY. 
 
 of life, as at h, in Plate XIV., indicates marriage at the 
 age whereat the line is found. 
 
 ^[534. Rays across the hand just cutting the line, generally 
 
 Un^onifc. 1 * indicate an illness caused by the mount or line whence 
 the ray takes its departure, at the age at which it 
 occurs upon the line : thus, from the Line of Heart it 
 means an illness caused by the heart ; from the Line 
 of Head an illness caused by the head or brain ; from 
 the Mount of Mars a danger brought about by passion, 
 and so on. 
 
 ^[535. A ray ascending to the Mount of Jupiter, as at //, 
 
 Ray up to #. in p late xill., betrays ambition, lofty aims, egoism, 
 and success. These lines often appear in a hand quite 
 suddenly. 
 
 ^[536. If a branch rise from a black spot on the line, it 
 
 P Hne" ' indicates that a disease has left a nervous complaint. 
 Black spots always indicate diseases, and if they are 
 very deep, they indicate sudden death. Among the 
 older Cheiromants this was the indication of a 
 murderer. These are more particularly treated of 
 later on [vide ^[ 672]. 
 
 ^[537. Branches ascending from the line, as in Plate XV., 
 
 Ascending and Denote ambition, and nearly always riches ; if they 
 
 descending J ' J 
 
 branches. ascend through the other lines, as at a a a, they 
 indicate that the success is brought about by the 
 personal merit of the subject. Descending branches, 
 as at b, Plate XV., denote loss of health and wealth. 
 ^f 538. If instead of starting from the extreme outside of 
 
 under" * ne hand, the line of life commences under the 
 Mount of Jupiter, [say at g, Plate XII.,] it betrays great 
 ambition, and is often a sign of great successes and 
 honours. 
 
 ^T 539. If the lines of life, head, and heart are all joined 
 
 'and heartf together at the commencement, it is a terrible sign 
 
 of misfortune and violent death. 
 
 ^ 540. A cross cut by branches of the line, as at c, Plate XV., 
 
 branches? betokens a mortal infirmity, with grave fear of death ;
 
 PLATE XIV. MODIFICATIONS OF THE PRINCIPAL LINES.
 
 THE LINE OF LIFE. 24! 
 
 a cross at the end of the line, as at d t denotes [if the 
 line is otherwise clear] that the subject will suffer 
 unmerited reverses in his old age. A cross at the 
 commencement of the line indicates an accident in 
 early life, especially if a point be also found on the 
 line at the same place. 
 
 A line from the Mount of Mars cutting the line of ^ 541. 
 life, as at e e, in Plate XV., indicates a wound. Lbe from J 
 
 A ray going direct from the line to the Mount of ^ 542. 
 Apollo, denotes celebrity ; if it is indistinct, this cele- Ra * to 
 brity is obstructed by some quality of the character, 
 which must be sought for and guarded against. 
 
 Circles and spots upon the line were considered by \ 543. 
 the old cheiromants to indicate murder and blindness. Circles and spots. 
 I have seen the latter indication confirmed, but never 
 the former. 
 
 If the line, instead of being joined to the line of head, 
 be separated, as at/, in Plate XV., it is a sign of folly and 
 carelessness, of extreme self-reliance and foolhardiness 
 in consequence, especially if the space be filled with 
 a mesh of little lines, and the lines themselves be big 
 and red. 
 
 If the line come out in a great circle into the palm ^545. 
 of the hand, and reach, or end close to, the Mount of 
 the Moon, it is a sign of long life. As I have said 
 before, if a line have a break in it and a sister line, the 
 latter mends it, as it were, and the only effect of the 
 break is a delicacy during the period over which the 
 break extends. If the broken end of the line join 
 with the line of fortune, it is an indication that, at some 
 time or other, the life has been in great danger, from 
 which it has been protected by good luck. 
 
 Again, if the line appears to be short, an intense 
 desire to live, supported by a strong phalanx of will 
 and a good line of head, will often prolong it, the pro- 
 longation being marked on the hand by the appearance 
 oi sister lines or capillaries. 
 
 16
 
 242 CHEIROMANCY. 
 
 ^547. A line of life lying close to the thumb is a mark of 
 
 Close to thumb. sterility> especially if the lines of health and head are 
 joined by a star [vide 123 , p. 267]. 
 
 1 548 An island \yide ^[ 678-83] on the line denotes an ill- 
 
 ness during the period of its length, generally caused by 
 some excess shown elsewhere on the hand. If the 
 line of health is absent, the island denotes biliousness 
 and indigestion ; an island at the very commencement 
 of the line betrays some mystery of birth, some 
 fatality, or some hereditary disease. 
 
 LINK OF MARS. i. The Line of Mars. 
 
 <t 549. In some hands we find inside the line of life, and 
 
 Effects of the . 11 i j i L '*. j i i- 
 
 line. running parallel and close to it, a second or sister line 
 known in cheirosophy as the Line of Mars, or the 
 Martial Line [vide Plate VII.]. Like all sister lines, 
 it repairs and mitigates the effects of breaks in the 
 main line ; and it derives its name from the fact that 
 it gives to soldiers great successes in arms, especially 
 if it is clear and red in colour. 
 
 1 550. I* gives* together with riches and prosperity, a great 
 
 indications, heat and violence to the passions, which with this 
 line, if uncontrolled, are apt to become brutish. Its 
 influence lasts throughout the period during which it 
 follows the line of life ; and De Peruchio says that 
 there is always a love affair at the age at which it 
 begins. 
 
 LINE OF HEART. 2. The Line of Heart. 
 
 1551. This line should be neat, well coloured, and ex 
 
 Proper aspects. tending from the Mount of Jupiter to the outside of 
 
 the hand under the Mount of Mercury, not broad and 
 pale, or thick and red, but well traced, and of a 
 good normal colour ; such a condition of the line indi- 
 cates a good heart, an affectionate disposition, with an 
 equable temper and good health.
 
 ^v 
 
 ^ m ^ 
 
 ' T 
 
 PLATE XV. MODIFICATIONS OF THE pjimciPAt
 
 THE LINE OF HEART. 
 
 245 
 
 The strength of the affection is in proportion to the 
 length of the line ; if the line, instead of beginning at 
 the Mount of Jupiter, begins upon the Mount of Saturn, 
 the subject will be more sensual than Platonic in his 
 affections. 
 
 Traced right across the hand, [from side to side,] it 
 indicates an excess of affection which produces 
 jealousy and suffering in consequence thereof, especially 
 if the Mount of the Moon is high. 
 
 If it is chained in its formation, the subject is an 
 inveterate flirt, and, unless the rest of the hand be 
 very strong, will be much subject to palpitations of the 
 heart. 
 
 Bright red in colour, the line denotes violence in 
 affairs of the heart, and, on the other hand, a pale line, 
 broad and chained, betrays a cold-blooded roue, if not 
 a condition of heart utterly blase. A livid or yellow 
 colour betrays subjection to liver complaints. 
 
 The line should be close underneath, well up to the 
 bases of the mounts ; a line which lies close to that of 
 the head throughout its length, betrays evil instincts, 
 avarice, envy, hypocrisy, and duplicity. 
 
 A line of heart which begins quite suddenly without 
 branches or rays beneath the Mount of Saturn, fore- 
 shadows a short life and a sudden death. If the line is 
 very thin and runs right across the hand, it indicates 
 cruelty even to murderous instincts. 
 
 If the line, instead of terminating on the Mounts of 
 Jupiter or Saturn, seems to disappear between the 
 first and second fingers, it betokens a long life of 
 unremitting labour. 
 
 If to a large line of heart a subject add the Girdle of 
 Venus [vide 7] and a high Mount of the Moon, 
 he will be a victim to the most unreasoning 
 jealousy. 
 
 If in a hand there be found no line of heart, it is an 
 unfailing sign of treachery, hypocrisy, and the worst 
 
 1552. 
 
 Length of the 
 line. 
 
 1553. 
 Excess. 
 
 1554. 
 Chained 
 
 1555. 
 Colour. 
 
 1556. 
 
 Position. 
 
 1557. 
 
 Commencing 
 under fj . 
 
 1558. 
 
 Between first 
 
 and second 
 
 finger* 
 
 559. 
 Girdle of 
 
 9 and ]>. 
 
 1660. 
 
 Absence of the 
 line.
 
 246 CHEIROMANCY. 
 
 instincts, and, unless the line of health be very good, 
 the subject will be liable to heart disease, and runs a 
 grave danger of a sudden early death. 
 
 ^f 560". A line which is much broken up denotes incon- 
 
 Brea ^. 3 in the stancy, and often these subjects are woman-haters. 
 
 line. 
 
 A single break shows a feebleness of the heart, and 
 the cause of that feebleness may always be found 
 in some excess or evil development of a mount 
 fatality shown by a development of the Mount of 
 Saturn ; foolishness shown by an equal development 
 of the Mounts of Saturn and Apollo ; pride shown by 
 the Mount of Apollo ; folly or avarice shown by the 
 Mount of Mercury. 
 
 f 561. A quantity of little lines cutting across the line 
 
 Many li.tie lines. Diagonally indicate many misfortunes of the heart, 
 
 arising originally from weakness of the heart or liver. 
 
 f 562. The line dividing at the end and going in three 
 
 branches to the Mount of Jupiter, is a most fortunate 
 sign, indicating riches and good luck. Any forking of 
 the line which sends a branch on to the Mount of 
 Jupiter is good ; even if the branch goes to between 
 the fingers of Jupiter and Saturn, this betokens still 
 good fortune, but of a more quiet and undisturbing 
 description. But a forking which sends one ray upon 
 the Mount of Jupiter and the other upon the Mount of 
 Saturn, betrays errors and failures in the search after 
 success, and fanaticism in religion. 
 
 ^[563. If the line is quite bare under the finger of Jupiter 
 
 at its commencement, there is great danger of poverty ; 
 a similar bareness at the percussion indicates sterility ; 
 the fork under Jupiter gives also to the subject energy 
 and enthusiasm in love. A line quite bare of branches 
 throughout its length indicates dryness of heart and 
 want of affection. 
 
 ^1 564. If the line touch the base of the finger of Jupiter, 
 
 *" the subject will be unsuccessful in all his undertakings, 
 unless the line of fortune be exceptionally good.
 
 THE LINE OF HEAD. 247 
 
 A mark like a deep scar across the line betrays a ^ 565. 
 tendency to apoplexy ; red spots or holes in the line Iar ^ D n d 
 denote wounds either physical or moral. White 
 marks on the line denote conquests in love ; a point on 
 the line means grief of the heart, and, according to its 
 position, you can tell by whom it was caused, thus : 
 Under the Mount of Apollo the cause was an artist, or 
 a celebrity i.e., the grief is connected with art or 
 ambition ; under the Mount of Mercury the grief is 
 caused by a man of science, a lawyer, or a doctor. 
 
 If the line curl round the first finger, it is a sign of ^J 68 - 
 
 . Lurlea round 
 
 a marvellous faculty for occultism and the possession first finger- 
 of high occult powers. 
 
 Joined to the line of head under the Mounts of 1(567. 
 
 . ., Joined to head. 
 
 Jupiter or Saturn, is a sign of a great danger threat 
 ing the life, and of sudden and violent death, if the 
 sign is repeated in both hands. If the line turn down 
 on to the line of head, with a ray across it, as at h, in 
 Plate XII., it is a sign of a miserable marriage, or deep 
 griefs of the heart. 
 
 A ray from the line of life to the Mount of Saturn, ^ 568. 
 reaching to thebaseofthe finger,[as at tn, in Plate XIII.,] 
 is a very bad sign in a woman's hand, immeasurably 
 and even fatally increasing the dangers of maternity. 
 
 Lines from the quadrangle [vide p. 288] to the line 1569. 
 of heart, as at , in Plate XII., denote aptitude for I jJ > 
 science, curiosity, research, and versatility, which 
 often culminates in uselessness. 
 
 A curved line from the line of heart to the Mount J^ 
 of the Moon [stopping abruptly at the line of heart to ^ 
 (vide f 500) ], as at/, in Plate XII., denotes murderous 
 tendencies and instincts. 
 
 3. The Line of Head. torn or HEAD. 
 
 This line should be joined to the line of life at its im- 
 mediate commencement, and leaving it directly should 
 trace a strong ray across the hand to the top of the
 
 248 CHEIROMANCY. 
 
 Mount of the Moon, clear and well coloured, without 
 ramifications or forking, uninterrupted and regular ; 
 such a formation indicates good sense, clear judgment, 
 cleverness, and strength of will. 
 ^[572. Pale and broad, it indicates feebleness or want ol 
 
 ^and^eS" 5 intellect. Short i.e., reaching only to the Plain of 
 Mars, it betrays weak ideas and weak will. [Stopping 
 under the Mount of Saturn, it foreshadows an early 
 sudden death.] Chained, it betrays a want of fixity 
 of ideas and vacillation of mind. Long and very 
 thin, it denotes treachery and infidelity. Of unequal 
 thickness, twisted, and badly coloured, it betrays a 
 feeble liver and want of spirit ; such subjects are 
 always avaricious. 
 ^f 673. A long line of head gives domination to a character 
 
 Length of the domination of self as opposed to the domination 
 
 line. 
 
 of others, indicated by a large thumb. A long line 
 of head in a many-rayed and lined hand gives great 
 self-control and coolness in danger and difficulties, 
 and the strength of the head [shown by the long 
 line] causes the subject to reason out and utilize 
 the intuitive powers and instinctive promptings 
 indicated by the multiplicity of rays and lines in the 
 hand. 
 
 ^ 574. Very long and straight, i.e., cutting the entire hand 
 
 * n a slight h'ne fr m the li ne f life to the percus- 
 sion, it indicates excess of reasoning habits, over- 
 calculation, and over-economy, denoting avarice and 
 meanness. 
 
 f 575. The excessive economy [avarice] of this long line 
 
 Modifications. may be great i y modified by a softness of the hand or 
 a high development of the Mounts of Jupiter or of 
 Apollo. 
 
 1576. If instead of joining the line of life at its com- 
 
 un?**h mencement it only leaves it under the Mount of 
 Saturn, it is a sure indication that the education 
 has been acquired and the brain developed late in
 
 THE LINE OF HEAD. 249 
 
 life ; or, if the line of life is short, and the line of 
 head also, it foreshadows a grave danger of sudden 
 death. A like commencement, the line reaching 
 across to the Mount of Mars, the line of heart being 
 thin and small, indicates struggles and misfortunes 
 arising from infirmities of temper or errors of calcu- 
 lation, unless the line of fortune is exceptionally 
 good. Such a subject will often appear benevolent, 
 but his benevolence will generally be found to be 
 only of a nature which gives pleasure to himself, 
 and is usually more theoretical than practical. 
 
 The line must lie at a good regular distance from f 577. 
 that of the heart; lying close 'up to it throughout its p sition - 
 length, it betrays weakness and palpitations of the 
 organ. 
 
 Remember that an extremely good line of head ^578. 
 may so influence the whole hand as to dominate influence of 
 
 * good line. 
 
 other evil signs which may there be found, especially 
 if the Mount of Mars be also high ; such a combina- 
 tion gives to a subject energy, circumspection, con- 
 stancy, coolness, and a power of resistance which 
 goes a long way towards combating any evil or weak 
 tendencies which may be found in his hand. 
 
 If the line stops abruptly under the Mount of ^579. 
 Saturn it forewarns of a cessation of the intelligence, Sto j?^J dei 
 or [with other signs] death in early youth ; stopping 
 similarly under the finger of Apollo, it betrays in- 
 constancy in the ideas and a want of order in the 
 mind. 
 
 If, though visible, it appears joined to the line of f 580. 
 
 . , Joined to life at 
 
 life for some way before leaving it to go across the commencement. 
 
 hand, it indicates timidity and want of confidence, 
 
 which give dulness and apathy to the life, and which 
 
 are with difficulty overcome. When this sign appears 
 
 in an otherwise clever hand, the most strenuous 
 
 efforts should be made to counteract this want of 
 
 self-reliance, which is so serious an obstacle to
 
 250 CHEIROMANCY. 
 
 success. Joined to the line ot life in a really strong 
 
 and clever hand, the indication will be of caution and 
 
 circumspection, 
 f 581. Thin in the centre for a short space, the line 
 
 indicates a nervous illness, neuralgia, or some 
 
 kindred disease. 
 ^[582. Separated from the line of life at its commence- 
 
 Separate from , . , , .11 i > i 
 
 i ife> ment and going well across the hand, it indicates 
 
 intelligence, self-reliance, and spontaneity, [vide 51" 544>] 
 and, with a long thumb, ambition. Separate from 
 the line of life, and short or weak, it betrays careless- 
 ness, fantasy, jealousy, and deceit ; often these 
 subjects have bad sight Separated thus, but con- 
 nected by branches or ramifications, it indicates evil 
 temper and capriciousness ; connected by a cross, it 
 betrays domestic troubles and discomforts. Even in 
 a good hand there is danger in this sign of brusquerie, 
 and a too great promptitude of decision which often 
 leads to error. With the Mounts of Saturn or Mars 
 prominently developed, it is a sign of great audacity 
 or imprudence, but it is a useful prognostic [within 
 limits] for public characters or actors, giving them 
 enthusiasm and boldness of manner in public, and 
 the gift of eloquence by reason of their self-confidence. 
 A long line thus separated will give want of tact and 
 discrimination, and an impulsive manner of speech, 
 which is often inconvenient, and sometimes wounds. 120 
 *[583. If the line, instead of going straight across the 
 
 mounter \ 6 hand to the base of the Mount of Mars or to the 
 top of the Mount of the Moon, trace an oblique 
 course to a termination on the Mount of the Moon, it is 
 
 120 Linea capitalis ita dispincta si curta, et ad Lunam decidens 
 in manu qua linea mensalis catenae similis et truncatus, Cinctus 
 Venereus, quS- in Monte Venereo cancelli apparent et absente 
 linea. Appollinaris pollex curtus est, et crasspe terliae digitorum 
 vertebrae : impudicum hominem baud dubio demonstrat. Si 
 omnia haec signa in manu videntur, impudicitiam certe alquc 
 aperte declarant.
 
