96 
lavater’s 
as equally denote a man’s chara£ler, his inclina 
nations, and fenfatlons. 
The Extremities. 
The extremities are divided into upper and low- 
er, right and left. 
The upper extremities comprehend the (houl- 
ders, arms, and hands. Their length is fuch as 
is formed by fuppofing them ftretched out with the 
palm of the hand turned towards the thigh, fo far 
as the fingers reach, or down to the middle of that 
limb : their bulk ought to be proportioned to the 
other parts of the body, when it is in good cafe ; 
and the whole contributes equally to fymmetry, 
with peculiarities ftriking us fo much the more fen- 
fibly, when we compare the gladiator, the grinder, 
and the blackfmith, with the idle man in the fiime 
attitude. 
The great difficulty of reprefenting properly thefe 
extremities proceeds from the different Torras of 
thofe hafts and hinges by which they are joined 
together. Hence arifes a difproportion of length 
and bulk between the bones and the flefliy fub- 
ftance ; as we may difeover from the ftudy of this 
particular fyftem. 
The hand is that part which conveys the greateft 
number of meanings, and performs fo many talks 
affigned to it, by colleding in itfelf the whole force 
of its adjoining parts, more or lefs, according to 
lituation , 
