

PALMERSTON 



4464 



PALMISTRY 



higan, and taught successively at Lake 

 Q rr , . Ottawa. 111., and East Saginaw. 



ii., before her appointment in 1879 to the 

 ry at Wellesley College. Two 

 de acting president of 

 ition, and in 1882 was formal! 



, lu-y. In 1S87 she was 



married to George Herbert Palmer, professor 

 of philosophy at Harvard University, and re- 

 r position, though she did not give up 

 ,-tive interest in ducational work. When 

 the University of Chicago was organized in 1892 

 ' ^resident dean of women. 

 The chime- in Mandel Tower at that institu- 

 tion wi-re installed in her honor by her husband. 

 PALMERSTON, pahm'crstun, HENRY JOHN 

 Tr.Mi'i.K. Viscount (1784-1865), an English 

 a, one of the most prominent figures 

 in the history of his country in the middle 

 nineteenth century. He was born in Hamp- 

 shire, educated at Harrow and at the University 

 of Edinburgh, and entered Parliament in 1807. 

 Two years later he became secretary of war, 

 and this office he held until 1828, through six 

 administrations. In 1830 he accepted the post 

 of secretary of state for foreign affairs in Earl 

 Grey's cabinet, and this he filled, except for a 

 brief interval, for eleven years. Intensely in- 

 terested as he was in making England respected 

 abroad, he found plenty to occupy his attention 

 both in Western Europe and in the Far East, 

 and established himself in the judgment of 

 continental statesmen as the foremost man of 



: md. His aggressive policy in the East re- 

 sulted in the Opium. War. 



From 1841 to 1846 Palmerston was out of 

 office, but with the return of the Whigs to 

 power he again became foreign secretary. His 

 openly expressed approval of Louis Napoleon's 

 act in declaring himself emperor of France led 

 to his dismissal from the cabinet in 1851, but 

 in the new ministry formed the next year he 

 became home secretary. Three years later, 

 when the Earl of Aberdeen's administration 

 proved unable to cope with the Crimean War. 

 Palmerston was made Premier and brought the 

 war to a successful conclusion. A vote of cen- 

 sure for his action in regard to the difficulties 

 in China led to his resignation in 1857, and al- 

 though an appeal to the people returned him to 

 power, he was again defeated in 1858. In the 

 next year he again became Prime Minister, and 

 continued in the office until his death. 



During the American War of Secession he 

 favored a policy of neutrality, though his sym- 

 pathies were rather with the South. 



Throughout his long period in office Palmer- 

 ston was extremely popular. This was due in 

 part to his personal charm, but largely to the 

 that he upheld England and English dig- 

 nity in the eyes of the world. 



PALMETTO, pal met' o, the name applied to 

 :al kinds of fan-leaved palm trees, the best 

 known being the cabbage palm. South Caro- 

 lina has a picture of this tree on its coat of 

 arms, and is sometimes called the Palnuttn 

 State (see SOUTH CAROLINA). Among other 

 species are the ilirarf, blue, and saw palmettos. 

 which are found in low regions along the United 

 1 es coast, particularly in the southeastern 

 part of the country, and in the West Indies. 

 Some of these trees grow to a height of fifty 

 feet, but the dwarf, as its name suggests, is low 

 and stemless. Piers and wharves are made 

 from the durable wood of the cabbage palm. 

 and its fibrous, leaves are made into hats, bas- 

 kets and fans. See PALM; CABBAGE PALM. 



PALMISTRY, pahm'istri, the alleged art of 

 reading character and personal fortune from 

 the relations of the lines and creases and form 

 of the palm. The history of the notion is un- 

 certain; it was developed in connection with 

 the ambitious and uncritical pursuits of the 

 Middle Ages, which attained their most elab- 

 orate development toward the end of the six- 

 teenth century. Its motive is akin to the read- 

 ing of signs of personal fortune which runs 

 through ancient practices; it forms a conspicu- 

 ous example of the pseudo-sciences. 



At the end of the eighteenth century a palm- 

 ist foretold the downfall of Napoleon, and the 

 ancient practice took a renewed hold on the 

 credulous, because of the greatness of the 

 French emperor, the havoc wrought by his wars 

 and the ultimate fulfilment of the prophecy. 

 Believers in palmistry did not admit that the 

 palmist might have been merely a shrewd 

 guesser; he had foretold a momentous event, 

 and the credit was given to this so-called 

 science. To-day belief in it is on the decn 

 but considerable interest yet centers around the 

 practice. The theory on which it is developed 

 may be briefly stated: 



In palmistry the mounts of the hand and the 

 lines in the palm are made to tell the story of 

 individual destiny. The mounts are the eleva- 

 tions at the base of the fingers and thumb and 

 in the palm from the little finger to the wrist. 

 They are named for the planets, and are seven 

 in number (see diagram). When well devel- 

 oped, the mounts indicate the possession of the 

 quality associated with the respective planets. 