 THE LINE OF HEAD. 251 
 
 a sign of idealism, imagination, and want of instinct of 
 real life. If it comes very low upon the mount it leads 
 to mysticism and folly, even culminating in madness 
 if the line of health is cut by it in both hands. In 
 an otherwise fairly strong hand this declension upon 
 the Mount of the Moon gives poetry and a love of 
 the mystic or occult sciences, superstition, and an 
 inclination to spiritualism. Such a formation, if the 
 Mount of the Moon is rayed, generally gives a talent 
 for literature. The line of head coming low upon 
 the Mount of the Moon to a star, as aig, in Plate XV., 
 with stars on the Mounts of Venus and Saturn, as at 
 h and i, and a weak line of heart, are terribly certain 
 signs of hereditary madness. This extreme obliquity 
 of the line always indicates a danger of madness, 
 and these concomitant signs [vide ^ 419] prove it to 
 be hereditary, and probably unavoidable. 
 
 Again, if instead of going across the hand it turns 
 up towards one of the mounts, it will show that the 
 thoughts are entirely taken up by the qualities belong- 
 ing to the respective mounts ; thus turning up to the 
 Mount of Mercury commerce will be the prevailing 
 instinct, and will bring good fortune; or, turning 
 towards the Mount of Apollo, a desire for reputation 
 will be the continual thought. If it points between 
 the fingers of Apollo and Mercury, the signification 
 is of success in art brought by scientific treatment. 
 If the line go right up on to the mount it will denote 
 a folly of the quality thus, for instance, ending on 
 Mercury it will denote occultism and deceit; on 
 Apollo, the mania of art ; and on Saturn, the mania 
 of religion. 
 
 Any turning up of the line of head towards that Tur j n 5 g 8 * p to 
 of the heart denotes a weak mind, which lets his orcut ting, heart 
 heart and his passions domineer over his reason ; if 
 it touch the line of heart it is a prognostic of early 
 death. If it cut through the line of heart and end
 
 CHEIROMANCY. 
 
 upon the Mount of Saturn, it .foreshadows death from 
 a wound to the head. I have seen this sign verified 
 in two terrible instances. If it turn up to the line of 
 heart and confound itself with it obliquely, it fore- 
 shadows a fatal affection, which runs a great risk of 
 terminating in madness. 
 f 586. Turning back towards the thumb, the line of head 
 
 lurnmc back. Denotes intense egotism and misfortune in consequence 
 
 thereof. 
 ^[587. A break in the line of head nearly always in- 
 
 Breaksinthe d i cates an i n j ury t o the head. Broken under the 
 
 line. 
 
 finger of Saturn, and the broken ends overlapping, as 
 at a, in Plate XVI., the prognostic -is especially certain, 
 but in a bad hand it is said to be a sign of the 
 scaffold, or, at any rate, of the loss of a member, 
 even if the sign appear in one hand only. Much 
 broken up it is a sign of headaches and general weak- 
 ness of the head, resulting in loss of memory and 
 want of continuity in the ideas. Such a breaking up 
 will rob a long phalanx of will of much of its power, 
 and long fingers of much of their spirit of minutiae. 
 If with this shattered line of the head we find in the 
 Cross in $ . pi a i n of Mars a cross, the rays terminating in points 
 or spots and short nails, it is a grave warning of a 
 tendency to epilepsy. 
 1 588. Split throughout its length is a strengthening sign 
 
 Split and sister ./...,,. .. , ii_ i j 
 
 line. if other indications of madness appear in the hand, 
 but if the line is distinctly double [i.e., if it is ac- 
 companied by a sister line] it is a sure sign of good 
 fortune and inheritances. 
 
 If the line is forked at the end, with one of the 
 " P^ngs " descending upon the Mount of the Moon, 
 [as at b, in Plate XVI.,] we have a certain indication of 
 lying, hypocrisy, and deceit. Such a man, even with 
 a good hand, will be a clever sophist, never off his 
 guard, ready at all times with [if necessary] an in- 
 genious rearrangement of facts to suit the needs of
 
 \ \ 
 
 PLATE X VI. MODIFICATIONS OF THE PKINCIPAL

 
 THE LINE OF HEAD. 255 
 
 the immediate present. This forking has somewhat 
 the effect of short nails, giving to a subject a love of 
 controversy and argument. If the rays or " prongs " 
 of the fork are so long that one extends right across 
 the hand, and the other comes well down to the 
 rascette, it has the dual effect of a long line of head, 
 and of a line of head which descends far upon the 
 Mount of the Moon, giving at once poetry and realism 
 i.e., a capability of making a practical use of poetic 
 inspirations. A good line of Apollo gives great talent 
 to a forked line of head, from its power of seeing all 
 round a subject, and of considering it from all points. 
 If one ray of the fork go up to touch the line of heart, 
 and the other descends upon the Mount of the Moon, 
 it betrays the sacrifice of all things to an affection, 
 and if with this sign the line of Saturn or fortune 
 stops short at the line of heart, it denotes that this 
 infatuation has brought ruin with it. The two signs 
 are nearly always concomitant. 
 
 Cut by a multitude of little lines, the line of head 1590. 
 
 ... j * j Cut by lines. 
 
 indicates a short life, with many illnesses and hea< 
 aches. If the little cross lines are confined to the 
 middle of the line of head it is a sign of dishonesty. 
 
 A cross in the middle of the line is a foreshadowing 
 of near approaching death, or of a mortal wound if the 
 line is also broken at this point. 
 
 Red points indicate wounds; white ones indicate ^692. 
 discoveries in science or inventions. Black points, om ^ n l 
 ailments according to the mount most developed in 
 the hand. Thus with the Mount of Saturn, toothaches ; 
 with the Mount of Venus, deafness ; with the Mount 
 of Apollo, diseases of the eyes [especially if a star 
 appear at the junction of the finger of Apollo and 
 the palm]. These points are often connected with 
 similar spots on the line of life by rays or lines, which 
 enable us to pronounce with certainty the ages at 
 which the subject has suffered from these maladies,
 
 256 CHEIROMANCY. 
 
 ^[593. A knotting up of the line betrays an impulse to 
 
 Knotted. murder, which, if the knot is pale, is past, but which, 
 if the knot is deep red, is to come. 
 
 1 694. Capillary lines [vide fig. 9, Plate VIII.] on the line 
 
 Capillaries. Q f head are a s |g n o f a well-ordered mind and a good 
 disposition. 
 
 ^[595. An island in the line of head is an indication of 
 
 island. acutely sensitive nerves. 
 
 1[596. A star upon the line is generally a sign of a very 
 
 Star. k a( j wounc j > bringing danger of folly with it. 121 
 
 1f597. If a line be found connecting a star on the Mount 
 
 >n ' ' of Venus with a spot on the line of head, [as at c c, in 
 Plate XVI.,] it indicates a deeply-rooted and ever-re- 
 membered disappointment in love. 
 
 f 598. If a line extend from the line of head to the root of 
 
 Line to y. . the fi n g er o f Jupiter, [as at /; in Plate XIV.,] it indicates 
 intense pride and vanity which is easily wounded ; 
 if it ends at a star upon the finger, [as at /, in 
 Plate XV.,] it is a sign of extreme good luck ; but 
 if it ends at the same place by a cross, the luck will 
 be, on the contrary, extremely bad. This little line, 
 joined by the line of Saturn or fortune, indicates 
 vanity, reaching even to folly. 
 
 LINE OF 4. The Line of Saturn, or Fortune. 
 
 FORTUNE. 
 
 ^[599. The line of Saturn, or fortune, has three principal 
 
 its points of points of departure for its base : it may start from the 
 
 their Indications, line of life, as at d, in Plate XVI. ; from the rascette, as at e; 
 
 or from the Mount of the Moon, as at /. Starting from 
 
 the line of life, the line of fortune indicates that the 
 
 luck in life is the result of one's own personal merit. 
 
 If it starts from the wrist, or rascette, the fortune will 
 
 be very good, especially if it trace a fine strong furrow 
 
 121 Stella inLinea Capitali, ubicum Hepaticajungitur, prastendit 
 feminis periculosam lucinam : si prseclare stella signatur, sterili- 
 tatem indicat.
 
 THE LINE OF SATURN, OR FORTUNE. 257 
 
 on the Mount of Saturn ; in the same direction, but 
 commencing higher up from a point in the Plain of 
 Mars, we get an indication of a painful, troubled life, 
 especially if the line penetrate [as it often does] into 
 the finger. If the line start from the Mount of the 
 Moon, it shows [if it goes straight to the Mount 
 of Saturn] that the fortune is, to a great extent, 
 derived from the caprice of the opposite sex. If from 
 the Mount of the Moon the line goes to that of the 
 heart, and, confounding itself therein, goes on up to 
 the Mount of Jupiter, it is an infallible sign of a rich 
 and fortunate marriage. You must guard against 
 confounding a chance line from the Mount of the 
 Moon to the line of Saturn with the line of Saturn 
 starting from that Mount. If [besides the line of 
 Saturn, as at e, in Plate XVI.] we have another line 
 starting as at /, in Plate XVI., and cutting instead of 
 joining the line of Saturn, it betrays the fatal effects 
 of imagination, culminating possibly in weakness, or 
 evil to the mental capacity. Starting from the very 
 base of the Mount of the Moon, and ending on the 
 Mount of Saturn, is an indication of prediction and 
 clairvoyance. 
 
 Instead of going to the Mount of Saturn, the line ^[600. 
 may go up to some other mount, in which cases it will Te ~"" ' 
 have special significations ; thus, going to the Mount 
 of Mercury, we get fortune in commerce, eloquence, 
 and science; going to the Mount of Apollo, we get 
 fortune from art or wealth ; going to the Mount of 
 Jupiter, we find satisfied pride, and the attainment of 
 the objects of our ambition. 
 
 If the line, instead of stopping on the mount, goes 
 right up to the second joint of the finger, we have the 
 indication of very great fortune, which will be either 
 very good or very bad, according to the concomitant 
 signs. Thus, with a good hand, this is a first-rate 
 sign ; but with a deep red line on the mount, and a
 
 258 CHEIROMANCY. 
 
 star on the first phalanx of the finger, we have the 
 indication of the worst possible fortune, ending in a 
 violent death, probably on the scaffold. The line 
 should just extend from the top of the rascette to the 
 centre of the Mount of Saturn ; reaching to the jointure 
 of the finger and palm, or penetrating into the rascette 
 is a bad sign, being a sure indication of misery. 
 Stopped at lines Starting from the rascette, and stopped at the 
 of head or heart. jj ne o f hgaj-^ indicates a misfortune arising from a 
 disappointment in love; or, in a weak hand, heart- 
 disease. Similarly stopped at the line of head, the 
 misfortune will arise from an error of calculation, or 
 from an illness of the head. 
 
 ^J602. If it only start from the line of head it denotes 
 
 Starting short. labourj pair]) and iH_h ea lth, unless the line of head 
 is very good, when it will be an indication of fortune 
 acquired late in life by the intelligence of the subject. 
 Shorter still, i.e., from the quadrangle to the Mount 
 of Saturn, the indications are still more unfortunate, 
 being of great sorrows, and even of imprisonment. 
 The evil prognostications of a line which goes into the 
 third phalanx of the finger of Saturn may be averted 
 by the presence of a square [vide ^f 669] on the mount. 
 f 603. If the line is stopped in the quadrangle, and then 
 
 starts again at the line of heart, ending its course 
 upon the mount, it denotes that though the luck will 
 be obstructed and retarded, it will not be permanently 
 spoilt, and the position in life will not be lost ; and 
 this is especially certain if a good line of Apollo be 
 found in the hand. 
 
 f 604. And this brings us to the indications of age on the 
 
 line of Saturn. The line starts from its base, and on 
 it [as in Plate XL] one can tell by its breaks, and so on, 
 approximately the ages at which events have occurred 
 in a life : it must, however, be premised that these 
 indications are not anything like as sure as those of 
 the line of life. From the base of the line to the line
 
 THE LINE OF SATURN, OR FORTUNE. 259 
 
 of head we have thirty years, from the line of head 
 to that of the heart we find the events of the life 
 between thirty and forty-five years, and thence to the 
 top of the line takes us to the end of the life. Thus, 
 for instance, if you see a gap, or break, in the line 
 from the line of head to just below the line of heart, 
 you can predict misfortunes between the ages of 
 thirty and forty ; and a connecting line will generally 
 indicate the nature and cause of the ill-luck. Also 
 it will often be found that in the right hand a mis- 
 fortune will be marked on the line of Saturn, the 
 exact date of which will be marked by a point on the 
 line in the left hand. 
 
 The indications found upon the line of Saturn often f 605. 
 explain and elucidate indications only dimly or xp b y n 
 vaguely traced upon the line of life, or in the rest 
 of the hand. 
 
 A perfectly straight line, with branches going ^606. 
 
 ... , i Conditions of 
 
 upwards from its two sides, indicates a gradual pro- the , ine 
 gress from poverty to riches. Twisted at the base, Twisted 
 and straight at the top, indicates early misfortunes, 
 followed by good luck. Straightness, and good colour, 
 from the line of heart upwards, always betokens 
 good fortune in old age, with invention in science, 
 and a talent for such pursuits as horticulture, agri- 
 culture, construction, and architecture. Split and Split, 
 twisted, the line of Saturn indicates ill-health from an 
 abuse of pleasure. A twisted condition of the line 
 always denotes quarrels, and a very good and well- 
 traced line of Saturn will annul the evil indications 
 of a badly-formed line of life. 
 
 A broken-up and ragged condition of the line 
 betrays an inconstancy and changeability 6f fortune 
 Breaks in the line in the Plain of Mars, denote 
 physical and moral struggles. Even, however, if it is 
 broken up, it may be replaced by a very good 
 development of the Mount of Saturn, or a favourable
 
 260 CHEIROMANCY. 
 
 aspect of the Mount of Mars ; and to the worst luck 
 a high Mount of the Moon will give a calm and 
 resignation which rob it of much of its evil indica- 
 tion. A strong, irregular line of fortune, in a much- 
 rayed and lined hand, betrays a constant irritability, 
 and a super-sensitive condition of mind. A well- 
 traced line of Saturn always gives a long life ; broken 
 up at the base is an indication of misery in early life, 
 up to the age \yide If 604] at which the breaking up 
 ceases. If it ends in a star on the mount, it fore- 
 shadows great misfortune, following great good luck ; 
 in a good hand this sign generally means that the mis- 
 fortune is caused by the fault of others, generally of 
 one's relations. For the line of Saturn to be lucky, 
 there must be explanatory points in the hand for the 
 luck to come from, and to find these is one of the 
 most important tasks of the cheirosophist. 
 
 Cut by a multitude of little lines on the mount, we 
 Cut by hnes. can sa f e jy foretell misfortunes late in life, after a long 
 period of good luck. Cut by a line parting from the 
 Mount of Venus, it denotes conjugal misery, or mis- 
 fortune caused by a woman [g g, in Plate XVI.]. 
 ^[609. If the line is simply absent from a hand, it denotes 
 
 Absence. an j ns ig n ifi can t Hf e , which takes things as they come, 
 meeting with neither particularly good nor particularly 
 bad fortune. 
 
 ^[610. Forked, with one ray going to the Mount of Venus 
 
 Forked. an( j ^ otner to tne Mount of the Moon, [as at n n, in 
 Plate XIII.,] we find a strife for success, directed by the 
 wildest imagination, and spurred on by love. If the 
 line go well up, as in Plate XIII., the ambition will be 
 successful, after much struggle ; but if the main line 
 is broken or malformed, the necessary intrigues and 
 caprices caused by the formation of the line will 
 result in inevitable misfortune. 
 
 ^611. Any cross upon the line indicates a change of 
 
 Crosses. position or of prospects in life at the age indicated
 
 THE LINE OF APOLLO, OR BRILLIANCY. 26l 
 
 by the position of the cross upon the line [as in Plate 
 XI.]. In the very centre of the line it is always a 
 misfortune, and the cause of it may nearly always be 
 found upon the lines of head or life, showing the mis- 
 fortune to arise from error or miscalculation, or from 
 illnesses or the loss of friends. 
 
 A star at the base of the line [as atj, in Plate XIV.] 
 denotes a loss of fortune, brought by the parents of 
 the subject in early youth ; if there be also a star on 
 the Mount of Venus, [as at h, in Plate XV.,] the im- 
 mediate cause is the early death of a parent. 
 
