SiGERSON — On Dextral Pre-eminence. 45 



place the left hand on the animal's neck, and the left foot in the 

 stirrup. If the converse were the case, such facts would he imme- 

 diately cited as illustrations of dextral predominance, and it would 

 be shown that the right extremities had (as the left really have) to 

 sustain and guide the ascending body, thi'ough different planes of 

 motion. The right leg simply assists, though it largely assists, espe- 

 cially as it gives the initial propulsion. 



When we consider, as in works of ancient or modern art, the posi- 

 tion of a warrior on horseback, with weapon in his right hand, one is 

 inclined at once to accept him as furnishing a marked instance of 

 dextral predominance. So, likewise, a pacific rider, where the whip 

 replaces the sword or spear. My mind was cleared to the true facts 

 very simply: testing, with a dynamometer, the comparative strength of 

 both hands in the case of a young gentleman, I found that his left was 

 somewhat the stronger ; and I asked him if he were not left-handed. 

 He replied that such was not the case at all, but that he was very fond 

 of hunting, which probably had strengthened the left hand. It imme- 

 diately became obvious that, in riding, the left is the preferential 

 hand ; it is in constant action holding the reins, guiding, sustaining, 

 or checking the horse. The right hand has usually but little to do, 

 and nothing requiring skill, in peace. In war scenes, the presence of 

 a weapon in the right hand diverts attention from the fact that the 

 rider's life depends also upon the vigilance and alertness of his left 

 hand — a fact recognised by the foe, who attempts to cut the reins. 

 The ship is then rudderless, though its guns be still firing. ~° 



Take, in this connexion, the case of a man who discharges a 

 musket. The right keeps the butt to the shoulder, and draws the 

 trigger ; but certainly the duty performed by the left of maintaining 

 the barrel steady and exact to aim, where the greatest precision is 

 required, is not the less important. If it be asserted that the position 

 of the gun is due to the predominance of the right eye, the nerve of 

 which comes from the left hemisphere, that is counterpoised by the 

 superior power of closing the left eye. The argument holds good, like- 

 wise, where the weapons were longbows or crossbows. Dr. Pye Smith 

 has thrown out the speculation that people are right-handed because 

 of the " survival of the fittest" : those who presented the left or 

 heart side to the foe being extirpated. But the conditions of such an 

 intense struggle for life, requiring a dense, quarrelsome population, 

 within a very limited area, cannot have existed at an early period of the 

 earth's history. Besides, one-half of the population must have escaped 



^0 It is perhaps this predominance of the left hand, in riding and driving, which 

 gave rise to the Eule of the Eoad, as quoted by Home Tooke : — 



" The Eule of the Eoad is a paradox quite : 

 In driving your carriage along, 

 If you go left, you are sure to go right ; 

 If you go right, you go wrong." 



