Middle finger

“ Hold your left hand up in front of you with the palm facing you. Press the index finger and the middle finger tightly together. Bring the two still held tightly together down to the palm, and then back straight again, quickly, briskly and with muscular resistance. The motion should be from the knuckle joint. Naturally the other fingers will have a tendency to curl. It makes no difference if they do. Repeat this exercise twenty times. ”

“ Invent.—With the "G" forefinger pointing upward, place the end against the middle of the forehead just above the nose so the finger almost rests on the length of the nose; push the finger upward till the length of it has crossed the forehead.
Learn.—Place the open palm of the left hand as if it were a book or printed page in front of self; with the other hand grasp imaginary knowledge from it with the fingers closing against the thumb and raise it to the forehead. ”

“ Each of them equally appears a finger, whether seen in the middle or at the extremity, whether white or black, or thick or thin—it makes no difference; a finger is a finger all the same. In these cases a man is not compelled to ask of thought the question what is a finger? for the sight never intimates to the mind that a finger is other than a finger. ”

“ You know already that the passing of the thumb under the other fingers, and of the three-middle fingers over the thumb, is absolutely necessary, and that it is the only means by which we are enabled to strike a long series of keys quickly one after the other. ”

“ Several motions represent the likeness of the letter, as one finger on the back of the hand is L, two fingers are like N, three fingers are like M, the fore-finger to the middle joint of the other fore-finger is like T, two fingers across are like X; likewise B, C, D, are very easily remembered, as one finger upon the left thumb is B, two are C, three D, but you must always remember to give a snap with the fingers between every word, so that your friend may distinguish one word from another. ”

“ An easy way to verify the last phenomenon is to beg some one to hold the forefinger of the right hand pointed to your left palm, at a quarter of an inch distance, and afterwards his left forefinger to your right palm, when the two sensations, and their difference, are appreciable by the majority of persons.
Persons entranced by mesmeric procedures are often keenly alive to the above impressions. They see light emanating from the finger-tips of the mesmeriser, and feel an agreeable afflatus from his manipulations. ”

“ Had it been you or I, we should have placed it at once on the ring finger, and there would have been an end of the matter,—but look! the fellow is trying it upon the little finger—that finger is so little, and some how or other, so lonely, he feels for it a tender compassion. A little finger look lonely when in company with three fingers and a thumb? ”

“ Block all the fingers together and draw an imaginary line from the tip of the thumb to the fingers to check your proportions. Close up your own thumb and note that it reaches to the first joint of your forefinger. Thumbs, because of the deceptive nature of a curve, are often deprived of strength, length, and muscle. Note the large surfaces of muscle, the almost square shape of the palm. Once you have the larger proportions of fingers and thumbs well fixed in your mind it will not be difficult to observe each finger each knuckle each finger-tip separately. ”

“ A small branch of the artery and not of the nerves, as Gellius thought, is stretched forth from the heart unto this finger, the motion whereof you may perceive evidently in all that affects the heart of woman, by the touch of your forefinger. I used to raise [207] such as are fallen in a swoon by pinching this joint and by rubbing the ring of gold with a little saffron: for, by this, a restoring force that is in it passeth to the heart and refresheth the fountain of life unto which this finger is joined. ”

“ And now let us return to the hand with the reel of cotton.
Having roughly sketched the forefinger, the thumb, and the general proportions of the wrist and hand, we should then pay a little more attention to the hand itself, the back of which lies like a flat upright line breaking into small indications of the second or third knuckle.The first knuckle is slightly indented, and the root of the first finger descends in a firm swelling curve to the folded muscle of the thumb. ”

“ Generally, except in precise pointing, there is a graduated curving, not too nice, from the bent little finger to the straighter forefinger. As the gesture is concerned with thought more delicate, the action of the hand is lighter and tends more to the tips of the fingers; as it is more rugged and strong, the hand is held heavier. ”

“ They say that the forefinger is venomous, and that the superiority of the third is to be ascribed to its being possessed of a nerve; and as they appear to pay a most superstitious reverence to a nerve, whether in the finger, the tooth, or the ear, they do not fail to impress upon their daughters the importance of tasting anything of consequence with the third finger. ”

“ Knotty fingers, when not the result of gout, indicate originality; the smooth taper finger means love of art and a predominance of sentiment over reason. Square fingers denote method, and the spatulate show ability, tact, and action. Very rare is the psychic hand with its slim tapering fingers, its snowy texture and wonderful softness. Well for the world that it is uncommon, lacking as it does usefulness and industry. ”