 An island on the line betrays, almost invariably, a 1T 613 - 
 conjugal infidelity; a star accompanying the island 
 betokens a great misfortune arising therefrom. At 
 the very base of a line, an island indicates a mystery 
 connected with the birth of the subject, and with this 
 sign, an extreme malformation of the line will betray 
 illegitimacy. In a really good hand, an island on the 
 line of Saturn indicates a hopeless, untold passion ; 
 with a star and a cross on the Mount of Jupiter, the 
 island will show that the passion has been for a 
 celebrated or exalted person." 1 
 
 5. The Line of Apollo, or Brilliancy. 
 
 The line of brilliancy may start either from the Line 
 of Life, the Plain of Mars, or the Mount of the Moon, Posit ^ n th ' 
 as at k k k, in Plate XV. Whenever it is present, it 
 denotes glory, celebrity, art, wealth, merit, or success ; 
 its best aspect is when it is neat and straight, making 
 a clear cut upon the Mount of Apollo, signifying cele- 
 brity in art, and consequent riches, with a capacity 
 for enjoying and making the best of them. Clearly 
 marked, the line also denotes that the subject is under 
 
 m Insula in Lineal Satumia adulterium monstrat : et longa 
 insula hominem nonullos annos pro insulae longitudine in adulterio 
 vixisse declarat [vide f 789, et PI. XX.]. Cum longa pollice et 
 bona capitale linea etiam hoc signum fausturo est.
 
 262 CHEIROMANCY. 
 
 the favour or influence of the great ; it gives him, also, 
 
 the calmness of natural talent, and the contentment of 
 
 self-approbation. 
 
 *|[615. It is necessary that this line exist in a really lucky 
 
 tockThand" hand to make its good fortune absolute ; a good Line 
 
 of Saturn will be seriously compromised by the 
 
 absence of this line. 
 
 f616. With the Mounts of Jupiter and Mercury de- 
 
 With if. and $ . ve i O p e( j^ fafe u ne j s a cer tain indication of wealth, 
 
 and such a subject will become celebrated by his 
 
 fortune, dignity, and merit, no less than by his talents 
 
 and scientific capacities. 
 ^[617. Twisted fingers, or a hollow palm, are very bad 
 
 Twisted fingers. s j gns w j th th j g Jme . for they ghow that the j n fl uences 
 
 of the line are guided in an evil direction, and that 
 the talents betokened by it are used for the attainment 
 of bad ends. 
 
 ^[618. With a long line of head, and a long finger of 
 
 with long head Apollo, the tendencies of the line will be material, 
 
 and Q. 
 
 the ambition and talents being turned towards the 
 attainment of riches. 
 
 ^[619. The line, to have all its highest artistic significa- 
 
 Proper aspects tions shou i d be wel j coloured; pale, it denotes that 
 
 of the line. 
 
 the subject is not actively artistic, but has merely 
 the instincts of art, loving things that are brilliant 
 and beautiful. In these respects the indications 
 are the same as those of a high Mount of Apollo 
 without the line; such a formation also gives a 
 love of the beautiful without production, the mount 
 giving the instincts, and the line giving the talents, 
 of art. 
 ^[620. Absence of the line from a hand indicates want of 
 
 Absence. success in projects and undertakings which would [if 
 successful] lead to glory and success. 
 
 Broken up. Much broken up it indicates a Jack-of-all-trades and 
 an eccentricity in art which renders it of little avail 
 to the owner.
 
 PLATE XVTL MODIFICATIONS OF THE PRINCIPAL LINES. 
 THE QUADRANGLE AND THE TRIANGLE.
 
 THE LINE OF APOLLO, OR BRILLIANCY. 265 
 
 Many little lines upon the mount point generally to 
 an excess of artistic instinct, which generally falls by Lin ^ t 
 its own weight, and comes to nothing; it is much 
 better to have only one line on the mount, unless all 
 are equally clear and well traced. With two or three 
 lines, a subject will often follow two or three different 
 branches of art, without succeeding particularly in 
 any one. 
 
 If the line is confused and split up in the quad- 
 
 . ,, i Signs in the 
 
 rangle, but clear above, we find misfortunes, having, quadrang i e . 
 
 however, good terminations. Any sign upon the line 
 
 of Apollo in the quadrangle must be carefully observed, 
 
 for they always denote worries, and are generally 
 
 connected by a worry-line [vide f 533] with the line 
 
 of life and Mount of Venus, showing the times at 
 
 which they occurred. 
 
 If the line is equally divided on the mount, as at k, ^623. 
 in Plate XIV., we find an equal balancing of two E 
 instincts, which ends in a nullity in the matter of 
 art. Divided into a curved trident, as at /, in Plate 
 XV., it is a sure indication of vast unrealized desires 
 of wealth ; if, however, the line divides into a 
 pointed trident from the line of heart, as at h, in 
 Plate XVI., we can safely announce future glory, 
 riches, and celebrity arising from personal merit; 
 and if, instead of being joined at the heart, the 
 three lines rise parallel and identical, as at k, in 
 Plate XII., tracing three fine troughs on the mount, 
 we have these same indications intensified and made 
 yet more certain. 
 
 Cross-lines on the mount are obstacles which stand 
 in the way of artistic success, very often arising 
 from the envy and malignity of others. 
 
 Cut by a line coming from the Mount of Saturn, as at ^825. 
 a, in Plate XVII., poverty will stand in the way of com- ^Si J, ** 
 plete success. Similarly cut by a line coming from the 
 of Mercury, as at b, in Plate XVII., the success 
 
 mount.
 
 266 CHEIROMANCY. 
 
 and good fortune will be marred and prevented by 
 
 inconstancy and changeableness of spirit. 
 TT626. A star on the mount is a good sign, indicating 
 
 success and good luck, arising from the favour of 
 
 others and the help of friends. 
 f 627. A cross upon the mount close to the line, or even 
 
 touching it, denotes instinct of religion and piety. 
 ^628. A black spot at the junction of the lines of heart 
 
 and of Apollo betrays a great danger, if not an imminent 
 
 peril of blindness. 
 
 E " 
 
 6. The Line of Liver, or Health. 
 
 HEALTH. * 
 
 ^629. The position which the liver line [line of health, 
 
 Position in the T . , , , . -\ ., , , 
 
 i iand or Lignea hepatica\ occupies in the hand may be seen 
 by looking at the Map of the Hand,Plate VII., but it will 
 strike the cheirosophist, after very little experience, 
 that this line fully developed in a hand is com- 
 paratively scarce, and the reason of this I take to be 
 the comparatively unhealthy lives which the majority 
 of peolpe live nowadays. I have seen this line in a 
 fresh young hand, beautifully traced and as clear as 
 any of the others, and watching the hand have seen 
 the line break up and practically disappear in the 
 course of a few years. 
 
 ^[630. Long, clearly traced, and well coloured and pro- 
 
 roper aspects. portioned, the line denotes good health, gaiety, a 
 clear conscience, and success in life. If it is 
 lengthened up to the upper part of the palm it is 
 a sign that the good health of the subject will last 
 well into old age. A thoroughly good line of health 
 will counteract the evil effects of a poor line of life, 
 being an indication of good digestion, which will 
 always prove a powerful agent in prolonging life. 
 
 ^"631. The line should not be joined to that of the life at its 
 
 ' base,but just separated, as at d t \n Plate XVII. this will 
 
 indicate long life ; joined at this point with the line
 
 THE LINE OF LIVER, OR HEALTH. 
 
 of life, it is a sure indication of weakness of the 
 heart. 
 
 This line completely absent from a hand will ^f632. 
 render the subject vivacious in conversation, agile Absent. 
 and quick in manner. 
 
 If the line is thick and blunt, it is a sign of sickness ^ 633 
 in old age : if it is very straight and thin, it is a sign Evil conditions 
 
 _ . of the line. 
 
 of rigidity of spirit and manner. Red at the upper Colour. 
 
 end, it betrays a tendency to headaches ; thin and red 
 
 in the centre, it is a sign of fever ; red at the lower 
 
 end is a sign of a weak heart ; thus it will be seen 
 
 that any unevenness of colour in this line is bad. Very 
 
 red throughout its length indicates brutality and pride. 
 
 A twisted and wavy liver line is a sign of biliousness, 
 
 and very often of dishonesty, of which it is, at any rate, 
 
 a strong confirmatory indication. Much broken or cut 
 
 into, the line will betray a weak digestion. 
 
 Forked at the top so as to make a triangle with ^[634. 
 the line of head, [as at c, in Plate XVII.,] it gives a great Forked at top. 
 love of honours and power combined, always with a 
 marvellous aptitude and capacity for occult sciences. 183 
 
 A coming sickness marks itself on this line by a ^635. 
 little deep cross-line ; a past sickness marks only the Sicknesses, 
 life or head lines, leaving merely a gap in the line of 
 health. 
 
 The line of health making a good clear triangle 
 with the lines of head and of fortune, we find a 
 subject very clever at natural magic, electro-biology, 
 and the like, a great student of nature and of natural 
 phenomena, with a high faculty of tuition, sometimes 
 accompanied by second sight. 
 
 The line traced across upon the Mount of the Moon 
 is a sure sign of caprice and of change in the course 
 of the life of the subject. 
 
 ^ ia Stella apud juncturam Capitalis Line* cum Hepatica sterilem 
 "feminam demonstrat, prsesertim si Linea Vitalis prope pollieem 
 currit
 
 268 
 
 CHEIROMANCY. 
 
 1638. 
 Island. 
 
 f639. 
 
 Sister line. 
 
 A long island at the base of the line denotes a 
 somnambulist. 
 
 A sister line to this liver line indicates strong and 
 unprincipled avarice. 
 
 CEPHALIC. 
 
 1640. 
 
 Position. 
 
 1641. 
 
 Indications of 
 the line. 
 
 1642. 
 Length. 
 
 1643. 
 
 Stars. 
 
 Joined to Q. 
 
 1644. 
 
 Joined to <j> . 
 
 i. The Cephalic Line, or Via Lasciva. 
 
 This line is rare ; it is often confounded with the 
 line of health, and is still more often regarded as a 
 sister line to the liver line, but it is quite a separate 
 line from itself, appearing only conjointly with the 
 line of head, though it diverges considerably from it 
 in the manner shown in the Map of the Hand. 
 
 It generally betokens cunning, and often faithless- 
 ness, especially if twisted, though these indications 
 are considerably modified the more distinct it be from 
 the line of health. It gives ardour and fervour to the 
 passions, and reaching up to the Mount of Mercury, it 
 indicates constant good luck arising from eloquence 
 and pure talent. 
 
 Stars on the line generally betoken riches, but 
 often they betray serious troubles and struggles in 
 front of, and accompanying them. Joined by a ray 
 to the Line of Apollo, the line is a sure indication of 
 wealth. 
 
 It used to be customary to look upon this line [as 
 its ancient name denotes] as a sign of lasciviousness, 
 but this indication only belongs to it if it runs across 
 into the Mount of Venus. 
 
 GIRDLE or 
 VENUS. 
 
 1645. 
 General 
 character. 
 
 1646. 
 
 7. The Girdle of Venus. 
 
 This line, fortunately not universal, may be taken, 
 as a whole, to be a bad sign in any hand, indicating 
 a tendency to debauchery, which it is extremely 
 difficult to conquer. 
 
 To a good hand, however, this line will expend 
 
 in 4 good hand. jt se if by giving energy and ardour in every under-
 
 THE GIRDLE OF VENUS. 
 
 269 
 
 taking entered into by the subject, and this favourable 
 influence of the line is the more certain if it is clear, 
 neat, and going off upon the Mount of Mercury, as at 
 //, in Plate XIV. To'a good hand this will give merely 
 love of pleasure and energy therein. 
 
 It generally makes a subject hysterical and nervous, 
 with a great tendency towards spiritualism and 
 sorcery, accompanied by a more or less chronic state 
 of melancholy and depression. There is also very 
 frequently a talent for and a love of literature, and 
 lyric poetry . m 
 
 If the lines of fortune or of Apollo are cut by the 
 Girdle of Venus, so as apparently to shatter them in 
 two at this point on the mount, it is a sign of obstacles 
 to the success and misfortunes, probably the result of 
 excessive passion, or ardour in the pursuit of pleasure. 
 
 Coming up on to the Mount of Mercury, as at /, in 
 Plate XII., the subject will add to all the other evil in- 
 dications of the line the vices of lying and theft. 
 
 Cut upon the Mount of Apollo by a short deep line, 
 [as at o, in Plate XIII.,] it is a sign of loss of fortune, 
 caused by dissipation and debauchery. 
 
 Crossed by a quantity of little lines, it is a sure sign 
 of a hysterical nature, especially if the Mount of 
 Venus, or of the Moon, or both, are highly developed. 
 
 We have now considered the principal lines, and 
 discussed them with considerable minuteness ; a care- 
 ful retrospect will show the reader that [as I said 
 in ^[ 370] the indications of the lines are easily found 
 
 m Cinctus Venereus truncatus et lacer, cinsedum indicat et ad 
 pravissimam et libidinosissimam lasciviam proclivem. Quin 
 etiara certior indicatio, si Cinctus Venereus duplex vel triplex est, 
 et quo planior eo deterior. Homines, in quorum manibus haec 
 signa videntur, se st t, quo flagitio mentes perdunt vel inutiles 
 faciunt. Linea secans Cingulum Venereum in Monte Saturnio 
 mortem per coedem apud meretrices portendit. Stella in Cinctu 
 venereum morbum semper indicat. 
 
 Effect of the 
 line. 
 
 f648. 
 
 Cutting fate 
 
 f 649. 
 On to . 
 
 ^650. 
 
 Cut upon Q. 
 
 ^ 661. 
 Hysteria. 
 
 652. 
 Retrospect.
 
 2/0 CHEIROMANCY. 
 
 by examining their condition with reference to the 
 mounts and the other lines of the palm, each mount or 
 line having its peculiar significations and effects, and 
 bringing them to bear upon the other mounts and 
 lines and the qualities indicated by them, by juxta- 
 position or connection with them by means of lines, 
 rays, or signs. 
 
 ^[653. Often, however, we find lines in a hand which 
 
 Chance lines. canno t b e accounted for by any of the foregoing rules, 
 and these [which are called " chance lines "] are 
 made the special subject of a future chapter. The 
 signs found in the palm, though they have frequently 
 been adverted to in the previous sub-section, will be 
 our next consideration, with reference to their special 
 and individual significations. 
 
 [Vide SS. VIII.]
 
 SUB-SECTION V. 
 
 (Plate IX.) 
 THE SIGNS IN THE PALM. 
 
 GREAT attention must be paid to the signs which are 
 found very frequently upon, or close to, the mounts 
 and lines of the hands, for they very greatly modify 
 and alter the recognized significations of the mounts 
 or lines, and generally carry with them an indication 
 entirely their own. 
 
 i. The Star. 
 
 A star, [fig. 10, Plate IX.] wherever it appears, is 
 generally the indication of some event we cannot 
 possibly control ; it is generally a danger, and always 
 something unavoidable. Whether, however, it is good 
 or bad, depends of course upon the aspect of the lines, 
 particularly of the line of fortune. This, however) is 
 fixed that a star, wherever it is found, always means 
 something, and what that something is, be it the task 
 of the cheirosophist to discover. 
 
 On the Mount of Jupiter it signifies gratified 
 ambition, good luck, honour, love, and success. With 
 a cross on this mount it indicates a happy marriage 
 with some one of brilliant antecedents or high posi- 
 tion. 
 
 SIGNS. 
 
 If 654. 
 
 Their 
 importance. 
 
 STARS. 
 
 f 655. 
 
 Indication. 
 
 ^656. 
 On ..
 
 2/2 CHEIROMANCY. 
 
 f 657. On the Mount of Saturn it indicates a great fatality, 
 
 On *z generally a very bad one, indicating, with corroborative 
 signs, probable murder, and in a criminal or other- 
 wise very bad hand a probability of death upon the 
 scaffold. 
 
 ^[658. On the Mount of Apollo, with no line of Apollo 
 
 \yide p. 261] in the hand, it betokens wealth without 
 happiness, and celebrity after a hazardous struggle 
 for it. With the line of brilliancy it denotes excessive 
 celebrity, as the combined result of labour and talent ; 
 with several lines also on the mount it is a sure 
 indication of wealth. 
 
 ^659. On the Mount of Mercury it betrays dishonesty and 
 
 n ? or c- theft. On the Mount of Mars violence leading to 
 
 homicide. 
 
 ^[660. On the Mount of the Moon it indicates hypocrisy 
 
 n " ' and dissimulation, with misfortune resulting from 
 excess of the imagination. The old cheiromants 
 looked upon this as a warning of death by drowning, 
 and stated that combined with a high mount in- 
 vaded by the line of head, it indicated suicide by 
 drowning. 
 
 ^[661. On the base of the Mount of Venus it indicates a 
 
 * ' misfortune brought about by the influence of women. 
 ^[662. On the first [or outer] phalanx of any finger [but 
 
 of'thVfingerf 63 especially of that of Saturn] a star indicates either 
 On h- strange good luck or else folly. On the third [or 
 lowest] phalanx of the finger of Saturn, a star warns 
 the subject of a danger of assassination, and if at this 
 point it is joined by the line of Saturn, a disgraceful 
 death is almost inevitable, resulting, as a rule, from 
 the vices shown elsewhere in the hand. 
 ^[663. On the base of the phalanx of logic of the 
 
 On the thumb. thumb> _i n f act) on the junction of the phalanx of 
 logic and the Mount of Venus, it points to a misfor- 
 tune connected with a woman, probably indicating an 
 unhappy marriage, which will be the curse of the
 
 THE SQUARE. 2/3 
 
 subject's whole existence, unless the Mount of Jupiter 
 be developed, in which case there is a probability 
 that the subject will get over it. 
 
 A star on a voyage line [vide f ^ 773 and 501] in- 1664 
 dicates with certainty death by drowning. n nne y 
 
 If a star be found in the centre of the quadrangle, 1 665 
 the subject, though true and honest as the day, will 
 be the absolute plaything of woman, a trait which 
 will result in a misfortune, from which, however, he 
 will recover in time. 
 
