and determinate by the vertues and operations of the Soul And thus much concerning the kindes of situation compared amongst themselves But he that should consider the terms and differences of which they are all composed will alwayes finde that there is one which is more noble then the rest because it s the Principle and the Principle is more excellent then what depends on it for the Upper is principle of the Lower the Right of the Left as the Fore is of the Hinder-part In effect the beginning is a kinde of principle and the beginnings of the three principal operations of the Soul are made in these three different situations for Nutrition begins from Above Motion from the Right and Sense from before And of a truth the Mouth which is the first door of those aliments whence they are afterwards distributed through the whole body is the Upper-part of all creatures as the Root is that of Plants whence it is that the Latin Tongue calls those Roots which are deep high And it hath been said that Man was a Tree reversed not because his hairs are upmost which have some resemblance with Moss and 〈◊〉 downwards But because that his Mouth is directly opposite to that of Trees for it is without doubt that the Root is the Mouth of Plants since they thereby take their nourishment and that from thence it s carried to all its other parts Sence also begins Before for besides the Sence of touching whose right it is to be dispersed over all the parts of an Animal all the rest of the Sences are placed Before because the Sences are to conduct and regulate Motion which is ever made forward and which commenceth on the right side as we shall shew hereafter whence it follows the Upper Right and Fore-side are the Principles of the rest and consequently more noble then they Article II. NOw Nature alwayes holds this Maxime that it placeth the most excellent things in those places which are most noble as may be seen in that order wherein she hath disposed all the principal parts of the Universe therefore it must needs be that in Man who is the Epitomy and Abridgement of the World the parts must also have a rank conformable to their dignity And we may say not onely that the most excellent have the most noble situation but also that those which have the most noble situation are the most excellent For from thence it follows that the Hands which are the highest are more excellent then the Feet which are the lowest and that Hand which is on the right side then that on the left But as the excellency of the parts is drawn from the profit which they afford the Creature we must enquire according to the Design which we have undertaken to what use the hands are wherein they are of more use then the Feet and what use there is made of the right more then of left Article III. FIrst its certain that all Creatures which are composed of blood and which for that reason are called perfect have been provided with some organs to remove themselves from place to place which answer those four first differences of situation which we observed to wit upwards and downwards to the right and left For these were no instruments which answer the two latter to wit Before and Behinde there being no beast which naturally moves backward and the rest of the Organs are sufficient to satisfie that motion which is made forwards as experience witnesseth This truth appears in all kinds of perfect Animals since most part of those which are Terrestial are four-footed Birds have two with two wings Fishes have four to smim withal and Serpents make four several plights as they crawle And all these parts are so necessary unto them for that progressive motion which is natural unto them that if they wanted any one of them they could not perform it without pain for Birds cannot well flye when their legs are broken nor Fishes smim when they have lost a fin nor Serpents creep if you cut off those parts of their bodies which make the last plights of their motions Whence we must conclude that the Hands which are in the rank of those four instruments which are destined for progressive motion serve to that of Man and were he deprived of them he could never perform this motion with so much facility Indeed a Man cannot run without a great deal of trouble when his Hands are tied we shut and clinch our fists when we would jump and in our ordinary walk the arm alwayes retires back when the foot of the same side advanceth whereto may be added that in Infancy they serve the feet that when we fall we cannot rise up our selves without them or if we must rise or defend difficult places they are no less usefull then our feet which are evident signs that these parts contribute to the progressive motion of Man But as Nature is a great House-wife of those things which she makes and that she gets all the services she can from them she contents her self not with this employment which she gives the Hands she hath also destined them to so many other purposes that it s almost impossible to reckon or remark them so that we have been constrained to bring them in parallel with the understanding and to say that as that was the form of forms having them all in its power the Hands also were the instrument of instruments having alone the vertues of all the rest for it s by them that man takes and keeps those things which are necessary and pleasant it s by them that he defends himself and overcomes those which are hurtfull or mischievous To conclude they are the principle workers of all Arts and the general instruments which the minde useth to bring forth its fashion and most profitable inventions and without doubt they give Man so great an advantage above all other Creatures that if we cannot say as that ancient Philosopher did that he is wise because he hath hands yet may we assure it that he appears wise because he hath hands And now we need not wonder that they have been placed in the highest place as being the most honorable place and that Nature hath brought them as neer as she could to the seat of Reason and of the Sences with which they have so much commerce and so great a tye Article IV. BUt although she hath placed them in the same rank in that respect yet are they not therefore of the same consideration She treats the Right as the elder and the first in dignity For if the most active are the most excellent and most considerable things the Right Hand being stronger and more agile then the Left must also be more excellent Now it hath more strength and agility because it hath more heat which is the Source of those qualities and it hath more heat Aristotle 3. de part not onely because it is of the same side with
