RIGHTHANDEDNESS. 195 



tion of before. In the extreme case of the substitution of the foot for 

 the hand, I have myself seen a woman, born without hands, execute 

 elaborate pieces of scissor-work, and write not only with neatness, 

 but — to apply the term adapted to perfect handiwork, — with great 

 dexterity. 



But while such evidence shows a capacity of development of the 

 human foot for manipulative purposes, it very slightly affects the mani- 

 fest diversity of functions indicated in the separate movements of the 

 radius on the ulna, as contrasted with the fixity of the tibia and fibula ; 

 the distinction in form and action of the thumb and great toe ; and 

 the diverse articulations of the hand and foot in relation to the arm and 

 leg. The human hand, as an instrument of constructive ingenuity 

 and artistic skill, stands wholly apart from all the organs applied to the 

 production of analogous workmanship among the lower animals. Man 

 only, in any strict sense, is a manufacturer. Where the constructive 

 ingenuity of the lower animals brings them into comparison with him, 

 the arts of the instinctive weaver or builder owe none of their approxi- 

 mation to human workmanship to the development of an organ of 

 manipulation. 



Nevertheless, though the Quadrumana claim no place among the 

 instinctive architects, weavers, or spinners, their hands place them in 

 some respects at a decided advantage over other mammals. Imperfect 

 as they are, and unfitted for the delicate operations in which man's 

 hand executes the conceptions of his 'mind, they sufl&ce for all the 

 limited requirements of the forest-dweller. In climbing trees, as in 

 seizing a small stick, or any other object which he can grasp, the 

 monkey uses the thumb and finger as man does. It thus accomplishes 

 all needful manipulations in the search for food : gathering and shelling 

 nuts or pods, opening shell-fish, tearing off the rind of fruit, or pulling 

 up roots. In picking out thorns or burs from its own fur, or in the 

 favourite occupation of hunting for each other's parasites, the monkey 

 uses the finger and thumb ; and in many other operations, performs 

 with the hand, what is executed by the quadruped or bird less effec- 

 tually by means of the mouth or bill. 



At first sight, we might be tempted to assume that the four-handed 

 mammal had the advantage of us; as there are certainly many occasions 

 when an extra hand could be turned to useful account. But not only 

 do man's two hands prove greatly more serviceable for all the higher 

 purposes of manipulation than the four hands of the ape ; but as he 