 Thus it will be seen that a star is almost the most ^ 666. 
 important sign to seek for in a hand. Its 
 
 2. The Square. SQUARE. 
 
 The appearance of a square [fig. n, Plate IX.] on f 687. 
 the hand always denotes power or energy of 'the 
 qualities indicated by the mount or line on which 
 it is found. It is a sign of good sense, and of cold, 
 unimpassioned justice. 
 
 It may either appear as a neat quadrangular figure, ^668. 
 traced as if with a punch, or it may be formed of the 
 [apparently] accidental crossing of principal and 
 chance lines. It will often appear enclosing a bad 
 sign, from the effects of which it entirely protects the 
 subject. 
 
 Wherever it is found it always denotes protection ; 
 thus round a break in the line of life [vide ff 530 Protection - 
 and 602] it betokens recovery from that illness ; or 
 on the line of Saturn, it will protect the subject from 
 the evil effects of a badly-formed line, or of bad signs 
 found thereon. 
 
 A star on the Mount of Saturn surrounded by a ^670. 
 
 , ... With star on h 
 
 square denotes an escape from assassination ; a square 
 with red points at the corners denotes a preservation 
 from fire. 
 
 The square has one evil signification that is, when 
 it is on the Mount of Venus, close to the line of life ; 
 
 18
 
 2/4 CHEIROMANCY. 
 
 under these circumstances it is a warning of im- 
 prisDnment of some sort or another. 
 
 SPOT 3- The Spot. 
 
 ^672. A spot, [figs, i and 12,] wherever found and of 
 
 its indication. wna t ever colour, always denotes a malady ; placed 
 
 upon a line, it is nearly always the mark of a wound ; 
 
 on the line of head it denotes a blow to the head, 
 
 and consequent folly. 
 
 ^[673. A white spot on the line of heart denotes a con- 
 
 Colour, quest in love ; a white spot on the line of head points 
 
 to a scientific discovery. A red spot is the sign of a 
 
 wound ; a black or blue spot is the sign of a disease, 
 
 generally of a nervous character. The white spot is 
 
 the only comparatively harmless one. 
 
 C.RCLK. 4- The Circle. 
 
 V674. The circle [fig. 13, Plate IX.] is a comparatively 
 
 On 0. rare sign, which has only one good signification that 
 
 is, when it appears on the Mount of Apollo, where it 
 
 indicates glory and success. 
 
 ^["675. On the Mount of the Moon it denotes danger of 
 
 On 3>. death by drowning; on any other mount it gives a 
 
 dangerous brilliancy. 
 
 ^[676. On any line it is bad, denoting always an injury to 
 
 On the lines, the organ or quality represented. Thus, on the line 
 
 of heart, it betrays weakness of the heart, and on the 
 
 line of head it forewarns a subject of blindness. 
 
 ISLAND. 5. The Island. 
 
 f 677. The island [fig. 14] should perhaps more properly 
 
 its distinctness. have been noticed in treating of the lines generally ; 
 but it is a sign so distinct from any ordinary forma- 
 tion of the line, that I have thought it best to consider 
 it in this place as a sign proper.
 
 THE TRIANGLE. 275 
 
 An island means always one of two things; either ^678. 
 it is the mark of something disgraceful, or else it Its "^cations 
 betrays an hereditary evil. It is the more often an 
 hereditary malady of the line, as, for instance, on the 
 line of head it will show an hereditary weakness of 
 the head, or on the line of heart it betrays an heredi- 
 tary heart disease, and so on. 
 
 As for the disgraceful indications of the island, it ^679. 
 should be taken to mean more properly that the EvU indication$ - 
 chance, >./the temptation, will occur ; but a long line of 
 head and a strong phalanx of will on the thumb will 
 always annul the most evilly-disposed island. 
 
 On the line of heart it means in a good hand heart 1 680 
 disease, or, in a bad one, adultery. 
 
 On the line of head, if it occur on the Plain of 
 Mars, it shows a murderous tendency ; if beyond the 
 Plain of Mars, it betrays evil thoughts. On a good 
 hand it will merely indicate hereditary head weak- 
 ness. 
 
 On the line of liver or health it betrays a tendency ^f 682. 
 to theft or dishonesty; in a good hand a weak Onliverline - 
 digestion, or an intestinal complaint. 
 
 On the line of life an island indicates some mystery ^683. 
 connected with the birth. 
 
 6. The Triangle. TRIANGLE. 
 
 The triangle [fig. 15] always denotes aptitude for J684. 
 science, and may be formed either neatly and by ] 
 itself, or by the [apparently] chance coincidence of 
 three lines. 
 
 On the Mount of Jupiter it indicates diplomatic ^685. 
 ability. On the Mount of Saturn it betrays aptitude On * mounu 
 for occult sciences and necromancy, a sign which 
 becomes very sinister and evil if there be also a star 
 on the third phalanx of this finger. On the Mount of 
 Apollo a triangle indicates science in art; on the 
 Mount of Mercury, talent in politics ; on the Mount
 
 CHEIROMANCY. 
 
 of Mars, science in war ; on the Mount of the Moon, 
 wisdom in mysticism ; and on the Mount of Venus, 
 calculation and interest in love. 
 
 CROSS. 7- The Cross. 
 
 ^[686. The cross [fig. 16] is seldom a favourable sign, 
 
 its effect. unless it is very clearly and well marked, when by 
 
 accentuating the qualities of the mount or line, it may 
 
 have a good signification. It nearly always indicates 
 
 a change of position. 
 
 ^[687. Its one undoubtedly good signification is when it 
 
 On appears on the Mount of Jupiter, when it denotes a 
 
 happy marriage, especially if the lines of Saturn or 
 
 of Apollo start from the Mount of the Moon. 
 
 f 688. On the Mount of Saturn it denotes error and 
 
 On h- fanaticism in religion or occult science, leading to 
 
 the more evil forms of mysticism. 
 
 ^[689. On the Mount of Apollo it betrays errors of judg- 
 
 1 " ment in art, unless there be also a fine line of 
 Apollo, which will give to the cross the significations 
 of wealth. 
 
 ^f 690. On the Mount of Mercury it indicates dishonesty, 
 
 On 9 and even theft. 
 ^[691. On the Mount of Mars it denotes danger arising 
 
 from quarrelsomeness and obstinacy. 
 ^"692. A cross on the Mount of the Moon will indicate a 
 
 On 5 . ij ar> anf j a man wno d ece i ves even himself if it is 
 large ; but if it is small, it will merely indicate 
 reverie and mysticism. 
 
 ^[693. On the Mount of Venus it denotes a single and a 
 
 n T fatal love, unless another cross appear on the Mount 
 
 of Jupiter [vide ^[ 435] to render the union happy. 
 ^[694. At the bottom of the hand, near the line of life, 
 
 'the e hand e of i.e., in the lower angle of the triangle, a cross denotes 
 a struggle, ending in a change of position in life,
 
 THE "CROIX MYSTIQUE." 
 
 277 
 
 which is the more radical according as the cross is 
 more or less clearly marked at this point. 
 
 i. The " Croix Mystique." 
 
 This is a sign so entirely by itself that I devote 
 a separate discussion to it. It is found traced with 
 more or less distinctness in the quadrangle beneath 
 the finger of Saturn. 
 
 It always gives to a subject mysticism, superstition, 
 and occultism, or, with a very good hand, religion. 
 If it is very large it betrays exaggerated superstition, 
 bigotry, and hallucination. 
 
 If it is clearly traced in both hands, it betrays folly 
 arising from the excessive influence of the principal 
 mount ; thus, with Jupiter developed, over-ambition ; 
 with Saturn, misanthropy; with Apollo, extreme 
 vanity or miserliness ; and with Venus, erotomania. 
 
 If the " Croix Mystique " is joined to the line of 
 Saturn, it foretells good fortune arising from religion. 
 
 If it is displaced, so as to lie, as it were, between 
 the Mounts of Mars and of the Moon, [as at p, in Plate 
 XIII.,] it indicates a changeability of disposition, which 
 will lead to good fortune. 
 
 CROIX 
 MVSTIQUF. 
 
 Its position. 
 
 Its indications 
 
 f 697. 
 
 In both hards. 
 
 Joined to ^ 
 
 699. 
 Displacement 
 
 8. The Grille. 
 
 GRILLE. 
 
 The grille [fig. 17] is generally the indication of ^700. 
 obstacles, and of the faults of a mount whereon it is Its !ndi " i ns - 
 found. But if there be no mount particularly ele- 
 vated in the hand, it will so emphasize a mount, if it 
 is found upon one, as to make it the principal mount 
 and keynote of the interpretation of the hand. 
 
 On the Mount of Jupiter it indicates superstition 
 egoism, pride, and the spirit of domination. 
 
 On the Mount of Saturn it foretells misfortune and 
 want of luck. 
 
 5701. 
 
 On the mounts.
 
 278 CHEIROMANCY. 
 
 0. On the Mount of Apollo it betrays folly and vanity, 
 
 and a great desire of glory, joined to impotence and 
 error. 
 5, On the Mount of Mercury it tells of a serious 
 
 tendency towards theft, cunning, and dishonesty. 
 On the Mount of Mars it forewarns a violent death, 
 
 or, at any rate, some great danger thereof. 
 J. A grille on the Mount of the Moon indicates 
 
 sadness, restlessness, discontent, and a morbid 
 imagination. 
 
 1702. If on a hand which is much covered with lines [vide 
 
 lined hand * ^ 4 21 ]^ shows a constant movement and state of excite- 
 ment. If there be a star on the Mount of Saturn this 
 sign tells of the wildest exaltation, nervous spasms, 
 and continual anxieties and disquietude. With a 
 well-traced line of Apollo and a grille on the Mount 
 of the Moon we find poetry, and great talent for lyrics 
 and literature. 
 
 ^[703. The grille on the Mount of Venus is often a bad 
 
 n * sign, denoting lasciviousness and morbid curiosity, 
 
 especially with the Girdle of Venus traced in the 
 
 hand. With a strong phalanx of will and a long line 
 
 of head and the line of Apollo, or brilliancy, this 
 
 sign merely results in a nervous excitement, which 
 
 is in no way pernicious or evil in its effects, giving 
 
 a refinement and daintiness to the passions. 
 
 1 704. A strong phalanx of will, with a good line of head 
 
 Modifying signs. and of Apollo> will a i ways greatly modify the 
 
 sinister effects of the grille, excepting when it is 
 found on the Mounts of Jupiter or Saturn, when it 
 is practically irremediable. 
 
 PLANETARY : Tf $ f fh 
 
 SYMBOLS. 
 
 ^[705. Besides the above comparatively ordinary signs we 
 
 Effects. fj n( j j n some instances [though such instances are 
 
 excessively rare] the actual sign of a planet actually 
 
 traced on a mount. As a rule, when this occurs the
 
 THE SIGNS OF THE PLANETS. 279 
 
 rest of the hand is perfectly plain, the whole force of 
 the character being concentrated in the quality in- 
 dicated by the " precipitation " of the planetary sign. 
 As these are so intensely rare, I will give three 
 examples only which I have had the fortune actually 
 to see myself. 
 
 The sign of Mercury [ $ ] traced upon the Mount of 
 Jupiter gives great administrative talent and noble 
 eloquence. The sign of the Moon [ J ] on the Mount 
 of Jupiter leads to intense mysticism and error. The 
 sign of Mercury on the Mount of Apollo gives great 
 celebrity and eloquence in science. 
 
 A mount sometimes also, instead of being high or ^ 707. 
 rayed, has its own sign traced upon it ; thus V on mourn! 
 Jupiter, h on Saturn, on Apollo, $ on I.Iercury, 
 <J on Mars, ]) on the Moon, and ? on Venus. 
 These signs, of course, intensify the qualities of the 
 mounts to an extremely marked and extraordinary 
 extent.
 
 SUB-SECTION VI. 
 
 SIGNS UPON THE THE SIGNS UPON THE FINGERS. 
 
 FINGERS. 
 
 IN the preceding sub-section we have dealt only 
 with the signs found upon the palm of the hand. 
 We have also to consider the lines and signs which 
 find themselves traced upon the fingers, which signs 
 have also their special significations. 
 
 ^[708. Lines on the first phalanx of a finger always 
 
 Lin phai^ h x e . firSt denote a weakness or failing of the quality of the 
 finger. If the lines are twisted and confused they 
 foreshadow danger to the subject from the qualities 
 of the finger. A single deep ray on the first phalanx 
 of a finger indicates an idealism or folly connected 
 with the quality. 
 
 f 709. Lines from the first into the second phalanges 
 
 8 unite > as U were ' the worlds of idealism and reason, 
 [vide ^[ 146,] causing the subject to mix a certain 
 amount of reason with all the promptings of his
 
 SIGNS ON THE FIRST FINGER. 
 
 28l 
 
 imagination. In the same way lines connecting the 
 second and third phalanges unite reason and matter, 
 and the subject will always set about his worldly 
 affairs in a reasonable and sensible manner. 
 
 One short line, sharply traced on each phalanx of 
 each finger, is a prognostic of sudden death. 
 
 Lines running the entire length of the fingers give 
 energy and ardour to the qualities of the finger ; 
 cross lines, however, are obstacles in the way of the 
 proper development of the characteristics of the 
 finger. 
 
 ^ 710. 
 
 One line on each 
 phalanx. 
 ^ 711. 
 
 Lines all along 
 the fingers. 
 
 i. Signs on the First Finger, or Index. 
 
 A line extending from the mount, through the 
 third phalanx into the second, gives a character in 
 which reason and thought is mingled with audacity. 
 
 Cross lines on the third phalanx indicate inherit- 
 ances according to the older cheirosophists ; on the 
 second phalanx they denote envy and falsehood. 
 Lines across the tips of the fingers denote general 
 debility, and if they extend all the way from one 
 side of the nail round the ball of the finger to the 
 other side, they foreshadow wounds to the head. 
 
 A pair of crosses on the second phalanx are a sign 
 of the friendship of great men. 
 
 A star on the first phalanx indicates great good 
 fortune ; a star on the second phalanx indicates 
 mischief and boldness, unless it is connected with 
 the first phalanx by a line, in which case it becomes 
 a sign of modesty. A star on the third phalanx is a 
 sign of inchastity. 
 
 A crescent upon the first phalanx is a sure sign 
 of imprudence, which may bring about very grave 
 results. 
 
 ^[713. 
 
 Cross lines. 
 
 5714. 
 Crosses. 
 
 ^ 715. 
 
 Stars. 
 
 716 
 Crescent.
 
 282 CHEIROMANCY. 
 
 SECOND FINGER. 2. Signs on the Second or Middle Finger. 
 
 A line from the Mount of Saturn across the third 
 
 phalanx. phalanx of the finger indicates prosperity in arms ; 
 if it is oblique it foretells death in battle. 
 
 ^"718. Many lines just penetrating into the mount denote 
 
 Lines. cruelty ; if they go the whole length of the finger 
 they indicate melancholy ; or, if they are very parallel 
 and equal, they denote success in mining operations. 
 If the lines are confined to the first phalanx they 
 denote avarice. Twisted lines on the third phalanx 
 denote ill luck. 
 
 1[719. A triangle on the third phalanx indicates mischief 
 
 Triangle. 1-111 i 
 
 and ill luck. 
 ^[720. A cross in the same place indicates sterility in a 
 
 female hand. 
 
 ^[721. A star on the first phalanx indicates great mis- 
 
 Star> fortune, and if it is on the side of the finger it 
 
 betrays a probability of death, which will, however, 
 
 be in a just cause. 
 
 THIRD FINGER. 3. Signs on the Third, or Ring Finger. 
 
 ^722. A single line running the entire length of the 
 
 finger is a sure indication of great renown. Many 
 lines are a sign of losses, probably occasioned by 
 women. 
 
 f 723. Straight lines on the third phalanx indicate prudence 
 
 Lines on the , , , . . . _ , _ 
 
 third phalanx. an " happiness. Turning to one side of the finger 
 they indicate great success, but not success ac- 
 companied by wealth. If the lines on the third 
 phalanx penetrate on to the mount they indicate 
 good fortune, accompanied by loquacity and often 
 by arrogance. 
 ^f 724. A line extending from the third phalanx into the 
 
 From third into j c j j i 
 
 econd. second is a sign of goodness and cleverness, ac- 
 companied by good fortune. Cross lines placed
 
 SIGNS ON THE FOURTH FINGER. 
 
 283 
 
 upon this phalanx indicate difficulties in the way 
 which will have to be surmounted. 
 
 A crescent on the third phalanx signifies un- 1725. 
 happiness, and a cross at the same place signifies Crescent, 
 extravagance. 
 
 4. Signs on the Fourth or Little Finger. 
 
 A line throughout the length of this finger is a 
 signification of success in science and uprightness 
 of mind ; three lines similarly running right down 
 the finger are a sign of research in chimaerical and 
 impossible sciences. 
 
 Deep lines on the first phalanx denote weakness of 
 constitution ; a cross on the same place is significant 
 of poverty and consequent celibacy. 
 
 Lines on the second phalanx are an indication of 
 research in occult sciences. If they are confused and 
 coarse they betray inchastity. 
 
 A line from the third into the second phalanx 
 indicates eloquence and consequent success. If the 
 line is twisted it gives great sharpness and cunning 
 in defence of self. If this line start from the mount 
 it is a still surer sign of prosperity and success. 
 
 One thick line, a scar, or a cross on the third 
 phalanx, betrays a tendency to theft. A star on the 
 same phalanx denotes eloquence. 
 
 A line extending from the mount into the third 
 phalanx is significant of great intelligence and astute- 
 ness. 
 
