EIGHTHANDEDNESS. 205 



and left hand, I found the difference did not amount to two to one. In 

 one case I noted 137 carry the burden on the left shoulder to 81 on the 

 right; in another case 76 to 45; and in the case of loading cord-wood, 

 where the natural action of the right hand is to place the burden on 

 the left shoulder, and where, therefore, the use of the right shoulder 

 implies that of the left hand, the numbers were 65 using the left shoul- 

 der and 36 the right. Here, therefore, a practical test of a very simple 

 yet reliable kind, fails to confirm the idea of any such mechanical cause 

 inherent in the constitution of the human frame, tending to a uniform 

 exertion of the right side and the passive employment of the left, in all 

 muscular action. 



But the unsatisfactory nature of this theory as a solution of right- 

 handedness is placed beyond doubt, when it is applied to cases of devia- 

 tion from the normal action which is assumed to result from it, and to 

 render right-handedness a mechanical necessity. Many instances of 

 left-handedness Dr. Buchanan considers to be probably " merely cases 

 of ambidextrousness, when the habit of using the left side, in whatever 

 way begun, has given to the muscles of that side such a degree of 

 development as enables them to compete with the muscles of the right 

 side, in spite of the mechanical disadvantages under which they labour;" 

 but he affirms, "there is an awkwardness in the muscular efforts of 

 such men, which seems to indicate a struggle against nature." But for 

 those indisputable cases of '' men who unquestionably use their left 

 limbs with all the facility and efficiency with which other men use their 

 right," he is compelled either to resort to the gratuitous assumption of 

 "malformations and pathological lesions in early life, diseases of the 

 right lung, contraction of the chest from pleurisy, enlargement of the 

 spleen, distortions of the spine," &c. ; or a complete reversal of the 

 whole internal organic structure. There are men, he says, enjoying 

 perfect health, " in whom the position of all the thoracic and abdominal 

 viscera is reversed : there are three lobes of the left lung, and only two 

 of the right; the liver is on the left side, and the heart on the right." 

 But where such is the case, though it may escape observation, it is 

 readily ascertainable during life. Any one can tell on which side his 

 heart lies. I have long been accustomed to take note of left-handedness, 

 and have never known a case where it could be accounted for in this 

 way; while cases of ascertained transposition of tlie viscera are on 

 record without any corresponding left-handedness. Professor Hjrtl, 

 while referring to such abnormal organization as one of its causes, docs 



