The evil eye. An account of this ancient and wide spread superstition

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234 THE EVIL EYE chap.
and the consequence has been from the earliest days,
that men have regarded with intense interest the
by which touch is commonly, and, when
intentionally, always conveyed— the hand. Not
only is it the bodily member which specially differ-
entiates man from all lower animals, but it is that
by which in every way he makes his power known
and felt. True that man's relatives the Apes have
four hands to our two, yet his are but prehensile
instruments, incapable from the partial development
of the thumb, apart from the brain-power of direc-
tion, of performing those thousands of intricate acts
of construction, of musical touch, of significant
gesture, which the human hand performs, and which
mark it out as the faithful servant, as well as the
natural symbol, of a higher power, that of a perfected
intelligence.
If in past ages the hand has been looked upon
as an instrument of evil when used by the malignant,
much more has it been regarded as an instrument of
good—the powerful protector against that special
form of evil which was supposed to be flashed from
one person to another, whether through the eye or
the touch of malice.
It has ever been recognised that the differences
of shape, texture, and general appearance of the
hands of individuals are quite as great as in faces.
Moreover, it has been noticed by long experience
that certain kinds of hand are found to belong to
the possessors of certain types of faces ; and just as
the life and character of the individual are to be seen
in his face, so is his hand also the index of the
mind. Further, it is found that just as the features
of a person's face distinguish his individuality and