198 RIGHTHANDEDNESS. 



far it is general, or only exceptional, has yet to be determined by 

 observation; but that action equivalent to rigbthandedness can be 

 taugbt such animals as the dog, horse, or elephant, easily enough, is 

 too obvious to be dwelt upon. I have found no difficulty in teaching 

 a favourite dog to give the right paw when asked, and readily to dis- 

 criminate between it and the left. But if the assumed universality, or 

 general prevalence of rigbthandedness, is to be ascribed to organic 

 structure, consequent on the disposition of the arteries, the heart, &c., 

 then traces of the same ought to be common in the lower animals, and 

 manifested among all savages. If, on the contrary, it is solely acquired, 

 as a habit engendered by the frequent occasions in which man has to 

 use the limbs of the two sides independently, and to give the prefer- 

 ence uniformly to one or other in combined action, then it is scarcely 

 conceivable that all nations, ancient and modern, savage and civilized, 

 should be found, undesignedly, and without concert, selecting the 

 limbs of the same side. But in this, as in so many other enquiries, 

 the premises have been more or less taken for granted. Professor 

 Buchanan, in his " Mechanical Theory of the Predominance of the 

 Eight Hand over the Left," starts with this assumption : " The use of 

 the right hand in preference to the left must be regarded as a general 

 characteristic of the family of man. There is no nation, race or tribe 

 of men on the face of the earth at the present day, among whom this 

 preference does not obtain; while, in former times, it is shown to 

 have existed, both by historical documents and by the still more 

 ancient and authentic testimony of certain words, phrases, and modes 

 of speaking, which* are, I believe, to be found in every spoken lan- 

 guage." This assumes much which is probably true, but of which, 

 thus far, we have no proof. 



It is a piece of inconsequential reasoning to infer from the preference 

 for one hand over another, of which the evidence is abundant in many 

 languages, ancient and modern, that therefore the choice has invariably 

 been of the same hand. This is, in many cases, a mere inference. 

 We may legitimately enough translate the terms applied to the favourite 

 hand by that of riglit hand, without thereby assuming that it invariably 

 pertained to the same side. Manifestly in the sense of dexterity, right- 

 handedness would be everywhere assigned to the side preferred by com- 

 mon consent or usage. Practically, the most useful member of the 

 left-handed man is Ms " right hand," though it be on what is styled 

 by the majority the left side, and uo one would regard it as a misap- 