 FOURTH 
 FINGER. 
 
 Lines. 
 
 1727. 
 
 On the first 
 phalanx. 
 
 On the secoi.d 
 phalanx. 
 
 From third to 
 second phalanx. 
 
 1730. 
 
 Star, cross, or 
 star. 
 
 1731. 
 
 Line to third 
 
 phalanx. 
 
 5- Signs on the Thumb. THUMB. 
 
 Signs are much rarer upon the thumb than upon 
 fingers, but still they are sometimes found. 
 
 A subject who has several lines traced along the 1732. 
 entire length of the phalanx of will, will make a ' 
 faithful lover, having the gift of constancy and fidelity.
 
 284 CHEIROMANCY. 
 
 ^733. Cross lines upon the thumb denote riches. 
 
 IT 734. Lines extending from the mount on to the phalanx 
 
 From $ to logic. O f logic, are a sure sign that the subject is much 
 
 beloved. 
 ^[735. A star on the phalanx of logic in a female hand is 
 
 Star on logic. & sign Qf great ^^ 
 
 ^[736. A ring right round the joint which separates the 
 
 Ring /^ d the phalanges of will and logic was held by the older 
 cheiromants to be the sign of the scaffold.
 
 THE TRIANGLE. 
 
 SUB-SECTION VII. 
 
 THE TRIANGLE, THE QUADRANGLE, AND THE RASCETTE. 
 I. The Triangle. 
 
 THE triangle [called also the Triangle of Mars, from 
 the fact that it is filled by the Plain of Mars] is the 
 name given to the triangular space enclosed between 
 the lines of life, head, and health. When [as is often 
 the case, vide H 629,] the line of health is not present 
 in a hand, or so very badly traced as to be almost 
 invisible, its place must be supplied by an imaginary 
 line drawn from the base of the line of life to the end 
 of the line of head, or, this side of the triangle may 
 be formed of the line of Apollo. 
 
 Though it must be considered as a whole, still each .. 
 
 .,.._. ,, Its composition 
 
 part of the triangle has its special signification ; thus, 
 it is composed of the UPPER ANG^P formed by the
 
 286 CHEIROMANCY. 
 
 junction of the lines of life and head ; the INNER ANGLE, 
 formed by the junction of the lines of head and health ; 
 and the LOWER ANGLE, formed by the junction of the 
 lines of health and life. [The lower angle may also 
 be formed of the junction of the lines of health and of 
 fortune.] 
 
 If 739. ^ the triangle is well traced and neat, being corn- 
 
 Neat and clean. pO sed of good even lines, [as in Plate XVII.,] it 
 indicates good health, good luck, a long life, and a 
 courageous disposition. 
 
 ^ 740. If it is large it denotes audacity, liberality of mind, 
 
 Large and well generosity, and nobleness of soul : to have these 
 
 coloured. . _ 
 
 significations it must be well and healthfully coloured, 
 not livid, or approaching to deep red. 
 
 ^741. If it is small and formed of lines curving much 
 
 Small and inwards it betrays pettiness, cowardice, and avarice. 
 
 curved. 
 
 ^"742. Sometimes a triangle will form itself in a hand 
 
 its growth. w hich began by being absolutely without it ; this is a 
 sign that the health, originally bad, has improved with 
 advancing years. 
 
 ^[743. If the skin inside the triangle is rough and hard, 
 
 Rough skm. j t j s an indication of hardihood and strength of 
 nerve. 
 
 ^1 744. A cross in the triangle denotes an extremely 
 
 Cr centre. the <l uarre l some an d contrary disposition. It betrays a 
 state of mind best described by the American expres- 
 sion "cussedness." Many crosses in the triangle 
 betoken continual bad luck. 
 
 ^[745. A crescent in the triangle, as atf, in Plate XVII., 
 
 Crescents. betrays an extremely capricious disposition, often 
 indicating brutality and a love of bullying. If it is 
 joined to the line of head, as at g, in the same figure, 
 it is a prognostic of a violent death brought upon 
 oneself by an imprudence or a want of calculation. 
 Joined, however, similarly to the line of health, as at 
 h t it is a sign of power and of success accompanied 
 by excellent health.
 
 THE UPPER, INNER, AND LOWER ANGLES. 287 
 
 A star in the triangle denotes riches, but riches 
 obtained with much difficulty and worry. If the star 
 is the termination of a worry line it indicates a sorrow, 
 and if the worry line comes from a star in the Mount 
 of Venus, it denotes that the sorrow has resulted from 
 the death of a parent or of some near relation. 
 
 If 746. 
 
 Star. 
 
 I. 
 
 The Upper Angle. UPPER ANGLE. 
 
 The upper angle [/, in Plate XVII.] should be neat, 1747. 
 clearly traced, and well pointed ; it indicates refine- 
 ment and delicacy of mind. 
 
 Blunt and short, it betrays a heavy, dull intellect, 
 and a want of delicacy. Very blunt, i.e., placed under 
 the Mount of Saturn, it betrays a great danger of 
 misery, and a tendency to avarice. 
 
 The other extreme, however, i.e., very pointed, 
 is a sign of malignity, envy, and finesse. 
 
 Proper 
 formation. 
 
 f 748. 
 Bluntncss. 
 
 f 749. 
 Very pointed. 
 
 2. The Inner Angle. 
 
 INNER ANGLE. 
 
 The inner angle, [k, in Plate XVII.,] if clear and well f 760 
 
 7 L J Wfll m.irl 
 
 marked, indicates long life and a quick intelligence. 
 
 Very sharp, it betrays a highly nervous tempera- 
 ment, and nearly always a mischievous disposition. 
 
 Obtuse and confused, this angle denotes heaviness 
 of intelligence, dulness of instinct, and, as a resulting 
 consequence, obstinacy and inconstancy. 
 
 Well marked. 
 
 1751. 
 Very sharp. 
 
 If 752. 
 Blunt 
 
 3. The Lower Angle. LOWER ANGLE 
 
 The lower angle, [/, in Plate XVII.,] well defined, f 753. 
 and just open, [as at d,} gives strong indications of 
 good health and a good heart. If it is too sharp in 
 fact, if it is closed up it denotes avarice and debility. 
 
 If it is heavy and coarse, composed of many rays, 
 or of a confusion of lines, it betrays a bad nature, 
 with a strong tendency to rudeness and laziness. 
 
 Proper 
 formation. 
 
 ^754. 
 Bluntnest
 
 288 CHEIROMANCY. 
 
 Thus it will be seen that it is most important to 
 observe, with reference to its component lines, the 
 formation of the triangle and of its constituent angles. 
 
 QUADRANGLE. 2. The Quadrangle. 
 
 ^755. The quadrangle \yide Map, Plate VII.] is the square 
 
 ' wnstSo^ s P ace contained between the lines of heart and of head. 
 It may be said to be bounded at its two ends by 
 imaginary lines, drawn perpendicularly to the line of 
 head from the crevice between the first and second 
 fingers, and from the crevice between the third and 
 fourth fingers. 
 
 ^ 756. It should be fairly large and wide at the two ends, 
 
 Proper aspect, j-j^j. not toa narrow m the centre,] clearly distinguish- 
 able, and of a smooth surface comparatively free from 
 lines ; under these aspects it indicates fidelity, loyalty, 
 and an equable disposition. 
 
 ^|757. Too narrow in the centre, it betrays malignity, 
 
 Narrow m i n j us tice, and deceit, often accompanied by avarice. 
 
 centre. J J 
 
 If it is much wider under the Mount of Mercury 
 than under that of Saturn, it betrays a degeneration 
 from generosity to avarice. Narrow under the Mount 
 of Mercury, it denotes a more or less continual anxiety 
 about reputation. 
 
 ^"758. Too large and wide throughout its extent, it signifies 
 
 TOO wide. imprudence, or even folly ; and this is so even when 
 there are other signs denoting prudence in the hand. 
 
 ^[759. The quadrangle much filled up with little lines is a 
 
 Much lined. s j gn of a weak head 
 
 760. If it is so badly traced as to be almost invisible as 
 
 Badly traced, to its boundaries, it is a signification of misfortune, 
 
 and oi a malignant, mischievous character. 
 761. It must be remembered [vide ^[ 695] that it is in the 
 
 "Croix quadrangle that we search for the " Croix Mystique" 
 
 Mystique. ^ 
 
 [*] 
 
 ^762. A well-coloured and well-formed star is a great 
 
 Star. indication of truth and trustworthiness. Such a
 
 THE RASCETTE AND RESTREINTES. 289 
 
 subject is pliable, and can easily be dealt with by 
 fair means, [especially by women;] such subjects 
 generally make very considerable fortunes by their 
 own merit. 
 
 A line from the quadrangle to the Mount of 
 
 ^763. 
 
 . * * 
 
 Mercury betokens the patronage and protection of Line to 
 the great. 
 
 3. The Rascette and Restrcintes. 
 
 These are the names given to the wrist and 
 bracelets of life [vide map]. According to some 
 writers, the first or upper line only is called the 
 rascette, the inferior ones being known as the 
 restreintes ; for my part, I prefer to name the entire 
 region the rascette, and the lines traced across it the 
 bracelets of life. 
 
 The bracelets of Jife are so called because each is 
 said to be the indication of twenty-five to thirty years 
 of life. I have found that in ninety-nine cases out of 
 every hundred a bracelet of life gives about twenty- 
 five to twenty-seven years of life, and even when the 
 line of life is short a well-braceleted rascette will 
 still ensure a long life to the subject. 
 
 Three lines clearly and neatly traced denote health, 
 wealth, good luck, and a tranquil life. The clearer 
 the lines the better is the general health of the 
 subject. 
 
 If the first line is chained we find a laborious life, 
 but good fortune resulting therefrom. 
 
 If the lines are altogether badly formed it is a 
 sign of extravagance. 
 
 A cross in the centre of the rascette, as at tn, in 
 Plate XII., is a sign of a hard life, ending with good 
 fortune and quietude. 
 
 An angle in the rascette, as at m t in Plate XV., is a 
 sign of inheritances and of honours in old age. To 
 
 19 
 
 THE WHIST. 
 
 f 764. 
 
 The rascette, its 
 composition. 
 
 1765. 
 
 The " bracelets 
 of life." 
 
 1766. 
 Three clear lines. 
 
 5767. 
 
 Chained. 
 
 1768. 
 
 Badly formed 
 
 5 769. 
 
 Cro.s. 
 
 Angle and crou
 
 2QO 
 
 CHEIROMANCY. 
 
 1771. 
 Pointing 
 upwards. 
 
 f 772. 
 
 Star. 
 
 1773. 
 
 Voyage lines. 
 
 1774. 
 Line to ^ . 
 
 1775. 
 Line to 0. 
 
 1776. 
 
 Lina to health 
 through J . 
 
 this will be added good health it a cross appear in 
 this angle, as at i, in Plate XVI. 
 
 If the bracelets of life break into points converging 
 towards the base of the line of Saturn, it is a sign of 
 lying and vanity. 
 
 A star in the centre of the rascette will mean in- 
 heritances in a lucky hand, but inchastity in a weak 
 sensual hand. 
 
 Lines from the rascette extending upon the Mount 
 of the Moon signify voyages. A line right up to the 
 Mount of Jupiter will signify a very long voyage 
 indeed ; in fact, the distance of the voyages may be told 
 from the length of the lines. If the lines converge 
 towards the Mount of Saturn, but do not join there, 
 it is an indication that the subject will not return 
 from the voyage. One of them, ending on the line 
 of life, denotes probability of death upon the voyage. 
 If the lines are absolutely parallel throughout their 
 course the voyages will be profitable, but dangerous. 
 
 A line from the rascette straight up to the Mount 
 of Mercury is a prognostic of sudden and unexpected 
 wealth. 
 
 A similar line going to the Mount of Apollo is a 
 mark of the favour and protection of some great 
 person. 
 
 A line from the rascette near the percussion of the 
 hand, passing through the Mount of the Moon to join 
 the line of the liver or health, is a sign of sorrow and 
 adversity, especially if the line be unequal and poorly 
 traced.
 
 PLATE XVIII. CHANCE LINES.
 
 SUB-SECTION VIII. 
 
 CHANCE LINES. 
 
 WE have now arrived at a point from which 
 having carefully discussed all the regular details of 
 cheirosophy, it is necessary that we should turn to 
 the consideration of certain lines which appear from 
 time to time in the hand, and which, having special 
 significations of their own, cannot be taken account 
 of whilst going categorically through the indications 
 of the principal lines, and of the various combinations 
 of them. Their number is, of course, practically un- 
 limited, for they form themselves according to the 
 characters and lives of individual subjects. The 
 student will find after a time that as the groundwork 
 of cheiromancy impresses itself upon him, he will be 
 able at once to read the indications of any line which 
 may be shown to him, though he may never have 
 seen one like it before. The following instances, there- 
 fore, are not given as being in any way a complete 
 list of the " chance lines," but are subjoined as a kind 
 of guide for the student, to enable him to decipher 
 these " eclectic indications " whensoever and where- 
 soever he may find them. The following instances are, 
 for the most part, illustrated in Plates XVIII., XIX.,
 
 294 CHEIROMANCY. 
 
 and XX., so that there will be no difficulty in remem- 
 bering their exact positions. In these figures the 
 principal lines are drawn, but only the chance lines 
 are lettered and referred to. 
 ^) 778. A line starting from the commencement of the line 
 
 F i^d f V of life ' going to the Mount of J u P iter > and then 
 turning on to the Mount of Saturn, as at a a, in Plate 
 
 XVIII., denotes a disposition to fashionable fanaticism. 
 If such a subject is religious at all it will be, that he 
 is actuated mainly by a desire to become eminent in 
 that particular line. 
 ^[779. A line starting from the Mount of Mars, runm'ng 
 
 From <? under der ^ jj f heart &nd turn j ng up to the Mount 
 
 heart to Q. 
 
 of Apollo, as at b b, in Plate XVIII., indicates a deter- 
 mination to attain celebrity so deeply rooted, that the 
 subject whose hand bears this line will attain that 
 celebrity by any means. 
 
 1 780. A line barring the whole hand from the Mount of 
 
 m to V Venus to that of Mercury denotes cleverness and in- 
 telligence, arising from an affair of the heart, or from 
 the promptings of passion. 
 
 ^[781. We have in another place discussed worry lines, 
 
 Worry lines. r^y^ ^ 533,] which are, after all, a species of chance 
 
 line ; any worry line which starts from a star on the 
 
 Mount of Venus denotes that some one very dearly 
 
 beloved has died. 
 
 ^[782. Two worry lines, extending parallel from the 
 
 From ? to <J . Mount of Venus to that of Mars, denote the pursuit 
 
 Star. of two love affairs at the same time, and a star joined 
 
 to these lines denotes that the pursuit has ended in 
 
 disaster. 
 
 1 783. A curved line extending from the Mount of Mercury 
 
 Cl j v to f J7 to that of the Moon > t as at d d > in PIate XVII M 
 
 is a signification of presentiments and occult powers. 
 Such a subject, if his line of head decline upon the 
 Mount of the Moon, will have great powers as a 
 medium.
 
 n h 
 
 PLATE XIX.-CHANCE LINES
 
 CHANCE LINES. 297 
 
 If, with a chained line of heart, a line from the f 784. 
 Mount of Venus touch it underneath the Mount of Chained heart 
 
 and line from 
 
 Mercury, [as at a a, in Plate XIX.,] it is a sign that $ to $ . 
 the whole life has been disturbed and worried by a 
 
 woman [or vice versa in a female hand]. A black Point 
 point on this line [as at b, in Plate XIX.] signifies 
 widowhood or widowerhood. 
 
 A line from the Mount of Venus cutting the line of ^785. 
 
 Apollo, [as atcc, in Plate XIX.,] denotes a misfortune From ? L. toline 
 
 Ol (*)t 
 
 at the time indicated by the point at which the line cuts 
 through the line of life. If it cuts through in early 
 life, the misfortune was connected with the parents of 
 the subject. 
 
 Quantities of little rays across the line of life into the f 788. 
 quadrangle, [as at e e, in Plate XVIII.,] accompanied ^/onL'* 1 ' 
 by short nails, are a certain sign of quantities of little 
 worries, estrangements of friends, etc., occasioned by 
 the spirit of argument and criticism, and the love of 
 teasing which the subject has, by reason of his short 
 nails. 
 
 A line extending from a star on the Mount of ^[787. 
 Venus to a fork under the finger of Saturn [as at From 9 * h 
 d d, in Plate XIX.] betrays an unhappy marriage. 
 
 A line starting from the Mount of Venus, and ^788. 
 ending in a square in the palm of the hand, [any 
 part,] as at / /, in Plate XVIII., is significant of a 
 narrow escape from marriage with a scoundrel, or 
 with an extremely wicked woman. 
 
 A long island, extending from the Mount of Venus to 5 ? 89 - 
 
 ., . , i . .1 i- PC Island from 
 
 that of Saturn, with a similar island in the line ot tor- 9 to ^ . 
 tune, both at the points representing the same age, [vide 
 Plate XI.,] as at a and b in Plate XX., indicate seduction. 
 
 A line going from a star on the Mount of Venus to I 79a 
 
 __ rrom y to (J 
 
 the Plain of Mars, and then turning up to the Mount 
 of Apollo, where it meets a single ray, [ as at c c, in 
 Plate XX. J foretells a great inheritance from the death 
 of a near relation.
 
