Z-t), 



THE ZOOLOGIST. 



THIRD SERIES. 



Vol. VIII.] AUGUST, 1884. [No. 92. 



HANDS AND FEET-* 

 By Professor St. George Mivart, F.R.S. 



A MAN is proverbially wanting in wit who cannot tell "a hand 

 from a foot." Yet I would wager that not a few persons would be 

 very much puzzled if they were suddenly called upon to say why 

 they distinguish between "hands" and "feet," and what they 

 really mean by those two monosyllables. 



Each of the two words is used in more than one sense. We 

 have most of us heard the exj)ressions "a hand of pork;" "a 

 hand at cards " ; "the foot of a wine-glass " ; "the foot of a moun- 

 tain." The words are used in various analytical meanings, but 

 the foundation of the analogy lies in the human hand and the 

 human foot. With these, then, we must begin. 



But every object whatever may be considered in a variety of 

 different ways, according as we direct our minds along one or 

 another line of thought. As, for example, a photograph of the 

 Queen may be regarded as to its degree of likeness to Her 

 Majesty, as a good or bad photograph technically, as a sign of 

 royalty, as a material substance, as an object of a certain price, 

 and in fifty other ways. 



Every such object, however, as a man's hand or foot, has to 

 be regarded from two special points of view, and such is the case 

 with every organ of every living creature, whether animal or 

 plant. Every such object has to be considered (1) as to its form 



* An abstract of one of the " Davis Lectures," delivered at the Zoological 

 Gardens, June 12th, 1884. 



ZOOLOGIST.— AUGUST, 1884. 2 



