96 JEROME CARDAN. 



all that lie found written upon Cheiromancy, and his 

 treatise on the subject is no more than a dull abstract of 

 his studies. He gives, for example, a woodcut-picture of 

 an outspread hand, with the name of eacli part inscribed 

 on it, according to the Cheiromantic nomenclature. Above 

 the joint of the hand at the wrist there is the carpus 1 . 

 The side of the hand against which the thumb rests is 

 the thenar. The other side, between the little finger and 

 the wrist, is called the hypothenar. . The ball of the 

 thumb is entitled stethos. The joints of each finger from 

 the hand upwards are called procondyle, condyle, and 

 metacondyle. Then there is assigned to each finger a 

 planet, Cheiromancy being, in fact, a sister science with 

 Astrology. The thumb and stethos belong to Mars : on 

 them we read of violence or strength, of fire or hostile ac- 

 cidents in life ; there also we read of rough attachments, 

 similar to that which inclined Mars to Venus. It is a 

 curious fact to note how intimately a belief in the old 

 heathen mythology was blended with those pseudo- 

 sciences, astrology and cheiromancy, and in that form 

 could be fostered even by grave Christians and dignitaries 

 of the Church of Rome. The index finger belongs to 

 Jove: upon it we read of priesthood, honours, magis- 

 tracy. Middle fingers are all subject to Saturn : Saturn 

 writes on them dark hints of prisons, fevers, poisons, fear, 

 1 De Ker, Variet, pp, 558564, 