“ With the feet as in the above exercise, bring the hands and the arms to a level with the shoulders, palms down, elbows bent, middle fingers of the two hands touching, and the extended thumbs touching the chest. ”

“ To Be, to Exist.—Hold the forefinger of the right "G" hand pointing upward, against the mouth; move the whole hand, finger still held upright, forward straight out from the mouth; then bring the "A" hands together, the end of the right thumb resting on the nail of the left thumb, and move both hands this way forward. ”

“ You should place your fingers and thumb on five consecutive white keys, and, keeping the thumb, first, second, and fourth finger down, repeatedly strike the note that is under the third finger. If this monotonous exercise is persevered in, the third finger will gain strength. ”

“ They use the fingers of each hand, beginning with the little finger of the left hand, which is held in an upright position, the back of the hand facing the person counting, the palm turned outwards. Thus, when they wish to signify one, they raise one finger ”

“ We draw the finger more carefully, marking the wrinkles on the upper part, and the corresponding curves on the lower; then we notice the way in which the loose flesh folds in springy curves, joining thumb to forefinger in a useful hinge. ”

“ We have no right to consider that the 45 per cent of whorls on the right ring-finger, and the 31 on the left, can be due to pre-established conditions, which would exercise a paramount effect even though the whorls were due entirely to causes common to both fingers. ”

“ It may be well to note here that individuals who have what are called clubbed fingers, or as the Germans picturesquely put it, drumstick fingers, that is, fingers with bulbous ends, the finger beyond the last joint being larger than the preceding part, nearly always have some chronic affection within the thorax. ”

“ Callosities of the same nature, although not so extensive, are not rare on the second finger joints. The palm of the hand is covered with a hard, horny skin, generally beset with warts, especially at the roots of the fingers. ”

“ Just where the thumb joins the palm, and between it and the forefinger on the back of the hand, is a muscle which, while at first usually small, can be developed and enlarged by any exercise which necessitates pinching the ends of the thumb and forefinger together, such as carrying a plate of metal or other thin but heavy substance between the finger and thumb. ”

“ This defect of the little finger we have observed in old women, and in young girls of eight or nine years old; in young women who have had children, and in those who have not, and the finger has been seen perfect in individuals of all the above ages and descriptions ”

“ In like manner, if we keep the compass-points one or two centimetres apart, and draw them down the forearm over the wrist and palm, finally drawing one along one finger, the other along its neighbor, the appearance will be that of a single line, soon breaking into two, which become more widely separated below the wrist, to contract again in the palm, and finally diverge rapidly again towards the finger-tips. ”

“ When we clutch at or grasp things, we do so by the strength of the thumb and little finger. If a man scratches his head, he does it with the forefinger; if he wishes to test the heat of the wine95 in the kettle, he uses the little finger. Thus, although each finger has its uses and duties, the nameless finger alone is of no use: it is not in our way if we have it, and we do not miss it if we lose it. Of the whole body it is the meanest member: if it be crooked so that we cannot straighten it, it neither hurts nor itches; as Môshi says in the text, it causes no pain ”

“ Holy Orders.—The thumb of the right "A" hand is run along the thumb and forefinger of the open left hand and back again so as to finish at the thumb point. Do the same for the other hand. XXIX, 445.
Hypocrite.—False, friend.
Immaculate Conception.—With the right index finger trace a circle around the crown of the head and then drop the arms at full length, palms outward. XXIX, 446.
Indulgence.—Punishment, forgiven, or with the "P" hand as used for "Purgatory" make a rotary rubbing-out motion on the left palm. ”

“ If another person gently trace a line across our wrist or finger, the latter being stationary, it will feel to us as if the member were moving in the opposite direction to the tracing point. If, on the contrary, we move our limb across a fixed point, it will seem as if the point were moving as well. If the reader will touch his forehead with his forefinger kept motionless, and then rotate the head so that the skin of the forehead passes beneath the finger's tip, he will have an irresistible sensation of the latter being itself in motion in the opposite direction to the head. ”

“ The first finger must always remain near its original place, so that the position may not be disturbed as a whole. Whenever the fourth finger seeks a place, the first should fall at once into its position ”

“ The finger nails are there and all the fine lines that can be traced on the inside of the hand and fingers. There are many lines on the surface of the human body that require the aid of a magnifying glass to discern ”