is made and these veins part even from a common branch but it s so far off from the eyes that we cannot precisely say that they send veins to one another unless it be in consideration of the sympathy which is betwixt them And this is so true that often even he considers not the continuity of the veins in the distribution which he makes since he shews that the Head and the Lungs have a consent with the Spleen although the veins of the Spleen are not united nor continued with those of these parts because its sufficient for the consent he speaks of that these veins should have communication together by some means or other as shall be said hereafter But the more particularly to make the secret and profit of this admirable distribution appear we shall examine some of the Articles for when he teacheth us that of these four pair of veins which issue from the Head there is one which hath two branches which passes from the Temples and descends into the Lungs whence the one passeth from the right side to the left and goes into the Spleen and into the left Rein and the other parts from the left side and goes to the Liver and right Rein and then they end both in the Hemorroid veins Doth he not thereby demonstrate not onely why the opening of the Hemorroids serves to the Nephriticks and to those who have the Plurisie and Peripneunomy but why also their suppression causeth the Dropsie and the Ptisick for although there are other places wherein it seems that the reflux of the blood which they contain might be made yet the consent they have with the Liver and the Lungs is the cause that it is not elsewhere effected And without doubt those branches which descending go from the right to the left and from the left to the right observe the cause which we have so unprofitably sought why those imposthumes which are made from above downwards are not alwayes found on the same side where the Source of the Disease is but sometimes on the right and sometimes on the left although those which are made from below upwards keep still the rectitude of the part wherein the seat of the malady is for without this distribution of veins its impossible to give a reason of all their accidents Without which we should not yet know why the Breast and Genitals have so great a correspondence betwixt them that the Cough ceaseth when they are tumified that the swelling dissipates when the Cough comes and that even the swelling of the veins which happens unto them corrects those defects which render the voice wheazing and shrill To conclude it s the onely secret whereby Natures wayes are discovered in the transport of the humors which she makes from one part to another and to discern those veins which are to be opened in every sickness For although they have all one root although many of them have common branches which equally ought to distribute unto them the blood and humours which they contain yet the correspondence and friendship which is betwixt the parts obligeth Nature to drive them rather through one vein then another and choosing that which is most fit for it she leaves the rest which are neer unto it and have the same origine This evidently appears in the sympathy which we have before urged with such conducing examples for very probably its through the veins and arteries that this secret vertue runs which the Heart and Liver communicates to some of the fingers whilst the rest of those which are of the Hand are not therein employed and although they issue out of the same branch yet there is but one which bears this vertue from the heart and another that of the Liver otherwise there would be no determinate place to receive their influence and all the fingers of the hand which have veins and arteries would equally receive it which is contrary to experience To speak the truth also all these Vessels are but Channels and Conduits which cannot more then those of Fountains give any motion to the humours but it s the spirits onely which carry and draw them to those places whereto they are ordered and as the consent which the Members have one with another is entertained by means of those spirits we cannot doubt but the blood wherewith they are mixt goes not as they do from one part to another and but that in pursuit it makes that admirable Harmony of the veins which Hippocrates hath observed For without doubt this is the Foundation whereon he and the ancient Masters in Physick have observed in one and the same Member veins which had correspondence with several parts as in the arm the Cephalick the Hepatick and the Splenetick which they have alwayes opened of course in the particular diseases of those parts not sticking at those weak reasons which the inspection of bodies and love of novelty hath since authorized Article XVIII ANd certainly had we not had recourse to this direction of the Spirits we should never have been able to have given a reason for the rectitude which Nature observes in her motions when she is absolute Mistress thereof and whom Physick imitates in the evacuations which it ordains for when by the inflammations of the Liver the right ear grows red that ulcers happen on the right hand or foot that we bleed out of the right nostril or that there is an imposthume in the right ear and that on the contrary all the same accidents happen on the left side from the inflammations of the Spleen when I say Physick commands us to let blood on the same side the malady is and teacheth us that all the evacuations which are made on the contrary side are dangerous if made of themselves or useless if done by Art What other reason is there