CHAPTER IX. 



THE ANGLER AND AMBIDEXTERITY. 



^T has always been an enigma to me why, having been 

 endowed by Providence with two hands, we should know- 

 ingly and deliberately minimise the boon All ranks and 

 conditions of men, be their occupations what they may, 

 are affected. The nerves, sinews, and powers of our left 

 hands are equally as efficient and valuable as those of our 

 right hands ; or, more strictly speaking, would be so if 

 we only gave them half a chance. Who has not experienced 

 the difficulty of folding a tie, tying a knot, or even buttoning 

 a collar or a boot, &c, when the right hand has been tem- 

 porarily incapacitated ? And who, except the ambidextrous man, would 

 be bold enough to shave himself entirely with the left hand ? Injure 

 a man's right hand, and you render him practically useless. Of all 

 the arts, music alone trains both hands equally ; in some trades, such 

 as cotton weaving, spinning, &c, the left hands do their proper share 

 of the work. 



Consider for a moment the amount of wastage there is in manual 

 work alone through this premeditated reduction of effective power ! We 

 seem to be content, apparently, to halve our powers, and this for no 

 useful purpose whatever. The very children, who naturally would be 

 ambidextrous, are chidden and checked by their parents if, following a 

 natural instinct, they take up a pencil or a spoon in their left hands ; 

 and so on through their school days, and even after, each and every 



G 2 



