PALMISTRY 



727 



Hist. Aiumalium Aristotle observes (i. 15) that 

 long-lived persons have one or two lines which 

 extend through the whole hand ; short lived per- 

 sons have two lines not extending through the whole 

 hand. Other references to this subject occur in the 

 doubtful works, the Probleiiuita and the Physiog- 

 nomika, attributed to him. Pliny, too, in his 

 Natural History (xL 114) directly asserts that 

 Aristotle regarded numerous broken lines in the 

 palm of the hand as a prognostic of short life. 



Of the cultivation of palmistry among the Romans 

 there is little evidence ; but Juvenal, in showing 

 up the curiosity of women and their love of prying 

 into forbidden mysteries, describes the woman of 

 fashion as consulting eagerly Chaldean astrologers 

 and other diviners, while the middle-class woman 

 'frontemque manumque pni/bebit vati ' (Sat. vi. 

 581 ). In the 2d century Artemidorus of Ephesus, 

 the author of a work on the interpretation of 

 dreams, is said to have devoted a whole treatise 

 to the subject, which, however, is not extant. 



In writers of the middle ages there is much 

 reference to the subject, and the names of Para- 

 celsus, Albertus .Magnus, and Cardanus have been 

 associated with it. But the most important work 

 on chiromancy belonging to this period seems to 

 be Die Kunst Ciromantia, of Johann Hartlieb, 

 which was printed at Augsburg in 1475. In the 

 16th century we find several treatises on the sub- 

 ject, of which the most important seem to l>e those 

 of Johann. Indagine, and of Barthelemy Cocles ' de 

 Bouloigne,' doctor of natural philosophy and of 

 medicine. The former has been Englished by Fabian 

 Wither ( London, IGol ). In the end of the 18th cen- 

 tury palmistry found an important exponent in the 

 celebrated Marie Anne Leiioniiand (1772-1843), 

 who in her Souvenirs Proithitirjaes d'une Sibylte 

 (1*14) foretold the downfall of Napoleon. The 

 chief authorities on palmistry in recent times are 

 two Frenchmen M. le Capitaine D'Arpentigny, 

 and M. Adrien Desbarrolles ; and it is on their 

 works that modern English books on the subject 

 are chiefly founded. D'Arpentigny has expounded 

 principally cliirognomy, or that branch of the 

 interpretative science of the hand which treats of 

 the general form of the hand and lingers. The 

 observation of the fingers and joints of the hand is 

 quite as important to the chiromant as tl>it of the 

 palm itself ; but we must refer for D'Arpentigny's 

 system to the works cited below. The thumb is 

 generally regarded as chirognomically the most 

 important part of the hand. The first, or upper 

 phalange of the thumb, when well developed, shows 

 the presence of will anil decision of character ; the 

 second, according to its development, indicates 

 more or less logical power (see A and 15 in diagram). 

 What lias to be considered by the chiromant proper 

 K the 'mounts' of the hand, with the marks on 

 them, and the lines in the palm. The 'mounts' 

 are the elevations at the base of the fingers and 

 thumb and in the ' percussion ' of the hand i.e. the 

 side of the palm which extends from the root of the 

 little finger to the wrist : it is so called because it 

 is used in striking. They are seven in number, and 

 are named from the planets, by the signs of which 

 they are also known viz. $ for Venus, 2f f r 

 .Inpiter, ft for Saturn, O Apollo, Mercury, A 

 Mars, j the Moon (see diagram). When well 

 developed the mounts indicate the possession of 

 the quality associated with the respective planets 

 e.g. Jupiter developed denotes pride and ambition ; 

 Saturn, fatality ; Apollo, art or riches ; Mercury, 

 science or wit ; Mars, courage or cruelty ; Venus, 

 love and melody ; the Moon, folly or imagination. 

 But the effect of a greatly developed mount may lie 

 modified by the lines in flic palm nr by other signs. 



There are four principal lines viz. the line of 

 ife, which surrounds the thumb, and which, if long, 



indicates a long life ; the line of head, the line of 

 heart, and the rascette or the bracelets. These 

 last (the bracelets), if well marked, strengthen the 

 effect of the line of life, each bracelet indicating 

 thirty years of life. The line of heart (the linea 

 mensalis of ancient chiromancy ), if long, clear cut, 

 and well coloured, denotes an affectionate and de- 

 voted character ; and the nearer the line stretches 

 to Jupiter the better the character. If the line 

 end in a fork, so much the better. In actors and 

 mimics this line ascends the mount of Mercury. 



A, will ; B, lopic : C, mount of Venus ; D, mount of Jupiter ; 

 E, mount of Saturn ; F, mount of Ai>ol,o ; 0, mount of Mer- 

 cury ; H, mount of Mars ; I, mount nf tlie Moon ; K, the 

 rasi'ette ; o, a, line of life ; ti, I, line of head ; c, c, line of 

 lieart; d. d, line of Saturn or fate; e, e, line of liver or 

 liealth ; /, / line of Apollo or fortune ; g, g, the girdle of 

 Venus ; R, the quadrangle ; m, m, in, bracelets of life. 



A good line of head i.e. a clear-cut, long, unbroken 

 line indicates the presence of superior intellectual 

 qualities. If the line stretch to the mount of the 

 Moon, it indicates imagination. A winding head- 

 line shows folly and indecision of character ; a 

 linked line (like a chain) denotes want of con- 

 centration. The other lines (which are not present 

 in all hands) are the line of Saturn or fate (cl, d), 

 the line of Apollo (/,/), the line of liver or health 

 ( e, e ), and the line of Venus ( g, g ). A long, clear-cut 

 line of Saturn (see diagram) foretells a happy and 

 prosperous life, breaks or windings in the line fore- 

 tell misfortunes or obstacles ; a good line of Apollo 

 shows that its owner will be successful in art ; a 

 good liver-line promises a long and healthy life ; 

 while the Venus line (Cinffufum Veiteris), when 

 present, indicates a character very liable to be 

 influenced by the passion of love. Marks on the 

 innuiits or lines, such as stars, crosses, &c., have 

 their respective significations. A good open space 

 between the lines of head and heart (the quad- 

 rangle ) indicates a generous and noble disposition, 

 while a very narrow space in the quadrangle is 

 a sign of avarice and egotism. 



The best handbooks are S. D'Arpentigny, La Chirofl- 

 nrnnie ( Paris, 1843) ; A. Desbarrolles, Lei tlyittra dc la 

 Main (1859), and his Bfvftatiotu Complies ( 1S74 ) ; Beam- 

 ish, The Ptyehnnomy of the Haiid(1SCt5); A. R. Craig, The 

 Rook of the Hand (1867) ; H. Frith and E. Heron Allen, 

 Chiromancy, or the Science of Palmistry ( 1883 ) ; Heron 



