THE HAND AS AN UNRULY MEMBER. 635 
And to do this was by no means my object, but sim- 
ply to give an idea of the trouble which has been given 
philosophical anatomists by the hand; for, as has been 
shown, the hand suggests an idea of parallelism which it 
is very difficult to overlook, so that the majority of those 
who have treated this subject, have made more or less in- 
genious attempts to apply the same principle to the upper 
portions of the limbs. 
These various attempts have been briefly, though I 
think fairly stated. What seem to me their fallacies have 
been brought more prominently into view and criticised 
as severely as possible, partly on the abstract ground that 
a great step in our investigation of truth is the full recog- 
nition and rejection of error; and partly, in accordance 
with the purpose of this paper, to show what strange and 
_ widely diverse opinions have been entertained by those 
who have regarded the Hand in its ordinary position, and 
with the common estimation of its value. 
The space allotted to me will permit only the briefest 
presentation of the grounds upon which is based the other 
view,.that, namely, of a symmetrical or antagonistic rela- 
tion between the fore and hind limbs; the principal point 
is, that instead of beginning with the hand, and forcing 
the rest of the limb to conform to it, we should re- 
cognize that the hand is a peripheral organ and subject 
to variation ;* and that its morphological value is by no 
means equal to its teleological or functional value; and 
that, finally, the attitude whic it has in most animals is 
Soc. Nat. Hist., Vol. I. No.1; On a Cat with 
-N istory, hee ay 16 6,1 
Hand (Abstract of a paper read before => D S 
T aot know. gnized n ratio heh rn the s 
cea greeter ate Baraliclists to t to the ides of symmetry 
stic relation ximal segments of paran, 1 
‘have prevented most of the Oppositists from carrying ou at this id beyond 