 298 CHEIROMANCY. 
 
 f 791. A qttantity of little lines on the percussion, at the 
 
 any on t the 1!neS side of the Mount of Mercury, [as at d, in Plate XX.,] 
 
 percussion, indicate levity and inconstancy, [vide also ^[ 469,] 
 
 especially if the Mounts of Venus and of the Moon 
 
 are highly developed. 
 
 1792. These few instances will, I am sure, be sufficient 
 
 nfejre^n. to explain the method of interpreting chance lines. It 
 will be observed that they are read carefully with 
 reference to the mounts and lines which they cross 
 throughout their course, and according to the signs 
 which meet and interrupt them. 
 
 The student has now traversed the entire field ol 
 Cheirosophy. It only remains for me now to give 
 my readers a sub-section containing a few illustrative 
 types, before closing this manual with a few remarks 
 on the method of proceeding in making a cheiromantic 
 examination of a subject.
 
 PLATB XX. CHANCK LINKS.
 
 SUB-SECTION IX. 
 
 A FEW ILLUSTRATIVE TYPES. 
 
 I PROPOSE in this section to describe a few types 
 of character and of profession ; that is to say, I pro- 
 pose to set forth the collected signs and formations 
 which indicate certain conditions of mind, with the 
 probable effects of those conditions upon the subject, 
 as regards his choice of a profession, or his walk in 
 life. 
 
 For instance : take a hand which betrays a mur- 
 derous or homicidal tendency ; in this hand you will 
 find the general complexion to be very red, or very 
 livid ; if the former, the tendency to murder arises 
 from fury and momentary fits of anger ; if the latter, 
 
 IlAtrSTHATIYl 
 
 Tvras. 
 
 5798. 
 
 Collective 
 indicatioov 
 
 ^794.
 
 302 
 
 CHEIROMANCY. 
 
 f795. 
 Theft. 
 
 1796. 
 
 Falsehood. 
 
 1797. 
 
 the whole instinct of the subject is evil. The first 
 phalanx of the finger of Mercury will be heavily 
 lined, and at the base of the line of life will [pro- 
 bably] be found a sister line. The line of head will 
 be deeply traced and thick, having probably a circle 
 upon it, and being generally joined to the line of 
 heart, and separate from the line of life. The nails 
 short, the line of life thick at the commencement, 
 and spotted with red, and the line of head twisted 
 across the hand. All these signs collected in a 
 hand are an infallible indication of a murderous 
 instinct. 
 
 Take another example : in this hand we find the 
 line of head twisted and very red, a grille is placed 
 upon the Mount of Mercury, and the whole hand is 
 dry and thin, having the joints developed on the 
 fingers. From the third phalanx of the little finger 
 sundry small lines go on to the mount, which latter 
 is also scarred with a deep strong ray. This is the 
 hand of a thief, and the impulse of theft will be 
 found to be almost [if not quite] insurmountable. 
 
 Falsehood, i.e., a general tendency to deceit is 
 always very clearly marked in the hand, and is 
 marked by a number of different signs, any one of 
 which by itself is a sufficient indication of a strong 
 tendency in that direction. These are : a high Mount 
 of the Moon, upon which the line of head is forked, 
 and on which are found small red points ; the thumb 
 is short, and on the inner surfaces of the phalanges 
 of the fingers there appears a kind of hollowing out 
 or sinking in of the flesh. The line of head is 
 generally separated from that of life by a space which 
 is filled with a number of confused lines. 
 
 In conversing with a subject in whose hands you 
 have seen all, or any, of these signs, bear in mind 
 what we have said under the heading of Cheirology 
 [SS. I., 11].
 
 A FEW ILLUSTRATIVE TYPES. 
 
 303 
 
 Another very characteristic hand is the voluptuous, 
 or pleasure-loving hand. The fingers are smooth 
 and pointed, having the third, or lower phalanges, 
 swollen ; the whole hand is plump and white, the 
 palm strong, and the thumb short, giving it sensitive- 
 ness. The Mount, of Venus is high. Such subjects 
 are impressionable, and liable to fall into grave errors ; 
 they are sensual, vain, and egoists, always actuated 
 by motives of pleasure. Women who have these 
 hands are always dangerous, for they are subtle and 
 unscrupulous in their pursuit of enjoyment, and often 
 exercise a most fatal influence upon men into whose 
 lives they come. 
 
 Adrien Desbarrolles, in his later and larger work on 
 the science, [vide Note U9 , p. 233] devotes a consider- 
 able space to the indications of various professions. 
 It would be beyond the scope of a work like the 
 present one to go into the matter as fully as he does 
 at page 350 of that volume, but a short resume of his 
 leading principles may not be out of place in a 
 chapter on illustrative types. 
 
 Of an artist, the sign is ot course primarily 
 the artistic hand, [vide p. 148,] but our author 
 goes further. He discusses the various modifica- 
 tions which betoken different classes cf painting; 
 thus : the flower painter will have the Mount of 
 Venus high with long fingers, and a large thumb ; 
 [colour, detail, and perseverance;] the painter of 
 still life will have rather squared fingers and the 
 Mount of Mercury; [exactitude and science;] the 
 painter of battle pieces will have the Mount of Mars 
 developed, indicating the natural taste of the subject. 
 He points out the fact that painters with squared 
 fingers always paint what they can actually see rather 
 than what they merely imagine. 
 
 In a doctor's hand we shall find the Mount of 
 Mercury rayed with the line of Apollo clearly traced. 
 
 1798. 
 
 Sensuality. 
 
 ^799. 
 
 The professions 
 according to 
 Desbarrolles. 
 
 <| 800. 
 Artist'* band. 
 
 801. 
 Doctor's hand.
 
 304 
 
 CHEIROMANCY. 
 
 1802. 
 
 Astronomy. 
 
 1803. 
 
 Horticulture. 
 
 1804. 
 
 Architecture. 
 
 f805. 
 
 Sculpture. 
 
 1806. 
 
 Literature. 
 
 1807. 
 
 Music. 
 
 1808. 
 Drama. 
 
 The doctor whose hands bear the Mount of the 
 Moon well developed will always be inclined to dis- 
 coveries and eclecticism, and the doctor with hard 
 hands and very much spatulated fingers will have a 
 natural penchant for veterinary surgery. 
 
 The astronomer has the Mounts of the Moon, of 
 Mercury, and of Saturn well developed, with long 
 knotty fingers to add calculation to his imagination 
 and his science. 
 
 The horticulturist has a hand in which we find the 
 Mounts of Venus and of the Moon high ; with 
 spatulate fingers to give him energy, and long fingers 
 to give him detail. 
 
 Square fingers, with a good line of Apollo and a 
 good line of Jupiter, denote an architect. 
 
 Sculpture betrays itself by a scarcity of lines, the 
 Mounts of Venus, of Mars, and of the Moon high in 
 the hand, which has a strong tendency to thickness 
 and hardness. 
 
 Literary men have always the Mounts of Jupiter 
 and of the Moon developed ; the latter particularly, if 
 the taste lies in the direction of poetry. Literature 
 gives, as a rule, soft spatulate or square hands, with 
 the joints [especially that of matter (the second)] 
 slightly developed. Literary critics have always 
 short nails and high Mounts of Mercury. 
 
 Among musicians [vide If 303] execution is the 
 domain of subjects whose fingers are spatulate, and 
 whose Mount of Saturn is high, whose nails are short, 
 and whose joints are developed, with the Mount of the 
 Moon prominent, long thumbs, the Line of Apollo, 
 and [as a rule] the Girdle of Venus. Melody generally 
 gives smooth fingers with mixed tips, the prevailing 
 mount being that of Venus. 
 
 The actor has fingers which are either spatulate or 
 square, the Mount of Venus developed, and the line 
 of head forked. The line of heart turns up slightly
 
 A FEW ILLUSTRATIVE TYPES. 305 
 
 towards the Mount of Mercury, and, as a rule, a line 
 runs from the Mount of Mars to that of Apollo. 
 
 I have selected the above illustrative types from 
 those given by M. Desbarrolles, as being those which, 
 by repeated and careful examination, I have found to 
 be, with extremely few exceptions, completely correct. 
 Their explanations are easily found, [vide ^ 108,] and 
 the student will, in a very short time, be able, imme- 
 diately on seeing a hand, to tell the subject what is his 
 profession. 
 
 .TO
 
 SUB-SECTION X. 
 
 MODUS MODUS OPERANDI. 
 
 OFERANDI. 
 
 ^[809. MANY years ago I bought at a marine store a second- 
 Jseiessness of h an( j sex tant. I was not going a long journey, and I 
 
 the science with- 
 
 out knowledge had absolutely no need of the sextant, but 1 bought 
 of how to it because it was a beautifully finished instrument, 
 
 practise it. 
 
 because there was something strange, incomprehen- 
 sible, mysterious, and therefore fascinating, about it, 
 and because it was very cheap. When I had got it I 
 did not know what to do with it ; I could not use it, for 
 I knew not how, and following the ordinary course of 
 things, it was put away to get rusty and impracticable, 
 without ever having been of the slightest use to me. 
 I mention this apparently irrelevant circumstance 
 because whenever I see a work on cheirosophy in 
 the possession of any one I always think of my sextant, 
 and wonder whether they, too, having taken up the 
 science of cheirosophy because it is strange, ap- 
 parently incomprehensible, mysterious [to them,] and 
 therefore fascinating, have any idea of how to put 
 their knowledge into operation, or whether, after 
 playing inquisitively with the science for a time, they 
 will let it lie by and become rusty and useless. It is
 
 MODUS OPERANDI. 307 
 
 urged by these considerations that I have decided 
 to write this very important sub-section, so as not to 
 load my readers with a quantity of knowledge, with a 
 complicated instrument, that they cannot make use of, 
 and derive a practical benefit from. 
 
 Much has been said in works on cheiromancy on . 
 
 the condition of the subject at the time of the exami- Condition of the 
 nation, his mental and physical state, and so on, but I 
 think that all these things are, to a very great extent, 
 immaterial. The only things to be borne in mind are 
 [selon mot] that the hands should not be too hot or too 
 cold, and that they should not have just been pulled 
 out of a tight glove, and, above all things, that there 
 should be. a good light. The hand should be held in 
 an oblique position as regards the light, so as to throw 
 the lines and formations into relief. With this object 
 in view, also, the fingers sh'ould be slightly bent, so as 
 to contract the palm and accentuate the lines, for it 
 must be observed that the hands fold upon the lines, 
 though the lines are not formed by the folding. If it 
 is quite convenient, the morning is the best time to 
 examine a hand, but it is practically immaterial if the 
 cheirosophist has had any experience. 
 
 Lastly, in reading a hand, to whomsoever it belong, 
 you must never hesitate to take it in your own hands 
 and hold it firmly. These short preliminaries being 
 attended to, you will commence your examination. 
 It is far better to examine the whole hand carefully 
 and silently till its indications are quite clear in your 
 own mind, and then to speak promptly and boldly, 
 than to decipher the indications slowly one after 
 another, reading one tentatively, with a view to as- 
 certaining its correctness, before going on to another. 
 
 The great thing that I desire to impress upon the ^ 812. 
 minds of my readers is the simplicity of the science, Simplicity of th 
 Adrien Desbarrolles, in his advanced work on the 
 science, says : " That which prevents beginners from
 
 308 
 
 CHEIROMANCY. 
 
 ^[813. 
 
 Order of the 
 examination. 
 
 succeeding immediately in cheiromancy is that they 
 find it too simple, and think it necessary to go beyond 
 it to arrive at something more pretentious, more con- 
 fused, more difficult, and more impossible to under- 
 stand. They do not want an easily understood science. 
 For many people, a science which is simple, is not a 
 science at all; they strive and strive, racking their 
 brains in search of a truth which is at their very 
 hands, and which they can find nowhere else." 
 
 Having taken a hand in yours, first you must 
 examine the line of life, to see what effects health and 
 Cheirognomy; the great events of life have had upon the condition of 
 the subject. Next look at the phalanx of will, and see 
 how far it is controlled or influenced by the phalanx 
 of logic. Then you will note the tips of the fingers, 
 seeing also whether they are smooth or whether they 
 have the joints developed, and whether any particular 
 phalanx or set of phalanges is or are longer or more 
 fully developed than the others ; this will tell you 
 whether the subject is governed by intuition, by 
 reason, or by material instinct. Then notice whether 
 the fingers are long or short. At first you can hardly 
 tell whether they are long or short, but after a little 
 time you will be able to judge at once of length or 
 shortness by comparison with the other hands you 
 have seen ; the same remarks apply to the thumb. 
 
 You have already noticed whether the hands are 
 soft or hard, now you will turn your attention to the 
 palm, to see what mount or mounts govern the. instincts, 
 and how those mounts are governed in turn by 
 primary or secondary lines. Then go back to the 
 line of life, and examine the line of fortune, noting 
 whether the latter is broken, and if so, search on the 
 mounts for signs to teach you the cause and interpre- 
 tation of the break. Then examine carefully the lines 
 of head and heart, and the secondary lines with the 
 signs which may modify their indications. Be careful 
 
 1814. 
 
 Order of 
 examination. 
 Cheiromancy.
 
 MODUS OPERANDI. 309 
 
 not to predict a future event from a sign which is Past, present 
 
 evidently that of a past one : a sign which, though and fature> 
 
 visible, is effaced or quasi-effaced, is that of a past 
 
 event ; a sign which is clear and well coloured is that 
 
 of a present circumstance ; and a sign which is only 
 
 just visible, as it were, beneath the surface of the skin, 
 
 is that of a future event 
 
 Whenever you see a star, a cross, or any other sign 1 815. 
 in an apparently inexplicable position, you must Un ^g^ r 
 search the principal lines and the mounts for an 
 explanation. The explanation will often be found in 
 a mark on the line of fortune ^or in a worry line 
 [vide If 533]. At the same time look at the Mount of 
 Jupiter, for this will often, by being good, counteract 
 the evil indications of a sign, and at the Mount of 
 Mars to see whether the subject has that resignation 
 which will give him calm, and even happiness, through 
 whatever circumstances, may assail his life. 
 
 When you have examined everything, strike a 1[816. 
 
 ..... .. . , Exposition of 
 
 balance, as it were, noting what signs are contradicted lhe ^^^00, 
 
 or counteracted by others, and what is, in fact, the 
 
 whole indication of the hand. Speak boldly, and 
 
 never mind offending people by what you tell them ; 
 
 what you tell them is the truth, and they need not 
 
 have let you know it. I always warn people that 
 
 what I shall tell them will be the actual truth, and 
 
 not a string of complimentary platitudes ; and I 
 
 always ask people not to show me their hands if they 
 
 have anything to conceal. If, after this, they still 
 
 persist in having their hands read, I say boldly 
 
 whatever I see there, without caring about the feelings 
 
 of the subject. 185 
 
 ia physicians are, some of them, so pleasing and conformable 
 to the humour of the patient, as they press not the true cure 
 of the disease ; and some others are so regular in proceeding 
 according to art for the disease, as they respect not sufficiently 
 the condition of the patient. Take one of a middle temper, or, 
 if it may not be found in one man, combine two of rither sort t
 
 310 CHEIROMANCY. 
 
 U 817. With an account [by way of illustration of the 
 
 .Envoi. above maxims] of an interesting experience of mine 
 now some years old, I close this sub-section, and with 
 this sub-section this manual. I have had but one 
 object in view during its composition clearness ; I 
 can only hope that I have been successful in attaining 
 that object, and if my introductory argument has had 
 any power to commend this science to the considera- 
 tion of unbiassed and discriminating minds, I shall 
 feel that I have not wasted the labours of the years 
 that are past. 
 
 . CHEIROSOPHIC A few years ago I had left my papers and goose- 
 XPERIENCE. on a magnificent summer's afternoon, and had 
 
 betaken myself to a garden-party in one of our 
 prettiest suburbs. As has often been the case, my 
 arrival was the signal for a chorus, " Here's the Cheiro- 
 mant, let's get our fortunes told." In vain I remon- 
 strated that I was out for a holiday, in vain I pleaded 
 ill-health, ill-temper, and ill-manners ; the torrent 
 of silvery persuasion still flowed on, till at last I 
 said : 
 
 i " Listen to me ; if it will amuse you, I will read 
 one pair of hands for you, but they must be those of 
 a complete stranger, and no one must ask me to 
 repeat the experiment." Haifa-dozen pairs of hands 
 were put forward, and from among them I chose those 
 belonging to a childish face and a mass of sunny hair, 
 which I had certainly never seen before. I said to 
 her " If you like, I'll read your hands for the amuse- 
 ment of all these people, but, before I begin, if there 
 
 and forget not to call as well the best acquainted with your body 
 as the best reputed of for his faculty. "FRANCIS BACON, "Of 
 Regimen of Health," 1625. "Kal TO.VT oi>x $"' aTrfyOwpai rlviv 
 vpuiv, ri}v AXXws irpor)p7J/j.ai X^yeic. ov yap ofrrws d<f>pwv ov8 
 drtxfy fy* l j yi WOT' dwexOdveffOai /3ov\ecr0ai /j.r)8fi> w(pf\tiv 
 vofn.iuv. dXXa SiKalov, iro\Lrov Kplvta rriv rdv irpa.yp.6.rtav aurrj- 
 olav &vrl rrjs tv T$ \tyuv x6p lTO * a-'<-ptiaO<u- DEMOSTHENES, 
 OATN6IAKOS. r'C2O.
 
 MODUS OPERANDI. 3U 
 
 is anything in your life that you have the least objection 
 to the whole world knowing, say so at once, and I'll 
 read some one else's." 
 
