44 THE HUMAN BODY. 



their application those of the arm. The radius and ulna 

 may be placed in contact with the humerus by flexion, and 

 again the radius turns on its own axis, without either the 

 ulna or the humerus taking part in this movement, which is 

 called pronation or supination, according as the palm of the 

 hand is turned outward or inward. 



But what renders the thoracic limb a perfect organ, that 

 which explains the variety and extent of its movements, and 

 which gives them all their value, is the hand ; that admirable 

 instrument which in its perfection belongs only to the human 

 race. 



The hand is elegant and beautiful in form. Its isolation, 

 its contour defined without stiffness the delicacy of its 

 mould, the mobility of its different parts, and the variety in 

 their tints, make of it a being by itself in the human body, 

 and give it an expression and a physiognomy. Completely 

 developed even in infancy, it presents a most attractive 

 model and an inexhaustible subject of study to the artist. 

 Its structure has led many philosophers to think that it is to 

 it alone that man owes his superiority to the animals, and to 

 attribute to it the greatest influence over the intellectual 

 faculties. But the study of man shows that we must reverse 

 this proposition. The hand is only the instrument of the 

 intellect, the perfection of the one is necessarily dependent 

 upon that of the other, and the hand of man, like every 

 other part of his being, has no equal in the animal kingdom. 



As for seeing in the greater or less perfection of the hand 

 a sign of the degree of intelligence, and carrying it so far as 

 to distinguish between the hand of a man of talent and 

 genius, and that of a fool or a man of moderate ability this 

 is a theory which, speciously presented, might perhaps be 

 entertained as a subject having curious aspects, but on no 

 other ground. In short, if the hand of the idiot is alike 

 badly developed with the brain if we believe that an arrested 

 development of the fingers, or the presence of supernumerary 

 ones, are signs of degeneration in the race are we to con- 

 clude that perfection of the thoracic limbs is the rule, as has 

 been said, in men of eminence? We need not go so far 

 back as Esop for an example of a great mind in a deformed 