of this regularity which can satisfie the minde more then this which we have produced for what is said of the right fibres which enter into the composition of the vessels whereby some will have the humors to be drawn it s altogether impertinent since they are unable to make this attraction as we have elsewhere demonstrated That they are equally on all the sides of the vessels and consequently cannot determine the motion of the humors to the one sooner then to another that there are not alwayes fibres to favour this rectitude since from the Spleen to the left nostril there can be none the veins of the nose proceeding from the vena cava with which the Spleen hath no connexion and that in fine the humors which we finde out of the vessels those simple vapours and qualities communicate themselves from one part to another after the same manner without need of any fibres to agitate the business and which if there were any would be useless for the transporting of vapours and qualities To say also that this is done by secret conduits which are to be found in the flesh and which move from below
are born by day But the advantages which the Hands have above the Feet clearly show that the inspection of these is altogether useless and that there is to be seen in the Hands all what can be expected from this kinde of knowledge Moreover the right Hand being more noble then the left in what sense soever it be and at what time soever we are born ought to be more considered then this principally for what concerns the Heart the Liver and the Brain which have most communication with it but the left carries it beyond the other in respect of the Spleen and the other parts which are on the same side by reason of that power which rectitude hath in those encounters Finally what we have said of the length breadth and depth affords causes for that diversity which is to be found in the lines for those which are simple shew that the vertue is weak the length being the first essay it makes those which are crossed witness that its stronger being extended in breadth and that it hath performed its last endeavour in those which are deep But I am not awares that I insensibly enter into the particularities of those things which I intended to avoid I fear even least I have too much explicated my self on the generals and lest I should make some beleeve by the certainty I which find in them that I give the same credit to particulars yet am I very far from that thought I do indeed lay the foundation of a Science which seems to me sufficiently solid but I do not finde materials to finish the building for the greatest part of these Rules and Preceps whereof the structure is to be made are not well established the experiences which maintain them are not sufficiently verified and we had need of a new provision of observations which ought to be made with all necessary exactness and certainty to give it such a form and solidity as Art and Science require But whence should this be expected since that those who could do it would not employ themselves therein and when should we hope for it since there is so much to be done and so much difficulty in the well doing thereof Yet were there any who would employ themselves therein and who might not despair but that they were able sufficiently to provide for the expence of so great an edifice they will in my opinion be obliged to you for having engaged me in maintaining their work and designing for them the foundation which they were to build upon and even I dare tell you you are also obliged to me For if you consider my employments and my ordinary studies you may easily perceive how far I have swerved from them to follow your inclinations and that I could not render you a more assured proof of the friendship I have for you then by exposing my self to censure to satisfie your curiosity I ought not apprehend yours because I know it will be favourable towards me but I fear that of the Publick from whom we must never expect favour and whose judgements are always most severe and sometimes unjust make me not therefore appear before that rude Tribunal unless you are very well assured that I shall avoid the punishment of timorous writers and hazard not without a great precaution that little esteem which good fortune hath acquired for me and for the preservation whereof in my opinion you ought to interest your self since you know that I am SIR Your most humble and most affectionate Servant LA. CHAMBRE From Paris this first of January 1653. FINIS
been cultivated by great spirits in all times there have been some who have amused themselves on curiosities as vain as this may be Finally all those witnesses and examples which are produced in its defence ought not to have more weight then those of Geomancy Oenomancy and other such like Divinations may boast of which are all imaginary and superstitious and yet want neither their professors nor success in those judgments which they make On the other side all these latter reasons do not altogether condemn it and effect nothing against it but that they render it doubtful leaving the mind in uncertainty of what it ought to beleeve and desirous to clear it self therein Now the onely means to attain this is to examine the principles and to see by what reasons it may be maintained For if there are any which are certain and well established there in my opinion can be no man that hath reason joyning the former suspitions with the Truth of these principles but must confess that if the Science which is built thereupon is not yet ascertained it may become so by those diligent and exact observations which may be added thereunto and if it cannot promise all what Astrology causeth it to hope for from the Stars which it hath placed in the hands yet at least it may judge of the good or ill disposition of the inward parts which Sympathize with it and thereby make great discoveries for the preservation of health and for the cure of diseases For were it restrained within those limits and that she could brag of nothing else it would still be a very considerable Science which from the