The flexibility of a hand is shown by the ease with which it bend itself backward, and to test this quality lay the hand of your client, with the palm upward, in the palm of your left hand, and with your right hand exert pressure down on it until you have benit it as far bacward as you can.
Notce whether the whole hand is flexible, or whether the bending occurs only at the knuckle joints, for in the flexibility which means the nost, you will find that the wholel hand bends fingers and all, and does not merely give way at the knucles. In the examination for flexibility there will be great degrees of variation, runninbg all the way from hands in which the fingers bend back at an angle of nearly forty-five degrees to others where the finers cannot be even straightened. The extreme degrees of flexibility you will find in the hands of women, while pronounced flexibility in the hands of man is a rarity. The flexibility of the hand shows the degree of flexibility of the mind and nayture, and the readiness with jwhich this mind has power to unfold itself, and "see around the corner" of things.

-Stiff and hard to open - where the fingers form a curve inward= Cautous This hand indicates the mind that is cautious, immobile, close, inclined to narrowness and stinginess, and which, in every way, lacks poiability or adaptability. Such a person is afraid of new venture, afraid of new ideas; the method of dress and mode of living of his ancestors satuidfy him; he has the POLITICAL AND RELIGIOUS faith of his fathers, and there is absolutely no use in trying to argue him out of it . When he views the methods and manners of the present generation, he long for the open firplace, the stage coach, and, as he calls them the "good old days". He is one whose narrowness makes him ungenerous. Appealed to for help, he replies, "I had to work for my money: let then do the same". He thinks that failure comes because the oldtime ways have been discarded, and the "new fangled notions" are ruining everybody. He is the man who succeeds by hard work, deprivation, and saving,
and he cannot how success can be achieved in any other way. He is in short, cramped and narrow in his ideas, stingy in his ways, unprogressive in his views, and lacks flexibility, or elasticity, in mind and manner, as well as flexibility of hands. He is, however, exceedingly close-mouthed, and you can trust him with a secret, not from any desire on his part of doing you a favor, but nothing that he can keep gets away from him, so he holds your secret as variciously as he clings to his own dollars.
The hand is usally HARD.

You will find hands which when pressed backwards, open readily until the fingers straighten themselves naturally, so that the hand opens with ease to its full extent; there will be cases where it bends back fust a frifle. This hand is the medium or normal develpment, and its owner is balances, even in action, up to date, and has contal of himself. It is the hand of one who does not go to extremes, is self contained, listens readily, and understands what he hears. He is not held back by old fogyisn, nor impelled into rashness or overenthusiasm. He can use money properly, will help those in need, but does not throw away either sympathy or charity. To him life is a problem, it is serious, and he thoughtfully uses his mind trying to understand it. he looks over the world from a bird's eye point of view, can apprediate the difficulties that surround humanity, and will not rry to find the remedy by crying that we are depearting from old ways neither will he want to turn everything upsed down with the advancement of new ideas. He is thoughtful, broad, earnest, sympathetic, yet all within bounds. He is, in plain words, well balanced, and not an extremist. This hand is generally elastic in consistency, and impresses you as possessing vital force.

There is another hand that is flexible in the extreme. The finger band back, without giving their owner any pain, until a graceful arch is formed. The fingers seem moblie, and the bones cartilaginous. This hand, as you vand it bac and forth, impresses you with its great pliability, and shows readily what a fine machine it is, and how easily it can adapt and shape itself to circumstances. This flexible hand shows an elastic mind, a brain susceptible of reveiving keen impressions, and of understanding them quickly. It is the hand of the person who radiliy adapts himself to his surroundings, is versatile, and does not reuaire a diagram with every statemetn. Its elasticity is its danger, for it is a brilliant hand, driected by abrilliant mind. Its owner possesses in the highest degree versatility, and, being able to do many things, is liable to diversity his talents and lack concentration in any one direction, thus becoming a Jack of all trades the possessor of the flexible hand is extremely sympathetic, generous, and money to him is only the means of securing what he wants, not a thing to be hoarded for itself along. The possession of riches gives pleasure to these persons only in that
it allows them luxury, and extravagance is a prevailing tendency of the type. They are emotional, easily moved by a pitiful story, and readily give to any one. Their minds work rapidly, they absorb ideas quickly, and their tendency is to go too fast. These brilliant hands are capable of the most wonderful ahcievements; they are not the hands of dreamers, but are full of life, and action, though too versatile often for thier own good. They can do too many tings turn their minds in too many directions, and unless restrained they come to naught from too much talent. They are as ectreme in prodigality as the stiff hand is in economy. and yet they have this wonderful factor in
their favor, viz; they are so sensible that they can see their own failings when properly pointed out, and with good head lines, and good thumbs, they turn their brilliancy to fine account by applying determination and self-contral to their natural versatility, which qualites give them the hightest degree of usccess. Hnads where only the first phalanges of the jfiners are flexible, the rst of the hands normal, give one third of the drgree of flexibility shown when the hwole of the finers are flexible, indicating flexibility in the mental qualites of the fienrs on jwhich this condition is found. Where the finers bend back at the knuckles, you will find, in a musical hand, fine abitliy in execution. It also hsows the extrvagance of the extremely flexible type. It will not behard to find good speciemtns of the hands dealt with in this chapter: the first you will find oftenmost among middle-aged farmers;; the latter types you will find everywhere. Compare two hands to find whethere flexibility of mind is improving or worsening.

end of chapter