Part 15

It may be argued that the tendency must be based upon something physical, and that, therefore, a tendency to superiority implies an actual superiority. This may be so; but I do not think that we are quite in a position to assert that it is so. We perceive that there is a tendency to the preferential use of the right hand; but we do not know upon what that tendency depends, and have, therefore no right to assert that the cause of it lies in the construction of the limb or of the parts which supply the limb with blood and nervous influence, or, indeed, upon any strictly physical cause whatever.

It may be a tendency like that of certain animals to make their holes and nests in particular places and in particular ways, to watch for their prey at particular spots, to migrate in certain directions at particular periods, and to group themselves in a particular order during their travels. Such tendencies, or “Instincts” as they are often called, may possibly be the result of a peculiar conformation of the several animals; but it is, at present, by no means certain that they are so.

I have said that man is the only animal in whom a preference in the use of the limb or limbs of one side is shown. This is a consequence of the fact that he is the only animal who has occasion to use the limbs of the two sides separately, or who is in the habit of doing so. Even in the rudest state of society this habit is engendered in him from a very early period, as in carrying a stick, throwing a spear, and in a variety of ways. The habit increases as he becomes more civilized, owing to the greater number of offices which the hands are called upon to perform; and the necessity for using the hands separately would, of itself, lead each individual to the employment of one more frequently than the other; but that that one should so universally be the right hand, seems to be accounted for only by reference to some natural tendency. The imitative propensity in man and the convenience of uniformity of modes of action are scarcely sufficient to account for it.

I will not detain you by dwelling upon the effect which the superiority of the right hand has in giving a slight superiority to the right leg and the right eye, and will content myself with mentioning a single beneficial result of the preferential use of one hand, viz. that by it, we acquire a greater degree of skilfulness and dexterity than we should do if both hands were equally employed. The exclusive use, for instance, of the right hand in writing, cutting, &c. gives it a greater expertness than either hand would have had if both of them had been accustomed to perform these offices. Hence, we usually find that persons who are left-handed are rather clumsy-fingered, because, although, in them, the left hand is used for many purposes which are commonly assigned to the right, yet the conventionalities of life interfere a good deal. The pen and the knife, for instance, are still wielded by the right hand. Accordingly such persons are neither truly right-handed nor truly left-handed; and they do not commonly acquire so great skill in the use of either hand as do those whose natural tendency is more in harmony with custom.

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The great martyr of our Church, when at the stake, is said to have held out his right hand into the flames and to have been heard exclaiming, till utterance was stifled, “This unworthy hand.” This unworthy hand! Of whom or of what was that hand unworthy? Was it unworthy of Him who made it? Was it unworthy of him who bore it? Was it unworthy of the purposes for which it was made? Was it not, on the contrary, a too worthy hand? a hand worthy of a better usage than to be made, first, to sign a recantation of faith and, then, to be burned for having done so? a hand worthy of a better man? No one would have admitted this more readily than Cranmer. We may be sure that he would never have thought of proclaiming a hand or any of his members to be really unworthy of him. Rather would he have willingly confessed that he had fallen far short of the standard of excellence which the body presents; and in that excellence, we doubt not, he recognised an evidence of Divine workmanship. His meaning, therefore, has not been misunderstood. Nevertheless disparaging remarks respecting the body, and the use of the word “carnal” in the sense in which it is usually employed, have some tendency to excuse a shrinking from moral responsibilities on the ground of the weakness of the flesh. Let us remember that much of that weakness is of our own engendering, that a moral obliquity is the source of many of those physical infirmities which, we flatter ourselves, may cover our delinquencies, and which a sympathising humanity is wont, perhaps too often, to throw as a shield over offenders against the laws. In man, and in man alone of created beings, the physical and the moral grow up together and react upon one another; and the charge of a body thus capable of influencing and being influenced demands all our energies to prove ourselves worthy of it.

EXPLANATION OF WOOD-CUTS.

THE HUMAN FOOT.

Fig. page

1 9 Bones of foot, with the lower ends of the two leg-bones.

2 11 Bones of the hind foot of a seal, with lower ends of leg-bones.

3 11 The same of the hind foot of a lizard.

4 14 Side view of the pelvis and lower limb of man. A, the haunch-bone. B, the ischium, or part upon which we sit. C, the thigh-bone. D, the knee-pan. E, the tibia, or larger leg-bone, with the fibula, or smaller leg-bone, alongside it. F, the heel-bone. G, the metatarsal bones. H, I, K, the phalanges, or bones of the toes.

5 14 Similar view of the pelvis and hind limb of a horse. The letters refer to the same parts as in the preceding figure.

6 18 Represents a section through the lower end of the tibia and through the heel-bone, the astragalus, navicular bone, inner cuneiform bone, and the bones of the great toe. It shows the arrangement of these bones in the arch of the foot and the disposition of the plates of which these bones are composed.

7 25 The same bones as in preceding, with two connecting ligaments. A, the plantar ligament. B, ligament passing from the heel-bone F to the scaphoid bone E. D the Astragalus. C, one of two small bones, called sesamoid bones, usually found at the ball of the great toe.

8 29 A foot, in an aggravated condition of “flat-foot.” The sole is convex, and so is the inner margin of the foot. It represents also another common deformity, inasmuch as the great toe runs athwart the second toe, which is pressed almost out of sight.

9 38 Front view of the right tibia, or larger leg-bone.

10 38 Right tibia lying on a board. The inner, as well as the outer edge, of the upper end rests upon the board; but the inner edge of the lower end is turned away from the board. In other words, the bone is so twisted that, though the upper end lies flat upon the board, the lower end touches it only by its outer edge.

11 40 Figure sitting upon the heel to draw the bow. It is one of a beautiful series of statues in the Glyptothek at Munich. They adorned the pediments of a temple in Ægina, and are supposed to represent the noble actions of the Æacidæ.

12 42 Represents some of the muscles and tendons seen on the inner side of the leg and foot. A, Gastro- cnemius and Soleus muscles. They are attached, above, to the thigh-bone and the leg-bones; below, by means of the Tendo Achillis (a) to the heel-bone; they together form the calf-muscle. B, Posterior tibial muscle attached, above, to the tibia, below, by its tendon (b) to the scaphoid bone. D, process of the tibia called the internal malleolus or inner ankle. F, Anterior tibial muscle attached, above, to the front of the tibia, below, to the scaphoid bone. k, the flexor tendon of the great toe.

13 44 Gives a corresponding view of the outer side of the leg and foot. E, the lower end of the fibula, called the external malleolus, or outer ankle. C, the short fibular muscle attached, above, to the fibula; below, by its tendon (c), to the outer metatarsal bone. I, the long fibular muscle. Its tendon (i) runs, behind the outer ankle and under the instep, to the metatarsal bone of the great toe; it is not seen in the latter part of its course. G, the anterior fibular muscle attached by its tendon g to the outer metatarsal bone. h, the extensor tendons of the toes.

14 47 Foot of a young woman presenting the variety of “club-foot” called “Talipes varus.” The sole is very much bent, and turned inwards and upwards, so that the part of the instep which should be above and in front is directed downwards and comes into contact with the ground.

15 49 Diagram (from Bell’s Anatomy) showing the mode in which the extensor tendons of the toes follow the curve of the ankle and are bound to it by cross straps, instead of taking the direct course represented by the line a.

16 52 Foot and leg from the cast of the Farnese Hercules in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.

17 52 Foot and leg of a Negro.

18 52 Outline of under surface of foot of an Englishman.

19 52 Outline of under surface of foot of a Negro.