| Show FACTS ABOUT FINGERS You Use Them Daily but Your Ig Ignorance Ignorance norance of Them Is Shocking There is a very ancient belief says say the Boston American Americ n that a n blood yes ves vessel ve vesel sel extends from the base of the fourth finger of the tha left hand haI d to the th heart hear whence as alleged the choice of that finger for the wedding ring In liter literature literature attire allusion to it is made as the vena amoris or loves vein v ln Unlike most notions of the kind k nd this idea Is entirely correct for a a vein does arise directly at the root of the ring finger and running over the back of the hand finds it way through the royal vein the the and the to the heart This ves yes vessel vessel sel is very conspicuous standing out clearly when the hand hangs ha gs limply downward The reason for putting the on the fourth finger however is probably probably probably ably quite different Its use for the purpose goes back to prehistoric times and its selection is likely to have been due to the fact that it is the least free in its movements of all the fingers Accordingly a ring en it will wili interfere less with the use ue of the hand than if placed on any other digit It happens that the large tendon of the fourth finger finer is attached to thos of o the third and fifth fingers by cross bands which restrict the movements of the ring finger considerably Anybody may test this for himself by holding the third and fifth fingers forcibly bent and trying at the same time to extend the ring finger The native Australian who vho represents represents represents a very degraded and primitive human type has a thumb that is set very far back on the hand so as to look somewhat like the toe thumb of an anthropoid ape This of course Is particularly interesting because It seems to represent a stage in the de development development if a member to which man is mainly Indebted for his progress It Itis Itis ItIs is the opposable thumb which passes over and across the palm that makes the hand an efficient instrument I y I The great apes ap such as the gorilla the chimpanzee and the more especially the two former have fairly developed d thumbs but relatively to the size to the tha hand they y are much smaller than ours and an l they th are not opposable Voile g oo enough for or ortI trapeze tI work among the trees tre they are poor po r tools for handling h things gs With VoIt the tle gradual development devel d of the thumb as s a tool has com the slow human advance finds Its ultimate triumph today in what we call civilization As the hand gained g great greater er efficiency the brain what whatever whatever whatever ever the hand was able to achieve had Its reflex in the mind may be said that hat the human thUmb and the th human brain grew together the fhe instrument meat ment and the directing intelligence act acting acting ing and developing coordinately tel tely Save for the examples afforded by primitive races such as the Australian blacks we have no typical thumbs lat hat later later hater er than those of the apes t compare with our own No prehistoric human bum an thumb nor any parts of the th hands of the peoples such as the dwellers of early southern France Have jave been beeD preserved I IThe The bones of oC those members being small have disappeared mores the pity Inasmuch In as a study of ot them would be vastly instructive In the higher rees races of mankind the upper bone in the tho arm Is twitted twisted in a peculiar way so as to make tue t e hant hanta a better tool by b bringing the th thumb into a more inore favorable position This is one of the most curious of natures anatomical adaptations Furthermore the muscles of the thumb are So ar arranged ranged as to give to mat member more Independent acton action than is enjoyed enjo by b bany any of the other fingers There is a flexor and an extensor tor each joint which is not the case with the other fingers and the thumb muscles are extraordinarily strong The real wrist as one might say is the elbow joint It is all 1111 hand pine practically speaking from that point tips of the fingers When nen you t n your wrist it is the whole forearm that makes the twist and every movement of the fingers is controlled by the mus muscles cles des of the forearm The power to turn the wrist to and fro at the elbow Joint is possessed only by human hum n beings and monkeys and even the higher apes are are not able to do dothe dothe dothe the trick nearly as well as we can In Inthis Inthis Inthis this mo movement em nt the great biceps bleeps mus muscle cle cm cl in the upper arm is importantly concerned Its powerful action In turn turnIng turnIng turning Ing the forearm outward being account accountable able abl for the ct that we are able to put so much more more strength into the wrist in that direction than the opposite opposite site way Many Ian of our most tools Indeed such as the screwdriver are made with reference to the anat anatomical anatomical anatomical peculiarity in question It is for this reason and no other that aft an screws turn to the right |