excellency of its knowledge and from the profit it might advance were worthy of the curiosity of the most severe Philosophers and of all those who apply themselves to the search of Natures wonders These were the considerations which I had before I came to the Examen of that Principle which I before spoke of which to speak the truth is the principal foundation whereon the disposition of the Planets on the several parts of the hand is upheld and almost the onely Source whence all the judgements which Chiromancy can promise are deduced The Method which I have observed is to shew 1. THat there are some Situations more noble then others 2. That the most noble situations are destined for the most excellent parts and that the excellency of the parts is drawn from the profit they bring 3. What profit the hands afford 4. That the right hand is more noble then the left 5. That Motion begins on the right side 6. That the hands have a greater share of natural heat 7. That the hands have most communication with the noble parts 8. That the noble parts dispence secret vertues to the hands 9. That Nature confounds not the vertues and consequently 10. That the vertues of the parts are not received in the same places of the hend 11. That the Liver sympathizeth with the fore-finger 12. That the Heart sympathizeth with the third finger 13. That the Spleen sympathizeth with the middle-finger 14. That all the inward parts sympathize with the other parts of the hand 15. That the face is an abridgement of all the outward arts 16. That all the parts sympathize with one another And 17. That the distribution of the veins which Hippocrates made to discern this sympathy was neither understood by Aristotle nor by Galen 18. Whence that due observation of Nature in her evacuations 19. That he Stars rule in the several parts of the hand 20. That the Stars govern the inward parts 21. That the Moon governs the brain 22. That the Sun governs the heart 23. That the rest of the Planets govern the other inferiour parts 24. That the Principles established do very much regulate many doubtfull things in Chiromancy Article I. TO give a solid beginning to this Enquiry we must observe that there are three orders of Situation in which all the parts of Animals excepting the Heart are found to be placed Above Below the Right and Left side Before and Behinde But they are equal neither originally nor in dignity and there is a diversity of perfection not onely amongst them but even also in those terms and differences whereof they are composed For the Fore and Hinder-part are more Noble then the Right or the Left side and they then the Upper or Lower but yet the Forepart is more Noble then the Hinder the Right then the Left and the Upper then Lower The Reason of this diversity first comes from that their three orders of Position answer to those three dimensions which are to be found in all natural bodies length breadth and depth as they answer to the three Species of quantity which are in all Mathematical bodies the Line the Surface and the Solid For the Line designs the Length the Length produceth Highand Low from the Surface comes the Breadth and from that Right and Left and the Solid produceth depth as from the depth comes the Fore and Hinder-parts Now the Line is by nature first and more simple then the Surface and this then the Solid Length also naturally precedes Breadth and this is before the Depth and in pursuit this order of Situation of high and low is more simple and before that of Right and Left as that is in respect of Before and Behinde So that Nature making always its progress from things which are less perfect to those which are more so it follows not onely that the Line and Length are less perfect then the Solid and the Depth But also that the same diversity is to be found in the order of Situation which answers every one of them and that consequently the Fore and the Hinder-part are more noble that of the Right and Left is so after it and that of Upper-most and Lowermost is less so as the first and most simple of all In effect we see that all things have been distributed to bodies according to the excellency which they ought to have For those which live first grow in length and perfecting themselves they acquire largeness and profundity Plants indeed have Hight and Lowness but are deprived of Right and Left of Before and Behinde Animals onely possess these differences although some have them not all it being onely reserved for those whose parts are better distinguished and whose motion is more regular Yet this signifies not but that all these kindes of Situation may be in bodies purely natural but they are uncertain and strangers having no internal principle which fixeth and determines them and its onely in relation to things animated that they are to be observed therein for what is the upper or fore-part of a pillar may be the Basis and hinder-part and that which is on the right without ever changing place may be placed on the left But it is not so with living and animate things in which all the differences of situation which their parts have are invariable being fixed
the right Ventricle of the heart where the blood is hottest and most boiling not onely because the Liver which is the Source of blood is neerer unto it not onely because the veins of all the right parts are more full according to Hippocrates but also because it is placed on the Right side where Motion ought alwayes to begin For as the Spirits are the principal Organs of all the Actions of the body and that Nature send them more abundantly where they ought to be strongest and most painfull we need not doubt but motion being to begin on the right side and all those preparatives which are necessary for it and the principal effect it requires being to be done in that place there must needs be a greater quantity of spirits flowing thither which heat and fortifie it by the heat it carrieth along with it and by those secret influences of those principles of life which she communicates unto it whence it comes that the parts themselves which serve nothing at all to motion and