Why the Majority of Men are Bight-Handed 427 



THOUGHTS AND FACTS ON RIGHT AND LEFT- 



HANDEDNESS AND AN ATTEMPT TO 



EXPLAIN WHY THE MAJORITY 



OF MEN ARE RIGHT-HANDED. 



*By G. Prout Girdwood, M.D., M.R.C.S. (Eng.), F.C.S., 

 F.I.C., F.R.O.S., Emeritus Professor in Chemistry- 

 Medical Faculty of McGill University, late 

 Assistant Surgeon Grenadier Guards. 



That the average man is right-handed is so well known, 

 that it would appear hardly worth noting the fact, but 

 left-handed men are so common that the question why 

 are all men not right-handed must frequently have been 

 asked, and up to the present date diligent search and 

 enquiry by the writer has not resulted in finding that 

 anyone has published a satisfactory reply; this is the 

 excuse for bringing the subject before you again. 



In the proceedings of this society are two able and 

 exhaustive articles upon right-handedness, by the late 

 Sir Daniel "Wilson. 



In Section II, paper VII, page 119, Vol. No. 3, 1885, 

 Sir Daniel writes on "Paleolithic Dexterity." In this 

 beautiful and interesting article, he goes over all the 

 evidence of the stone implements of the paleolithic age 

 and of the stone arrow heads and tools, knives and 

 daggers, and the articles he has been able to obtain or 

 reach an account of, and although finding some places 

 where there seems to have been a larger number of left- 



* Read before the Royal Society of Canada, May 26th 

 1908, and now reprinted by permission in the "Record cf 

 Science." 



