Penny Magazine

No. 227 - THE PENNY MAGAZINE - Oct. 17, 1835

THE RIGHT HAND AND THE LEFT HAND.

IT is a curious and not unprofitable question, whether the preference so generally given to the right hand as an instrument of action be a dictate of nature or merely an acquired habit? Men of great eminence have held different opinions on the subject. Sir Thomas Brown, who enters largely into the matter, on which as a physician he was well qualified to form an opinion, speaks with some hesitation, but ultimately decides that the left hand has as good a claim to preference as the right; and Dr. Franklin afterwards contended for the equal claims of both hands. But Sir Charles Bell, in his recent 'Bridgewater Treatise on the Hand,' determines that the right hand has a just and natural claim to the preference it receives; and this opinion will probably be generally considered as setting the question finally at rest. The object of the present article is to take such a retrospective view of the discussion as will enable us to include the principal facts and arguments, against and for the prior claims of the right hand over the left.

In considering this subject, the universal consent of all nations in the preference of the right hand seems to us to furnish a strong, perhaps an unanswerable, argument for the natural claims of that member. It is difficult to believe that nations, the most distant in point of time, the most remote in place, and the most unlike in their modes of life, should all concur in this point, if there were no dictate of nature for its foundation. Although the Chinese and some other oriental nations regard the left hand as the place of honour in their code of ceremonies, yet there is no nation which, as a nation, uses the left hand for practical purposes in preference to the right.

Sir Thomas Brown does not overlook this objection or seek to weaken its force. With a remarkable degree of candour, not unusual with him, he ransacks the world for instances which bear against the doctrine he desires to establish, and then, quietly remarking that "notwithstanding, in submission to future information," he is "unsatisfied unto great dubitation," applies himself to establish his own position.

The first argument by which he supports his doubt is from analogy; and it is an exceedingly weak one. He says, that if it were true that he right side is the most powerful in the human being, we might expect to find it the same in other animals. Yet, he says, we do not find that horses, bulls, or mules are generally stronger on the right side: and as for animals whose forelegs seem in some measure to supply the use of arms, they exhibit, if not an equality in both, a rather more frequent preference for the left than for the right, as instanced in squirrels, apes, and monkeys. The same is also observable in parrots, who more commonly feed themselves with the left leg than with the right. To all this it might be answered that the peculiar destination of man in the creation required in this, as in other instances, a peculiar adaptation not necessary to other animals, and therefore not extended to them. Besides which, the use of the left leg for feeding may be caused by the employment of the right for climbing or holding on, which would seem to imply greater strength in the right.

Sir Thomas Brown next states his impression, that the preference of the right hand is merely a matter of education in childhood, and that children, if untaught through imitation, would generally acquire an equal facility of using both hands, or would use indifferently the right or left. This opinion was not new, for Sir Thomas quotes Aristotle in support of it. But although disposed of contend that if children were left to themselves left-handed persons would be about as common as right-handed persons, he does not deny that it is best that all men should equally apply themselves to the constant use of one hand, "for there would otherwise arise anomalous differences in manual action, not only in civil and artificial, but also, in military affairs, and the several action of war." This is an important admission, which may lead us to conclude that this useful object was expressly intended and provided for, instead of being left to the accidents of education. We believe it has been so; and that, although left-handed persons would certainly be more numerous if children were not subject to some control, their number would not be nearly so great as Sir Thomas imagined. The opinion that the preference given to the right hand is an acquired habit has been much extended since Dr. Franklin wrote his popular paper on the subject, and we find it entertained by many who do not think it necessary to act on his suggestions. We lately conversed with a friend of the subject, and found that he was quite of this opinion; yet when his experience was appealed to, he admitted that among his six children there was only one who had required any interference to prevent him from using the left hand rather than the right.

We can afford no more space to the learned physician's considerations on the subject, but proceed at once to Dr. Franklin, who, personating the left hand, addressed an ingenious epistle to the 'American Museum,' which has had a good deal of influence upon the popular opinion on this question. The left hand is made to contend that she is entitled to equal consideration with the right hand, and ought to be equally instructed, in order that if anything should happen to her sister (the right hand) she might be as competent for useful employment as the right hand could be if deprived of the assistance of the left hand. She is made to say,--

"There are two sisters of us, and the two eyes of man do not resemble, nor are capable of being on better terms with each other, than my sister and myself, were it not from the partiality of our parents, who make the most injurious distinctions between us. From my infancy I have been led to consider my sister as a being of more elevated rank. I was suffered to grow up without the least instruction, while nothing was spared in her education. She had masters to teach her writing, music, drawing, and other accomplishments; but if by chance I touched a pencil, a pen, or a needle, I was bitterly rebuked, and more than once I have been beaten for being awkward, and wanting a graceful manner. It is true that my sister associated me with her on some occasions, but she always made a point of taking the lead, calling upon me only from necessity or to figure by he side.

We now come to Sir Charles Bell, whose remarks on this subject would be so much impaired by any abstract or modification, that we give them in full without comment or alteration:-

"In the conveniences of life, and to make us prompt and dexterous, it is pretty evident that there ought to be no hesitation which hand is to be used, or which foot is to be put forward. Is this taught, or have we this readiness given to us by Nature? It must be observed, at the same time, that there is a distinction on the whole right side of the body, and that the left side is not only the weaker in regard to muscular strength, but also in its vital or constitutional properties. The development of the organs of action and motion is greatest upon the right side, as may at any time be ascertained by measurement, or the testimony of the tailor or shoemaker. Certainly this superiority may be said to result from the more frequent exertion of the right hand, but the peculiarity extends to the constitution also, and disease attacks the left extremities more frequently than the right. In opera-dancers we may see that the most difficult feats are performed by the right foot. But their preparatory exercises better evince the natural weakness of the left limb, since these performers are made to give double practice to this limb in order to avoid awkwardness in public exhibitions; for if these exercises be neglected, an ungraceful preference will be given to the right side. In walking behind a person, it is very seldom we see an equalized motion; and if we look to the left foot, we shall find that the tread is not so firm upon it, and that the toe is not so much turned out as in the right, and that a greater push is made with it.

"From the peculiar form of woman, and from the elasticity of her step, resulting more from the motion of the ancle than of the haunches, the defect of the left foot, when it exists, it more apparent in her gait. No boy hops upon the left foot unless he be left-handed. The horseman puts the left foot in the stirrup and springs with the right. We think we may conclude that everything being adapted, in the conveniences of life, to the right hand, as, for example, the direction of the worm of the screw, or of the cutting end of the auger, is not arbitrary, but is related to a natural endowment of the body. He who is left-handed is most sensible to the advantages of this adaptation, from the opening of the parlour-door to the opening of a penknife.

"On the whole, the preference of the right hand is not the effect of habit, but a natural provision, and is bestowed for a very obvious purpose; and the property does not depend upon the peculiar distribution of the arteries of the arm, but is given to the right foot as well as hand."

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