 " Oh dear no ! " replied she ; " my life has been 
 utterly uneventful, go on." I looked at her hands, 
 then at her, still the laughing, childish face, and the 
 calm, untroubled eyes, and said : 
 
 " How dare you tempt Providence like this out of 
 pure bravado ? You know perfectly well that there are 
 events in your life which you don't want every one to 
 know, and yet disbelieving [at present] in a science 
 of which, [knowing nothing of it,] you are not in a 
 position to give an opinion, you hold out your life's 
 history for the amusement of a garden-party crowd. 
 If you still insist, I will tell you your life here and 
 now, but I should suggest that we should take a turn 
 round the lawn, and then you will come back and tell 
 these people that everything I have told you is 
 absolutely correct." 
 
 She thought for a moment, and said : "There is 
 nothing I am ashamed of; but in case you are making 
 some horrible mistake, I'll hear my hands read in 
 private." So we walked round the lawn. 
 
 "Well," said I, "you look about nineteen, and 
 as if you had never had a trouble in your life, but 
 you have had the most terrible time of it I have 
 ever seen written on a hand so young as yours. 
 You have been married twice, and this, of all things, 
 strikes me in your hand, that you married your second 
 husband when your first husband was alive. Your 
 first marriage was an affair of pique, an impulse of 
 your foolish head, and was a miserable one; your 
 second was an affair of heart, a love-match, but it was 
 extremely bad for you from a commercial, material 
 point of view. Even now, whilst you walk here with 
 a smile on your lips and a racquet in your hand, you 
 are undergoing some mental agony : let me congratu-
 
 312 CHEIROMANCY. 
 
 late you on being the most astounding actress, shall 
 I say ? that I have ever come across." 
 
 She was silent for a moment, ana then said : 
 " What I am going to tell you no one but my maid, 
 who is in Chicago now, has ever known, and I tell it 
 you as a reward for speaking so boldly in the face of 
 the magnificent lie I told you just now. I am an 
 American, and came here with some people to-day, 
 and don't know a soul in the place ; I am twenty- 
 three [though I don't look it]. At eighteen I quarrelled 
 with my people, and in a fit of rage married, simply 
 to get rid of them. My husband turned out a scoundrel 
 and knocked me about, to speak plainly, and after 
 a year we were divorced. When I was twenty I 
 fell in love for the first time, and married a man 
 whom I simply worshipped. We were as happy as 
 possible, but after a few months he was struck with 
 a fever that gradually wasted him away, and he died 
 two years ago, leaving me simply a pauper, for during 
 his illness his business in Chicago left him. I came 
 over here with some friends. What you say about 
 my present state of mind is quite true, for I saw my 
 first husband yesterday at the Academy, and have 
 been in a state of terror ever since. Now, if you 
 please, we will go back and lie to the other people 
 about what you have been telling me." 
 
 The lady left for Yokohama a few months later, and 
 sent me her permission to publish this incident. 
 
 FINIS.
 
 INDEX I. 
 
 OF MATTERS REFERRING TO THE SCIENCE OF CHEIRO- 
 SOPHY, CONTAINED IN THE INTRODUCTION AND THE 
 NOTES THROUGHOUT THE VOLUME. 
 
 The numbers refer to pages. A number thus signalized "32 '" refers to 
 Note 18 on page 32. 
 
 Names of Authors, whose works are referred to with their titles, etc., are 
 printed in italics. 
 
 For reference Index of Cheirosophic Indications vide Index II. 
 
 A. 
 
 Abererombie, J. , 51. 
 Abuse of the science, 7 '. 
 Adaptation of the hands to 
 
 the wants of man, 20. 
 ^ther, 63. 
 
 Akeration of hands, 73. 
 Anatomy, 38. 
 Anaxagoras on the hand, 
 
 23- 
 
 Ancient and modern hands, 
 28. 
 
 Anthropology of the sub- 
 ject, 27. 
 
 Apollo Belvidere, The, 
 28 . 
 
 Aristotle on the hand, 23, 
 24, 29, 36, 44, 47, 59, 60, 
 70, 82, 98, lor, 131. 
 
 Aristotle on Cheiromancy 
 proper, 60. 
 
 DArpentigny, S., 18 ', 71, 
 
 74, 84, 117. 
 Arguments in favour of 
 
 Cheirosophy, 86. 
 Arteries of the hand, 41, 43. 
 Astral lines, 67. 
 Astrologic Cheiromancy, 
 
 6 3- 
 
 Astrology, 65. 
 
 Astronomical parallel, 78. 
 
 Authorities for pheno- 
 mena, 87. 
 
 B. 
 
 Bacon, F., 90, 92, 218 > 17 , 
 
 309 '. 
 de Balzac, 62, 74, 75. 82, 
 
 88. 
 Balzac on Cheiromancy, 
 
 62, 66. 
 Beamish, R., 27. 
 
 Bel/, SirC.,x>*. 
 
 Bell on the hand, 20, 24 
 
 25. 4'. 5'. 52- 71- 
 Bernstein, /., 45. 
 Bible Cheiromancy, 53, 58. 
 Bibliography, 60. 
 Births of the sciences, 88. 
 Biting the thumb, 34. 
 Blessings, 32. 
 Bones, Identification of, 
 
 7*- 
 
 Bones of the hand, 37. 
 Brain, Connection with 
 
 the, 49. 
 
 Browne, Str T., 134. 
 Bu liver, /., I29 IW . 
 Burton. R., 131 **. 
 
 C. 
 
 Caesar, 32. 
 
 Cardan, 83, 132 '*, 134.
 
 314 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Cause and effect, 65, 66, 
 
 68, 81. 
 Challenges with the thumb, 
 
 34* 
 
 Charlatanry, 76. 
 Charms, 33. 
 Cheirology, 129. 
 Chinese divination by the 
 
 thumb, 69. 
 Cicero, 26, 189 m . 
 Classic authorities, 59, 
 
 186 " 2 . 
 
 Codes, B. , 83, 84 79 . 
 Commentators of the 
 
 Bible, 53-5. 
 
 Comparative anatomy, 38. 
 Construction of the hand, 
 
 28, 36. 
 Consumptive finger-nails, 
 
 52. 
 Contracts, Use of the 
 
 thumb in, 34. 
 Criminal without hands, 
 
 520 3 . 
 
 Currents of impression, 80. 
 Customs in the East, 29, 
 
 31- 
 
 Cutting off the hand, 31. 
 Cuvier, G., 47. 
 
 D. 
 
 Daubenay, 64. 
 Degeneration of the 
 
 science, 76. 
 
 Demosthenes, 82,97, * 83,310 
 Desbarrolles, A., 17, 50, 
 
 67, 78, 83. 
 Differentiation of nerves, 
 
 89. 
 
 Disease, Indications of, 51. 
 Distinctness of the hand, 
 
 36., 
 
 Dodd's execution, 34. 
 Dryden, 59. 
 Dumas fils, A., 68. 
 
 E. 
 
 Earth and the Planets, 63. 
 Ebule, Evans A., 73-79. 
 Electricity simile, 50, 51. 
 Epicurus, 44. 
 Esdaile's experiments, 92. 
 Esdaile, Dr., 92 89 . 
 Events, Laws of successive, 
 
 6> 
 
 Evil eye, The, 33. 
 Explanations unnecessary, 
 
 89. 
 
 F. , I. 
 
 Ferrand, J. , 77. Ignorant incredulity, 92. 
 
 First finger, The, 32. ' Impatience in argument,76. 
 
 Five, The number, 30. | Importance of the study, 
 
 " Folding " argument, The, 
 
 17. 
 
 71. 
 
 Incapacity for comprehen- 
 
 Folding of hands in prayer, 
 
 sion, 88. 
 
 29- 
 
 Indications in youth, 79. 
 
 Foot, The, 37. 
 
 Indications of bodily as- 
 
 Force denoted by word 
 
 pects, 84. 
 
 hands, 29. 
 
 Indications of disease, 51, 
 
 Force, Regulation of, 25. 
 
 52. 
 
 Foretelling events by 
 
 Indication of race, 27. 
 
 Cheirosophy, 81, 84. 
 
 Infant hands, 72. 
 
 Formation of tissues, 40. 
 
 Infant hand and thumb, 
 
 Fresnel, A., 64. 
 
 40. 
 
 Future lines, 81, 82. 
 
 Infant, The human, 51. 
 
 
 Infinite differences of 
 
 
 hands, 69. 
 
 G. 
 
 Galen on the hand, 20, 21, 
 
 Ingoldsby legends', 35. 
 Interpretations of appear- 
 
 24, 26, 40. 
 
 ance, 71. 
 
 Gall, F. J., 85. 
 
 Investigation of pheno- 
 
 Gaule t J,, no. 
 
 mena, 86. 
 
 Gellius, J., 42. 
 
 Investigation of the science, 
 
 Genuineness of the science, 
 
 92. 
 
 91. 
 
 Identification of bones, 71. 
 
 Georget, 52. 
 
 
 Germs of disease, 81. 
 
 J- 
 
 Giving the hand, 29. 
 
 Jettatura, The, 33. 
 
 Gladiatorial signs, 34. 
 
 Juvenal, 59. 
 
 Greek use of the word 
 
 
 X"P> 28. 
 
 K. 
 
 
 Kirchmann, J. , 42. 
 
 
 Kidd, Dr., 21 *, 47. 
 
 H. 
 
 Kissing hands, 29, 30. 
 
 Halfway sceptics, 73. 
 
 Kollmann, A., 48. 
 
 Hand charms, 33. 
 
 
 " Hand of Glory," 35. 
 
 L. 
 
 "Hand of God," The, 28 13 . 
 
 Lavater, J. C., eg 66 , 74 69 , 
 
 Hand superstitions, 34. 
 
 84, 85 80 . 
 
 Hand shaking, 19. 
 
 Lemnius, Levinus, 42. 
 
 Hartlieb, /., 60. 
 
 Light, Theories of, 63. 
 
 Herder, 51. 
 
 " Line-roots," 81. 
 
 Hereditary Cheirosophy, 
 
 Lines caused by folding 
 
 75- 
 
 the hands, 72. 
 
 Heron-Allen, E,, 77 ", 
 
 Lines in the hand, 49, 80. 
 
 91 98 , 122 w '. 
 
 Loss of the hands, 20. 
 
 Holiday, B., n6". 
 
 Love of the Marvellous, 94 
 
 Holy Scriptures and Chei- 
 
 Lucretius, .26. 
 
 romancy, 53. 
 
 
 Homer, 25, 30. 
 
 M. 
 
 Homogeneity, 70. McDougall, F. T., 51. 
 
 Honesty of the science, 91. Mano Pantea, 33. 
 
 Human Infant, The, 51. Manufactures by the hand, 
 
 Humphry, G. M., 36, 38. ' 22. 
 
 Dr. Hunter, 51. March of enlightenment, 
 
 Huygens, Z. van, 63. 91.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 315 
 
 Marriage service, The hand 
 
 in the, 32. 
 
 Marvellous, Love of the, 94. 
 Massey, C. C., 87. 
 " Materialistic" opposition, 
 
 90. 
 
 Melton, /., 135. 
 Modifications of types, 73. 
 Montaigne, 61. 
 Motor and sensory nerves, 
 
 52. 
 
 Muller, 51. 
 Multiplied powers of the 
 
 hand, 61. 
 
 Muscles of the hand, 38, 39. 
 Muscular sense, The, 25. 
 
 N. 
 Narrow-minded sceptics, 
 
 93- 
 Natal influences of the 
 
 Planets, 67. 
 
 Nerves and electricity, 50. 
 Nerves of the hand, 44. 
 Newton, I., 63. 
 Noel, Roden, 86. 
 Non-fatalism of the science, 
 
 81. 
 No two pair of hands are 
 
 alike, 69. 
 Number five, The, 30. 
 
 O. 
 
 Oaths, 31. 
 
 Obstacles to the study, 93. 
 Obstinate incredulity, 92. 
 Offensive and defensive 
 
 functions of the hand, 25. 
 Organ of mind, The, 24. 
 Oriental customs, 29, 31. 
 Osteology, 37. 
 Owen, Professor Sir K., 
 
 23, 36, 44, 83, 207 "\ 
 Owen on the foot, 37. 
 
 ' P. 
 
 Pacinian bodies, 49. 
 
 Painful side of the science. 
 78. 
 
 Peace, Signs of, 29, 33. 
 
 Perfection of the hand, 26. 
 
 De Peruchio, 116. 
 
 Petit Albert, 35. 
 
 Phrenology and Physi- 
 ognomy compared with 
 Cheirosophy, 73. 
 
 Phrenology, 85. 
 
 Physiognomy, 85. 
 
 Physiology of the hand, 36. 
 Planets, Influence on the 
 
 Superstitions of the hand, 
 34. 4*- 
 
 earth of the, 63. 
 Playfair, L. t 88 . 
 
 Swearing by the hand, 31. 
 Symbolical expressions, 28. 
 
 Pliny, 30. 
 
 Symbols, 28, 32. 
 
 Poltroons, 34. 
 
 
 Powers of the hand, 61. 
 
 T. 
 
 Prediction, 81, 82. 
 Progress of the science, 91. 
 
 Tactile Corpuscles, 49. 
 Temperature, 52. 
 
 Punishment of hand-am- 
 
 Third finger, The, 32, 41, 
 
 putation, 31. 
 
 189 '. 
 
 Purkinye, J. ., 49. 
 
 Thumb, The, 34, 39, 40. 
 
 
 Touch and pain, 46. 
 
 
 
 Touch a universal sense, 
 
 Quintilian, O. P., 61. 
 
 47- 
 
 
 Touch, Sense of, 45, 53. 
 
 . 
 
 Traditional Cheiromancy, 
 
 Racial hand, 27. 
 
 83. 
 
 Radial artery, 43. 
 
 Tricasso, 84 , 134. 
 
 Raising the hands, 33. 
 
 Trickery in psychic phe- 
 
 Registration of cases, 87. 
 
 nomena, 86. 
 
 Regulation of force, 25. 
 
 Trinity, The, 32. 
 
 Religion, 87. 
 
 Turkish rosary, 31. 
 
 Religious opposition, 93. 
 
 
 Religious symbols, 32. 
 
 
 Revealed sciences, 87. 
 
 U. 
 
 Ridicule, 69, 75. 
 Ring finger, The, 41. 
 
 Ulnar artery, 43. 
 Unnecessary explanations. 
 
 
 89. 
 
 
 Use of an organ shown by 
 
 S. 
 
 its aspect, 70. 
 
 Sabine, Experiments of 
 
 Use of the hands, 19, 22, 
 
 Col., 65. 
 
 61. 
 
 Sceptics, 73, 76, 92. 
 
 
 Scientific opposition, 93. 
 
 . 
 
 Scipio Africanus, 32. 
 
 Value of Cheirosophy, 78, 
 
 Scott, Sir W., 45. 
 
 79- 
 
 Second finger, The, 32. 
 Sensation of pain, The, 46. 
 
 Vascularity, 53. 
 Venous system of the hand, 
 
 Sense, The muscular, 25. 
 
 4*. 43- 53- 
 
 Sense of touch, 45. 
 
 Voting with the hand, 31. 
 
 Senses of the skin, 48. 
 
 
 Sensory and motor nerves, 
 S 2 - 
 
 W. 
 
 Warnings against Cheiro- 
 
 Sequence of events, 65. 
 Shakespeare and the word 
 
 sophy, 78. 
 Wickedness of the science, 
 
 " hand," 29. 
 
 76. 
 
 Shaking hands, 19. 
 
 
 Skin, The, 48. 
 
 . 
 
 Small beginnings in 
 
 Xenophon, 31, 32'*, 34. 
 
 science, 87. 
 
 
 Spencer, H., 66,76, 88, 89. 
 
 . 
 
 Spurzheim, Dr., 85. 
 Stewart, Dugald, 65, 90. 
 Study of Cheirosophy, The, 
 
 Young, Dr., 64. 
 Youth. Value of Cheiro- 
 sophy in, 79. 
 
 17- 
 Superiority of Cheiro- 
 
 Z. 
 
 sophy, 75. 
 
 lauberjlott, 77.
 
 INDEX II. 
 
 OF THE LEADING INDICATIONS GIVEN IN SECTIONS I. 
 
 AND II. 
 
 The numbers refer to the paragraphs. Thus : Abstraction U 254. 
 
 A. 
 
 Abstraction, 254. 
 Acrobats, 339. 
 Action, 156, 236. 
 Administrative talent, 119, 
 
 133. 2 53- 342. 706- 
 Adultery, 680. 
 Adventurous, 233. 
 ^Esthetic, 166. 
 Affectation, 140. 
 Affection, 211, 259, 551. 
 After-dinner speakers, 
 
 241. 
 
 Age, 525, 604. 
 Aggressiveness, 449. 
 Ambition, 222, 223, 538, 
 
 582. 
 
 Analysis, 121. 
 Ancien Noblesse, 278. 
 Angles, 738. 
 Apathy, 346. 
 
 Apollo, Mnt. of, 450 ; 
 Artistic instinct, 450 ; 
 Boastful, 454 ; Discover- 
 ers, 451 ; Failure, 456 ; 
 Fortune, 450 ; Material- 
 ism, 455. 
 
 Apoplexy, 565. 
 
 Architect, 804. 
 
 Argument, 589. 
 
 Arithmeticians, 275. 
 
 Artist, 137, 328, 800. 
 
 Artistic tendency, 123, 
 129, 163, 233, 238, 294, 
 295, 346, 621. 
 
 Asceticism, 441. 
 
 Assassination, 662. 
 
 Asthma, 521. 
 
 Astronomy, 802. 
 
 Astuteness, 731. 
 
 Athletics, 205. 
 
 Avarice, 152, 556, 575. 
 
