ETHNOLOGY OF THE BEARD.

The Mongolian, Malayan, and aboriginal American races have but little beard; the Caucasians are a well-bearded people, their sub-races differing considerably, however, in this particular, the Teutons, for instance being more heavily bearded than the Slavonians; the negroes have in general a tolerably heavy beard, crisp or woolly like the hair of their heads.

USES OF THE BEARD.

Except that it is an ornament and a sign of masculinity, physiologists teach us little in respect to the uses of the beard. In certain employments, however, as that of the machinist or of the stone-cutter, where an irritating dust and small particles of hard materials are in danger of being inhaled by the lungs, the wearing of the beard is found to be an important safeguard. It is believed to be also in some way conducive to health in other respects. We can not doubt but that this is so, because it is simply allowing Nature to have her own way, which is always the best way.

PHYSIOGNOMICALLY,

the beard indicates the masculine element or the virile forces of our nature. Men in whom it is deficient are generally found to resemble their mothers, and to manifest more or less strongly certain feminine traits of character, though they are not necessarily in any degree what is properly called effeminate or womanish. Women with beards, on the contrary, have certain masculine traits, and resemble their fathers.

BEARDED WOMEN.

According to the old books, Jupiter denied the crowning grace of the beard to women lest, possessing all charms, she should draw to herself the adoration due to the gods alone. According to a later but less gallant authority, it was withheld in consequence of the danger she would be in in shaving, when shaving should be in fashion, she not being able to keep herself still long enough to undergo the process. We have, however, several examples in history of bearded women, and

such lusus naturæ have frequently been exhibited in our public museums and show places.

Hippocrates mentions Phetuna, a woman whose beard took

to growing during the absence of her husband in exile.

A Swedish

grenadier taken prisoner by the Russians in 1724, in the war with Charles XII, turned out to be a woman with a beard a foot and a half long. She was presented to the Czar, Peter the Great. Margaret, Duchess of Parma and regent of the Low Countries under Philip IL, was accustomed to wear a long mustache on her upper lip.

Travelers tell us of a race in Ethiopia, the women of which do not differ at all from the men in regard to the hair on the face; but this we will not claim as an absolute fact.

Some of our readers may remember Madame Josephine Clofullia, exhibited in this city in 1853. The foregoing woodcut (fig. 388) does her beard no more than justice. From a phrenological character of this remarkable woman, based on a personal examination, and published in the PHRENOLOGICAL JOURNAL for August, 1853, we extract the closing paragraph as illustrative of the physiognomical significance we have attributed to the beard.

"Her organization indicates a predominance of the masculine elements of mind. This she inherits from her maternal grandfather (an example of atavism), whom she is said to resemble in person as she probably does in her mental constitution."

XVIII.

HANDS AND FEET.

"With the hand we demand, we promise, we call, dismiss, threaten, entreat, supplicate, deny, refuse, interrogate, admire, reckon, confess, repent; express fear, express shame, express doubt; we instruct, command, unite, encourage, swear, testify, accuse, condemn, acquit, insult, despise, defy, disdain, flatter, applaud, bless, abuse, ridicule, reconcile, recommend, exalt, regale, gladden, complain, afflict, discomfort, discourage, astonish, exclaim, indicate silence, and what not, with a variety and multiplication that keep pace with the tongue."-MONTAIGNE.

"And her white and dainty feet,

Brush the dew from clover sweet."-ANON.

Fig. 889.-HOLDING A BALL.

E all realize that the hand is a very useful member. It guides the pen of the writer, the pencil of the artist, the tool of the mechanic, the implement of the farmer. It feeds, clothes, and it adorns us. It is the brain's "chief of staff"--the mind's most useful and most honored servant. We feel what a terrible thing it is to lose it, as so many of our brave soldiers have done, in battle.

But we do not realize what a wonderful piece of mechanism it is-how beautifully formed, how perfectly co-related with every other part of the body and with the brain, and how expressive of character and feeling; and it is in order that we may do so that we purpose to dwell at some length upon its anatomy and physiology, before speaking of it in its more strictly physiognomical

aspects.

STRUCTURE OF THE HAND.

There is a general resemblance between the hand and the foot; but there is this grand characteristic which distinguishes it from the lower member-its

no

first digit (or thumb) stands out apart from the others, and is movable independently of them, so as to be more or less completely opposed to them. Quadrupeds, then, have hands. In the monkey tribe. the thumb is present, and is separate and movable on each of the four limbs, and these animals are therefore called quadrumanous or four-handed (fig. 390). Man, having the movable thumb on each of the two upper limbs only, is bimanous or two-handed; and this peculiarity gives a name to the class in which naturalists have placed him alone-the bimanous.

Fig. 390-THE GORILLA

The hand is the executive and essential part of the upper limb, without which the limb would be almost useless. whole, therefore, is constructed with reference to its connection

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Fig. 391.-HAND AND FOREarm.

Fig. 892.-DIAGRAM.

with the hand, and in such a manner as to give it play and strength. Fig. 391 illustrates the bony framework of the hand and arm and their connections with each other. The

accompanying diagram (fig. 392) shows how the bones of the hand are arranged in three divisions. Thus the upper row of carpal or wrist bones (3, 4, 5) consists practically of three bones, the fourth (6) being much smaller than the others, and rather an appendage to one of them than a distinct constituent of the wrist. The outer of these carpal bones (3) bears the thumb and the forefinger (I and II), and constitutes with them the outer division of the hand. The inner one (5) bears the ring finger and the little finger (IV and V), and constitutes the inner division of the hand; and the middle one (4) bears the middle finger (III), and forms the middle division of the hand. The diagram shows, too, that the two outer bones (3 and 4) with the two outer divisions of the hand are connected with the radius (1), while the inner bone (5) only with the inner division of the hand is connected with the ulna (2).

MANUAL MOVEMENTS.

The hand is wonderfully mobile and flexible. The fingers and thumb are particularly varied and free in their movements, which take place with singular facility and rapidity. We can bend them quite down to the palm, and can turn them back beyond the straight line; we can separate them to a considerable extent, and we can bring them together with some force. To give the reader an idea of some of the muscles concerned in executing these movements, we quote from an excellent FOREARM AND HAND. little anatomical treatise* now before us, the following interesting passages with the accompanying illus

trations:

"The wrist and hand are bent forward upon the forearm by three muscles (A, B, C, fig. 393). These all pass downward from the inner side of the lower end of the armbone. The

The Human Foot and the Human Hand, by Gall Humphrey, M.D.,

F.R.S., Cambridge, England, 1861.