SiGERSON — On Dextral Pre-eminence. 39 



examination of the casts contained in our National Gallery shows 

 that, in peace, the left hand carries, whilst the right is extended; 

 in war scenes, the left grasps the bow, whilst the right draws the 

 cord. 



If a law existed so absolute and -universal as would appear from 

 these indications, it would be almost impossible to resist the idea that 

 it was the inevitable expression of structural peculiarities, and that 

 nothing more remained to be said. But this is not the case. In the 

 same Sanskrit work to which I have referred, it is shown that ablu- 

 tion might be made with the pure part of the hand, consecrated to the 

 Yeda (at the root of the thumb), or to the Creator (at the root of the 

 little finger), or to the gods (the tips of the fingers) ; but never with 

 that part named from the Pitris, or Manes, which is between the 

 thumb and the index.'' Hence there were auspicious and inauspicious 

 parts in the same hand. Again, a Dwidja, or Eegenerate, invested 

 with the sacred cord, receives one name, Upaviti, when his right 

 hand is raised (and the sacred cord or his garment is attached to the 

 left shoulder, and passes under the right) ; he is given another appel- 

 lation, Pratchinaviti, when his left hand is raised (and the cord, fixed 

 on the right shoulder, passes under the left) ; he obtains a third, 

 !Niviti, when the cord is attached to his neck.'' These are evidently 

 grades of honour, and here the left seems dignified above the right. 

 The Greeks, again, had two words for left — one, crKaios, radically 

 evi] -meaning ; but the other, dpicrrepos, appears to have a not un- 

 favourable origin, since apicrreta meant valour. Sinister, in Latin, 

 has bequeathed its bad repute, yet it was sometimes used in an auspi- 

 cious sense: " Xiqiitdo exeoforas, Ausptcto, avi sinistra.^ But l<^vus 

 appears with better associations {Icevo, I polish, smoothen), and not 

 unfrequently signifies favourable, e. g. : " iSi que?n JVumina Iceva 

 sinunt auditque vocatus A^jollo " (Virgil). It has been stated that this 

 auspicious signification arose from the fact that in augury the augurs 

 stood facing the south, and the left, being towards the rising sun, was 

 consequently favourable. But this does not lessen the value of the 

 fact. In the ancient Irish — which peculiarly deserves citation since it 

 escaped the Latin influence — the word -oeAf, signifying the right, 

 means also the south, and beautiful ; behind and west are synonyms ; 

 cuAi-o means the north, and cuac the left ; whilst ciauati and ciocog 

 mean the left hand, but not the north. ciocac, left-handed, is 

 sometimes interpreted as awkward. But, again, ciacac signifies 

 graceful, and the designation of a distinguished chief, " Coll- 

 kitto,"^ was no imputation of awkwardness. A left-handed blow 



6 B. ii. 58, 59. ^ B. ii. 63. a Plaut. 1:2nd. ii. 2, 1. 



^ Cf. Cassius ScEeva, Mucins Scajvola. The Eev. Dr. Haughton has called 

 my attention to the left-handed slingers of the tribe of Benjamin. In Judges xx. 

 15, 16, some statistics are given, for it stated that of the 26,700 Benjamite 

 swordsmen, there were 700 chosen men left-handed, every one of whom could 

 sling stones at a hair and not miss. Again, Judges iii. 15, et seq., Elud, the Ben- 