 B. 
 
 Bad end, 617. 
 Barristers, 461. 
 Beautiful, 291. 
 Beloved, 734. 
 Bigotry, 348, 696. 
 Biliousness, 488. 
 Blindness, 628, 676. 
 Bohemianism, 291. 
 Boldness, 141. 
 Brutality, 113, 633. 
 Builders, 143. 
 Bullying, 745. 
 Business capacity, 158. 
 
 C. 
 
 Callousness, 228. 
 Capillaries, 427. 
 Caprice, 637. 
 Carelessness, 544, 582.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 37 
 
 Caution, 580. 
 Celebrity, 542, 727, 779. 
 Charlatanry, 429. 
 Chastity, 513. 
 Children, No. of, 469. 
 Clairvoyance, 462. 
 Classical scholarship, 438. 
 Cleverness, 724, 780. 
 Colonists, 274. 
 Commercial talent, 237, 
 
 245, 600. 
 
 Common sense, strong, 188. 
 Communists, 277. 
 Comprehension of detail, 
 
 142. 
 
 Conical, 155, 163. 
 Conjugal infidelity, 613. 
 Conjugal misery, 608. 
 Constancy, 294, 578. 
 Coolness, 578. 
 Cowardice, 140, 177, 741. 
 Criticism, 253. 
 Cruelty, 149, 175, 718. 
 Cunning, 240, 244, 418, 
 
 641. 
 Curiosity, 151. 
 
 D. 
 
 Dancers, 339. 
 
 Danger, 567. 
 
 Deafness, 592. 
 
 Death, 470, 525, 529, 536, 
 
 557. 567. 572, 576. 579. 
 
 585. 645, 664, 675, 710, 
 
 71.7. 745- 
 
 Debility, 713, 753. 
 Deceit, 140, 757. 
 Delicacy of mind, 212, 255. 
 
 747- 
 Designers, 143. 
 
 Desire of life, 546. 
 Dictator, 298. 
 Dignity, 248. 
 Diplomacy, 350, 685. 
 Discontent, 338. 
 Disciplinarian, 297. 
 Dishonesty, 141, 590, 659, 
 
 682, 690. 
 
 Dissatisfaction, 421. 
 Dissimulation, 660. 
 Distrustful, 137. 
 Doctors, 439, 801. 
 Domestic troubles, 582. 
 Drowning, 505. 
 Dull intellect, 748, 752. 
 
 E. 
 
 Early rising, 205. 
 
 Eclecticism, 320, 777. 
 Effeminacy, 181. 
 Egoism, 122, 221, 273, 487, 
 
 586, 701. 
 
 Egyptian papyri, 143. 
 Eloquence, 729. 
 English character, 281. 
 Enthusiasm, 563. 
 Envy, 713. 
 Epilepsy, 587. 
 Error, 226. 
 Evenly - balanced mind, 
 
 "3- 
 
 Excitement, 291, 702. 
 Extravagance, 196,725,768. 
 
 F. 
 
 Failure, 114, 456. 
 Faithful lover, 732. 
 False conceptions, 125. 
 Falsehood, 713, 796. 
 Fanaticism, 330, 437, 562, 
 
 688, 778. 
 Fancy, 123. 
 Fatalist, 433. 
 Fault rinding, 283. 
 Feebleness, 112, 423, 572. 
 Ferocity, 257. 
 Fidelity, 756. 
 Fingers, 117, 123, 124, 126, 
 
 127, 131, 133, 134. 157- 
 First impressions, 123. 
 Flattery, 429. 
 Flirt, 554. 
 Foolhardiness, 544. 
 Foolishness, 199. 
 Freethought, 437. 
 Friendship of great men, 
 
 714. 
 Frivolity. 234. 
 
 O. 
 
 Gallantry, 507. 
 Gambler, 233. 
 Generosity, 292, 74* 
 Goodness, 594, 724. 
 Good digestion, 630. 
 Good fortune, 217, 439, 
 
 588, 606, 698, 715, 769. 
 Good health, 523, 630, 739, 
 
 753. 
 Good luck, 424, 562, 598, 
 
 642, 656, 662, 739. 
 Good sense, 242, 311, 571. 
 
 667. 
 
 Good talker, 305. 
 Gout, 498. 
 Grave, 414. 
 
 H. 
 
 Hands, 145, 150, 175, 176, 
 177, 178, 179, 180, 201, 
 
 2O4, 2O6, 2O7, 2O8, 2IO, 
 211, 212, 214, 215, 289, 
 
 354- 
 
 Handsome, 429. 
 Handwriting, 144. 
 Happiness, 473, 723. 
 Hardship, 213, 743, 769 
 Haughty, 414. 
 Headache, 587, 633. 
 Health, 766. 
 Heart disease, 631, 676, 
 
 680. 
 
 Heraldry, 342. 
 Hereditary madness, 583. 
 Hindoos, 270. 
 Honour, 260, 770. 
 Hopeless passion, 613. 
 Horticulture, 803. 
 Hypochondria, 421. 
 Hypocrisy, 349, 556, 589. 
 Hysteria, 448, 502, 647. 
 
 I. 
 
 Idealism, 325, 326, 583, 
 
 708. 
 
 Ideality, 314, 315. 
 Idleness, 431. 
 Ill-health. 524, 606. 
 Illegitimacy, 613. 
 Ill-luck, 114, 426, 604, 718, 
 
 719. 
 
 Illness, 527, 530, 590. 
 Ill-success, 427. 
 Imprisonment, 602, 671. 
 Imprudence, 582, 758. 
 Impulse, 123, 189, 221. 
 Inconstancy, 175, 498, 511, 
 
 607, 625. 752. 79*- 
 Indigestion, 598. 
 Infamy, 260. 
 Infidelity, 572. 
 Inheritance, 329. 790. 
 Innocence, 348. 
 Inquiry, 121. 
 Inquisitiveness, 136, 152. 
 Intelligence, 119, 266. 
 Intuition, 146. 
 Inventors. 124, 286. 
 Irony, 253. 
 Irresolution, 198. 
 Irritating subject, 215. 
 
 J- 
 
 lack of all trades. 342, 620 
 lealous. 553.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Jews, 347. 
 
 Joints, 118, 119, 120, 121, 
 
 122, 130, 136, 147. 
 
 Journalist, 253. 
 
 Jupiter, Mount of, 405, 
 429 ; Charlatanry, 439 ; 
 Doctors, 439 ; Hand- 
 some, 429 ; Marriage, 
 429 ; with other Mounts, 
 
 439- 
 Justice, 308. 
 
 K. 
 
 Knowledge, Search after, 
 240. 
 
 \-tt 
 
 Laborious life, 767. 
 
 Laplanders, 261. 
 
 Large thumbed subject , 
 200. 
 
 Lasciviousness, 644. 
 
 Laziness, 191, 247, 754. 
 
 Levity, 791. 
 
 Liar, 692. 
 
 Liberality, 246. 
 
 Libertine, 515. 
 
 Life, 545, 631, 667, 750. 
 
 Lines, 119, 126, 139, 404, 
 405, 410, 424, 425, 426, 
 523, 524, 526, 527, 529, 
 
 530. 53L 533. 534- 
 Literary critics, 515, 806. 
 Liver complaint, 555. 
 Logic, 182, 184, 242, 449. 
 Losses, 612, 702. 
 Love, 2ii, 516, 565, 610, 
 
 782. 
 
 Luxury, 146, 432. 
 Lying, 171, 771. 
 
 M. 
 
 Malignity, 256, 749. 
 
 Marriage, 240, 435, 452, 
 478, 518, 788 ; Happy, 
 435. 599. 656, 687 ; Un- 
 happy, 533, 567, 663, 787. 
 
 Mars, Mount of, 398, 439, 
 475 ; Capacity for keep- 
 ing temper, 477 ; Coward- 
 liness, 483 ; Cruelty and 
 violence, 480 ; Feeble 
 line of heart, 482 ; Hot 
 blooded, 477 ; Lines on 
 mount, 480 ; Love of 
 war, 481 ; Marriage, 478 ; 
 Plain of Mars, 475 ; 
 Sensual, 477 ; with 
 Apollo, 485 ; with Mt. 
 of Moon, 485. 
 
 Materialism, 146, 455. 
 Maternity, Dangers of, 568. 
 Mathematics, 231. 
 Meanness, 574. 
 Mechanics, Talent for, 
 
 243- 
 
 Meddlesomeness, 251. 
 
 Medium, 783. 
 
 Melancholy, 180, 414. 
 
 Melody, 807. 
 
 Mental agitation, 421. 
 
 Merchants, 122, 342. 
 
 Mercury, Mount of, 405, 
 429, 460 ; Athlete, Good, 
 462 ; Barristers, Good, 
 461 ; Charlatan, 465 ; 
 Children, No. of, 469 ; 
 Clairvoyant, 462 ; Com- 
 merce, 472 ; Contradic- 
 tion, 474 ; Good fortune, 
 467 ; Happiness, 473 ; 
 Hypochondria, 468 ; 
 Liaison, 469 ; Mathe- 
 matics, 463 ; with Apollo, 
 471 ; with Saturn, 474 ; 
 with Venus, 473. 
 
 Minutiae, Instinct for, 135. 
 
 Mischief, 141, 715, 760. 
 
 Misery, 114, 601. 
 
 Misfortune, 114, 701, 721, 
 
 785- 
 
 Mocking disposition, 149. 
 
 Moderation, 304. 
 
 Modesty, 715. 
 
 Moon, Mount of, 439, 486 ; 
 Angle on, 505 ; Bound- 
 aries of, 497 ; Clairvoy- 
 ance, 495 ; Crescent in 
 woman, 505 ; Croix 
 mystique, 495 ; Cross 
 barred, 504; Drowning, 
 505 ; Gout, 498 ; Idle- 
 ness, 496 ; with other 
 Mounts, 506. 
 | Moral force, 164. 
 ; Morbidness, 227. 
 I Moslem tribes, 326. 
 I Mount, Crosswise lines on, 
 404 ; Development of, 
 398 ; Displacement of, 
 407 ; Prevailing, 428 ; 
 Two lines on, 403. 
 
 Murder, 593, 681. 
 
 Murderers, 194. 
 
 Murderous tendency, 570, 
 
 794- 
 Musicians, 121, 162, 273, 
 
 303- 
 
 Mystery of birth, 548, 683. 
 
 N. 
 
 Nails, 786, 794. 
 Narrow-mindedness, 112. 
 Nerves, 333. 
 
 Nervous temperament, 206, 
 254, 421, 581, 703, 751. 
 Nobleness, 740. 
 North American, 281. 
 
 O. 
 
 Observant, 136. 
 Obstinacy, 193, 691. 
 Occultism, 231, 310, 566, 
 
 634- 
 
 Old age, 630. 
 Orators, 236. 
 Orderliness, 119, 121, 122, 
 
 276, 301. 
 
 Organic affection. 415. 
 Orientals, 331. 
 Ostentatious, 430. 
 
 P. 
 
 Pain, 602. 
 Palm, 108, 112, 113, 114, 
 
 "5- 
 
 Paradoxicalism, 119. 
 Passion, 292. 
 Perseverance, 282, 297. 
 Personal merit, 599, 623. 
 Phalanges, 146. 
 Philosophy, 158, 240, 318. 
 Physical attributes, in. 
 Pleasure, Pursuit of, 430, 
 
 648, 798. 
 Poetry, 121, 203, 583, 589, 
 
 806. 
 
 Political freedom, 285. 
 Politics, 158, 285, 685. 
 Positivism, 235. 
 Poverty, 532, 625. 
 Practical, 157, 351. 
 Presentiments, 783. 
 Presumption, 173. 
 Pride, 221. 
 Promptness, 248. 
 Prophecy, Gift of, 327. 
 Prosperity in arms, 717. 
 Protestantism, 280. 
 Public entertainers, 429. 
 Pugnacity, 141. 
 Punctuality, 121, 302. 
 
 Q. 
 
 Quarrelsome disposition 
 
 744-
 
 INDEX. 
 
 319 
 
 Quickness, 132, 413. 
 
 R. 
 
 Reason, 119, 120, 121, 134, 
 146, 185, 285, 317, 322, 
 
 574- 
 
 Reflection, 121. 
 Religion, 166, 223, 224, 
 
 335- 627. 
 Republican, 218. 
 Resolution, 271. 
 Restlessness, 173 , 701. 
 Riches, 239, 562, 618, 643, 
 
 734. 735. 746. 
 Roman Catholics, 280. 
 Romancists, 330. 
 Rou, 555. 
 Rudeness, 754. 
 
 S. 
 
 Sadness, 231, 441. 
 
 Sanguine, 412. 
 
 Saturn, Mount of, 405, 433, 
 440, 442 ; Aggressive- 
 ness, 449 ; Asceticism, 
 441 ; Bony fingers, 442 ; 
 Cross on, 435 ; Happy, 
 448 ; Hysteria, 448 ; Im- 
 modesty, 449 ; Individu- 
 alizing, 448 ; Logic, 449 ; 
 Marriage, 435; Remorse, 
 441 ; Single straight line, 
 444 ; Spot, 445 ; Worry, 
 446 ; with other Mounts, 
 448, 449. 
 
 Sceptics, 317. 
 
 Science, 121, 203, 244, 245. 
 
 Sculpture, 805. 
 
 Second sight, 636. 
 
 Secretiveness, 246. 
 
 Sedentary, 287. 
 
 Seduction, 789. 
 
 Self-centred, 440. 
 
 Self-control, 573. 
 
 Self-reliance, 202, 271, 582. 
 
 Selfishness, 113, 178, 347. 
 
 Sensitive, 154, 595. 
 
 Sensual, 113, 126,146, 221, 
 314, 315, 477. 
 
 Sentiment, 123. 
 
 Short life, 557. 
 
 Sickness, 635. 
 
 Signs, Corroboration of, 
 419. 
 
 . Singers, 162. 
 
 I Skin, 442. 
 
 i Social freedom, 319. 
 
 I Soldiers, 549. 
 
 r Somnambulist, 638. 
 
 Sophist, 589. 
 
 Sorrow, 602, 746, 776. 
 i Soul, 1 20, 329. 
 i Spiritualist, 331. 
 
 Spots, 415, 458, 436. 
 
 Sterility, 469, 547, 563, 720. 
 
 Strength of will, 571, 576, 
 694. 
 
 Stubbornness, 150. 
 
 Success, 433, 434, 584, 610, 
 614, 674, 723. 
 
 Sudden death, 529, 536, 
 557. 567. 576. 710. 
 
 Sudden heroism, 187. 
 
 Sudden wealth, 774. 
 
 Suicide, 231. 
 
 Superstition, 231, 696, 
 701. 
 
 Suspicious, 247. 
 
 Symmetry, 121. 
 I Sympathy, 333. 
 ! Synthesis, 133, 142. 
 
 T. 
 
 Tact, Want of, 582. 
 Tassel, 423. 
 Taste, 126. 
 Tenderness, 507. 
 Thief, 730, 795- 
 Thumb, 116, 165. 174, 176, 
 
 182, 200, 265, 272. 
 Tidiness, 159, 251. 
 Timidity, 580. 
 Toothache, 592. 
 Tranquil life, 766. 
 Treachery, 257, 560. 
 Truth, 225, 316, 317, 762. 
 Tyrants, 194. 
 
 U. 
 
 Uncertainty, 272. 
 i Unchastity, 434. 715, 728. 
 , Ungovernable passion, 194. 
 
 Unintelligence, 214. 
 
 Unreasonableness, 193, 
 
 559- 
 
 j Unremitting labour, 558. 
 I Unsuccessful, 564. 
 I Uprightness, 215, 726. 
 Useful, 297. 
 
 Uselessness, 569. 
 Utopian ideas, 325. 
 
 V. 
 
 Vanity, 248, 598, 771. 
 
 Venus, Mount of, 405, 439, 
 507 ; Absence of Mount, 
 512 ; Asthma, 521 ; 
 Beauty, Feminine form 
 of, 507 ; Gallantry, 507 ; 
 Good fortune, 516 ; 
 Happiness, 520 ; Liber- 
 ality, 520 ; Libertine, 
 515 ; Love, 516 ; Mar- 
 riage, 518 ; Tenderness, 
 
 507- 
 
 Versatility, 569. 
 Violent death, 539, 601 
 
 (see Death). 
 Virago, 252. 
 Vivacity, 632. 
 Voyages, 773. 
 
 W. 
 
 Want of logic, 189. 
 
 Want of principle, 249. 
 
 Weak constitution, 727. 
 
 Weak digestion, 633. 
 
 Weak head, 759. 
 
 Weak heart, 577. 
 
 Weak intellect, 169, 585. 
 
 Wealth, 235, 446, 614, 616, 
 658. 
 
 Well-regulated mind, 119, 
 121, 306. 
 
 Widowhood, 784. 
 
 Will, 182, 184. 
 
 Woman, 784, 798 ; Af- 
 fectionate, 363 ; Coquet- 
 tish, 358 ; Curious, 362 ; 
 English, 361 ; Fussy, 
 364 ; Haters, 560; Ideal- 
 istic, 368 ; Influence of, 
 661 ; Knotty fingers in. 
 
 355. 35 6 - 365; Love ' 
 357 ; Pleasure loving, 
 360 ; Punctuality, 364 ; 
 Sagacity, 357 ; Tyran- 
 nical, 365 ; Vivacious, 
 366. 
 
 Worry, 138, 504. 533, 622, 
 781. 
 
 Wounds, 405, 541, 565. 
 585. 59. 592. 596- 7 2 ' 
 673, 713.
 
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