"The soul contains in itself the event that shall presently befall it. The event is only the actualizing of its thought." - Emerson.

BY continued study and observation of the lines in the hand, and by carefully tabulating the results of innumerable experiments with them, it has been shown that lines found in certain places always indicate the same thing, and that certain formations of these lines invariably show the good, bad, or weak operation of the things they indicate. It has also been proven in like manner that lines show details of the life, and that, when events have strongly impressed themselves upon the brain of a subject, lines have appeared in certain parts of the hand, have disappeared, broken, or changed in various ways as these events have produced good or bad results for the subject. By observing thousands of results, it has been possible to locate where in the hand these various emotions or influences appear, and what kind of lines indicate their good or bad effect. Lines are seen in the hands of newborn babes as well as of adults; they cross in various directions, often make their appearance where the skin has formerly been smooth, and in many cases strong lines fade and disappear, leaving a smooth surface of skin, that shows no sign that any line has ever been there. Lines increase in depth and grow in length, often clearly cutting their way across the hand.

They also vanish entirely, beginning at the end and gradually diminishing until the whole line has disappeared. These changes follow profound impressions made on the mind of a subject.

Many believe that every detail in the anatomy of the human being is constructed for a specific purpose, and that nothing was created without a reason. Thus we are either forced to declare that the lines in the hand are an exception to all the rest, and that the Creator did a vain and useless thing when these lines were put in the hand, or else we must acknowledge that the lines are there for a purpose.

Not so very long ago the medical profession knew comparatively little about the human organism. There are organs whose functions anatomists have not yet discovered, but these students of the human body do not, for this reason, claim that such organs have no usefulness. One by one the mysteries of our construction are being discovered, and it is the belief of progressive students that in time the function of every part will be revealed, and nothing found that is not necessary to the operation of the human machinery. As long as every physician undertook to master the entire range of medicine and to treat every form of disease, we had the general practitioner, who possessed only a general knowledge of anatomy, disease, and treatment. During this period the real information about the several parts of the body possessed by any one man was necessarily limited, the practice of medicine and surgery was crude, and the results obtained were comparatively unsatisfactory. But when one man began devoting his entire life to a study of the eye, another of the ear, another of the skin, and so on through every organ of the body, we had the evolution of the specialist, and at once great progress was made and wonderful results were achieved.

The whole body was too complex and too big a subject for one man to master, but the specialist, by giving a life study to one organ, began to understand that organ thoroughly, and in each was found such an infinite number of details that it has taken more than a lifetime to accumulate the present stock of information about them all. Strange as it may seem, the hand has been neglected in this separating of specialties, and this, most important and wonderful part of the whole body, the organ which bears the stamp of the type to which each subject belongs, and which contains the map of his natural course through life, is only beginning to receive the attention it deserves.

As palmists, we are specialists with the hand, and in reaching the point where we are to study the purpose for which lines are in the hand, we claim to have found and proved this purpose. There is a natural course through life that every subject would follow if nothing took place to change it, and no effort was made to improve. In other words, we believe that there is a general outline of the course and limitations of the life of each subject, which exists at the beginning of that life. This general course is what the subject would naturally do through life, be-cause of the combination of type qualities which he possesses. This natural life plan comprises those things which the possession of these type qualities would naturally lead him to do, the kind of health his type qualities would cause him to have, and the result is stamped upon him by the lines in his hand, which thus form a map of his natural life's course. If no change takes place in his mental or physical attitude, and no accidents occur, this course will be followed. Thus the lines in the hand are the writing placed there by Him who created the subject, and when the key to their meaning is used, it enables us to interpret the life map and to judge what the natural course of that life will be.

Many earnest thinkers, having followed the study of the hand through Chirognomy, have halted when the lines were reached, and, while admitting that lines do enable us to read the events in a life, and being forced to acknowledge from what has been seen of actual cases that the future is often outlined, they pause for the explanation as to how this is accomplished.

There are now two well established facts, which when brought into combination explain these functions of lines in the hand. First, it has been positively proven that lines change in unison with changes in the mental attitude of a subject, when these changes are great enough to alter his temperament and characteristics. It is also proven that the lines respond to changes in health and constitution, that they indicate mental strength, and reveal details in the life, when certain events have produced a powerful impression on the mind of a subject. Therefore we may say with positiveness that the lines in a hand are the direct reflex of the subject's mind, and that his mind produces, controls, or alters them. This statement completely explains the accuracy of lines in outlining past events, for things which have impressed the brain are a part of the past, and it has proven a satisfactory explanation of this part of their usefulness. It is the accuracy of lines in outlining future events which has been difficult to explain. Recent experiments by scientists have demonstrated that the human being is possessed of a double consciousness or mind.