are on that side resent that force and that vigor which was destined for that onely action for the right eye is stronger and more exact then the left and the rectitude of the sight which is made by both together depends absolutely from it all those Organs which serve for generation and are on that side form males and those on the left females and speaking generally sickness most commonly assaults the left parts as those which have least heat and consequently are weakest Article V. NOw that Motion naturally begins on the right side is a truth which connot be contested if we consider what is done in all Animals for the four-footed begin to go with the right foot forwards others which have but two alwayes lift up the right first a man can better bear a burthen on his left then on the right shoulder because the principle of motion must be free and undisturbed And Painters never forget in the posture they place their Figures in to make them keep their left foot foremost as commonly we do when we stand upright forasmuch as it is that posture which brings the body to a condition to move when it would march There are even Creature to be found who by reason of their figure could not have those differences of Right and Left as Purple-shel fish and all the rest whose shels are in form of a Snails yet are they not deprived of Right because when they ought to move they must necessarily have the principle of motion All these truths being thus therefore established to wit that there are places and parts in the body which are more and less noble that the most noble are destined there to place the most excellent parts that the excellency of the parts is deduced from the profit they afford and that consequently the hands who for several services which they render are placed on high as in the most noble place ought to be more excellent then the Feet It remains now that we should shew that they receive a most considerable assistance from the principles of life and that all the noble parts communicate unto them some greater vertue then to any other whatsoever Article VI. TO which purpose we must first observe that Nature hath more care of those parts which are the most excellent that she commonly forms them first and that she useth more art in making them and more foresight in preserving them then she doth in the rest This appears in the order she keeps at their first conformation For after the Heart and the Brain which she first rudely forms the eyes which without doubt are the most delicate and the most noble Organs appear before all the rest of the parts even before there is any sign of the Liver Spleen or Reins The Mouth in all Creatures is also one of the first formed after the eyes the Organs of the progressive Motion are afterwards seen and then we observe the Liver the Spleen and the rest of the bowels as the last and most exact observations on Anatomy witness Besides we see that the higher parts are sooner finished and that in Children they are greater and stronger then the lower whence it is that they have all the same proportion which is in the stature of Dwarfs and that they cannot go by reason their legs are too short and too weak Now its certain that all the care which Nature takes either in forming them first or in advancing their perfection depends from the natural heat which she communicates in greater abundance for it is the general instrument of all her actions and the true subject wherein all her faculties recide So that if there are parts which are first formed it must needs be that the first portion of this heat which is alwayes most pure and of most efficacy in its Scource must have been dispenced unto them and if they perfect themselves before the rest it must be by a particular application of this quality which acts therein more strongly then in any other part and which for that cause is continually supplyed by the influence of the Spirits which augment and fortifie it whence it follows that the hands which are formed before so many parts and which are sooner found perfect and compleat then the feet have also had a more advantageous share of natural heat and a more ample distribution of the Spirits then they have had Article VII BUt if we will consider these parts in a more perfect condition and in a time when they are able to perform the principal functions which they are destined unto its certain that the Heart the Liver and the Brain do communicate them some greater vertue then they do to the rest of the parts for besides the actions of a natural and sensitive life which they have in common with them progressive motion is particularly reserved unto them So that to perform this action wherein is more pains and whereto more strength is required they need have a greater help and a stronger influence from those principal Members then is necessary for the rest of the actions of life So they must have more blood more heat and more spirits more blood to render their consistence more firm more natural heat to inspire more strength in them and more animal spirits to give them beyond Sence the motive faculty for without those conditions those Organs were useless and no motions could be made In a word since the instruments are no instruments but by the vertue which they draw from the cause which imploys them it must needs be that those parts which are instruments of motion must receive also from the principles of motion that vertue which make them act consequently they must have this vertue more then the rest they have more spirits to afford in them they have therefore also more communication with those noble parts which are the Sources of the spirits and of this vertue This reason is indeed common
natural unto them it s a sign of perfect health and that there is nothing in the body which follows not that order and rule which Nature requires But if we see any one which obscures it self which disappears or which is stopt in its course it s a sign of a sickness which is come to those parts which answer every one of them for if these disorders happen to the Stars the sicknesses will be contracted into the habit of the body if in the Moon in the cavities of the body but if it be in the Sun it will be the stronger and harder to be cured as that which assaults the principle of life The middle he speaks of is to be understood onely of the vital parts which comprehend the Heart and those parts which environ it Now if this be true as reason and experience have so often since confirmed it we must thence conclude that since the imagination forms in its dreams all these images of the Sun to represent the good or ill disposition of the Heart It s necessary that it should have some foundation to joyn together two things which are so different in themselves and that in this part it finde solar qualities which may serve as a model to those figures and pictures which it makes of that Star In a word the particular influences which the Heart receives from the Sun are the originals on which the Soul sleeping takes all those admiral copies otherwise why should it not do so for some other member and why in an inflamation of the Liver for example where heat is at that time greater then in the rest of the body should it not represent to it self that Star which is the Source of all the heat in the world as well as it doth in the lesser alterations of the Heart Certainly in this part there are vertues so strange and hidden that its impossible to relate them to the Elements For that it often resists flame without being able to be consumed that it will not grow soft in boiling unless you take off its ears that some fish can never be crooked if it be left in their body these are effects which are so particular unto it and of which its so hard to render a reason by manifect qualities and that it gives way for us to presume that those it hath are of a higher order and have relation as Aristotle says to the Element of the Stars Now if the influence which the Heart receives from the Sun is a cause that these dreams represent themselves by the images of this Planet the several dispositions the heart is in must needs cause the same from the Moon and from other Stars in relation to the cavities of the body and exteriour parts and thence it is that without doubt Astrology hath placed under the direction of the Moon the Brain the Stomack the Intestines the Bladder and the Matrix which are the most considerable cavities of the body but also that it hath distributed all the outward parts to all the signs of the Zodiack having first founded it on this doctrine of Hippocrates whereto it hath since added its own experiences Article XXIII AFter all these reasons we need not doubt but that the other Planets also have their particular influences and that they govern but as they do some particular parts of the body But Philosophy hath taken so little care to take observations thereof that besides those which Astrology furnisheth us withal we have none which do observe the direction which Jupiter hath on the Liver that which Saturn hath on the Spleen c. unless you will place in this rank those scars and moles which are to be found naturally imprinted on those parts For it s assured that he at whose birth Saturne rules hath commonly one of these marks on the region of the Spleen if it be Jupiter on that of the Liver if Venus on the secret parts and there is another betwixt the brows for which cause Dares Phrygius in the Picture which he made of the fair Hellen said that she had one betwixt her brows which Cornelius Nepos hath expressed in these two fair Verses Sola supercili is nubes inter flua rar is Audaci macula tenues discriminat arius But I esteem not these observations just enough nor sufficiently confirmed by experience to draw a certain proof of what we pretend it shall suffice us to say that until there be a more exact inquiry made the Sun and the Moon who without difficulty command the Heart and the Brain shall serve out of a prejudgment to make us beleeve that the rest of the Planets have an empire over those Members which Astrology hath submitted them unto and consequently we may conclude that that Principle which it hath assigned Chiromancy is not without foundation and that it may maintain a great many of the promises which it hath made Article XXIV THese are the reasons on which I did beleeve the establishment might be made which might also serve to regulate many things which are not yet agreed on in the practice of this Art to observe the causes of divers effects which are to be found therein and if I do not deceive my self they will prepare the minde to beleeve that Metoposcopy wants no more then this foundation to makes it an Art and to maintain the truth of its maximes for if the noble parts have so great a connexion with the hand they in all probability ought to have a greater with the face which is the abridgement of all the body the seat of the Sences and the Souls mirror and if vertues do not confound themselves as hath been shown every one may have as in the Hand it s proper and affected place that of the Heart will be admitted into one place that of the Liver into another and so for the rest and consequently the same Planets which command those parts will govern the same places and will there leave the marks of the good or ill influences which they have shed abroad through the principal members of the Body But so curious a matter and so carelessly examined requires a particular Discourse as well as this and with this had need of new observations to confirm the truth thereof Perhaps I shall have one day time to communicate these unto you which I have observed and to shew you that the whole man appears in the face we may say that Man hath not been well known since we have not known those wonders which are in his face Resuming therefore our former discourse I said that those reasons which we had deduced regulate many things which are doubtfull in the practice of this Art for there are some which hold that we must not stop at the inspection of the Hands and that that of the Feet is also necessary that the left Hand ought to be considered in women and of those who are born in the night and the right in men and of those who