"Mankind are earthen jugs with spirits in them." Hawthorne
The human body, the earthly tenement of the mind or soul, is, in construction and operation, very like the mechanical contrivance we call and engine; with this difference, that the human engine is constructed of bone and sinew, and mechanical engine of wood, iron, and steel, but each is made up of an infinite number of parts. Every mechanical engine is built upon the plan that will best enable it to do the kind of work it is intended to perform; some are so small that their mission is to become the interior works of a watch. Some are built to propel a locomotive at high speed, and others to furnish power to some gigantic manufacturing establishment. In each case the plan of construction and size varies in accordance with the work to be done. The engine, no matter what may be its magnitude or power, is only a shell, a thing of great possibilities, but entirely useless and inoperative until the driving or propelling force which is to set it in motion is applied. This driving force is in some cases steam, in others water-power, compressed air, electricity, or, as in the case of the watch, the mainspring. In whatever way the compressed energy or driving power is generated, it is made available only by combining a large number of primary elements and forces. Thus with steam, water is necessary, a boiler to hold it, fire to heat with water, a place in which to burn the fire, and fuel with which to build it. All other driving force are in the same way made up from distinct and desperate elements which, combined, will produce their particular kind of power. The engine, we have said, is useless without the driving force, which operates it, and it may be added that the driving force, if it has no engine to operate, only wastes itself in the air. The human body is the human engine; it is built and especially adapted for specific purposes, it is the most complex of all machines, but it is entirely useless until the proper driving force is behind it. In its first stages of growth, the human body is a mere piece of protoplasm; it is not until the dawn of mind and the awakening of intelligence manifest themselves that the human embryo becomes a human being. We all know that life, the vital spark which enters out body and sets in motion the organs of mind and sense and makes us live, comes into us from a source outside ourselves. The child before it is born is truly a human being, but is alive only as any other organ of the mother's boy is alive, viz.; it acts in a mechanical way and has motion. This unborn child while in the process of formation is getting ready to live, to think, and act, but until the vital part of intelligence is projected into it, it does not really live. Just as the nose will become the future organ of the sense of smell, the ear of hearing, the eye of sight, so the lines in the hand are prepared and in the hand, ready to receive the spark that will set the entire machinery in motion. And when the vital spark of life has entered the body, as we believe through the ends of the fingers, and at the same moment causes the hand to do its part. The unborn child has not life in the fullest sense; the corpse has not life,- life has departed. You or I cannot impart life to either, neither can they impart life to themselves. Argue as there is some omnipotent force outside of us all that gives life and takes it without consulting our wishes. Some have called this force Buddha, some Ether, some Electricity, some God, Some the influence of the Planets. Whatever the name, the result is the same. But for the purposes of Palmistry you must at least imagine that a life current runs through the human body, and that it comes from an outside source.
I have observed in the birth of many children the moment at which the awakening takes place, and I have asked physicians to observe for me the same thing in the patients coming under their practice. The results have always been the same. At the moment the child is born, and before it has given the first cry, or take air into the lungs, the fingers extend with a quick, spasmodic jerk, stand perfectly straight and rigid, and, following this involuntary motion of the hands, the lungs take in air, and a cry escapes from the lips. Life has begun. Shortly after, the child feels hunger, and the hand goes at once to the mouth. The brain is acting, and directing the servant, the hand, which seeks to carry food to the mouth, the proper place to receive it. Thus from the first moment of life, the hand takes its place as the servant of the brain, and I believe that at the moment the fingers of the child extend, and become straight and rigid, that life, the vital spark which sets the human machinery in motion, awakens the mind, and habilitates the senses, is project into the child through the ends of the rigid fingers, and thus becomes the gift of God to His creature. But I do not ask you to believe in any name for this outside force. Call it what you please, but if you will picture to yourself that life comes into the body as above described, this conception will greatly aid you in reasoning out many combinations that you will encounter in your future studies.

Now after life has begun and the child is in the world, a human engine with its driving force, it has a career before it. For the first few months it is little more than an animal, as all of its time is spend in sleeping, eating, and growing. During this period, its hands, by the thick development of the third phalanges of the fingers, show it to be a mere sensualist whose sole desire is to satisfy its hunger. As months roll into the first year, less sleep and less feeding are necessary, and as years increase and mind develops, the trend of its though begins to manifest itself. During all this time the brain is unfolding, and the hand is changing from the fat little sensual hand of the baby, and taking whatever shape is distinctive to the type to which the child belongs.

Up to the age of twelve to fourteen years, the hand is as unformed as the character of the child; but as this age marks the transition form the child to the adult, soon after it it passed the character and hands will begin to assume the proportions which are to guide it in the future. This is the time when a scientific estimate of the character of the child- it's type, whether good, bad, or weak in development, together with a knowledge of all the force back of it- would be of inestimable value to a parent. It is much easier "to correct a fault before it occurs," than to obliterate a habit thoroughly established. It is much easier for a child to learn what it loves and can understand, than for it to master studies for which its mind is not adapted. The child is an engine, and while you may by shifting belts, cogs, and wheels make a locomotive run a saw-mill, you have spoiled the twenty- thousand dollar locomotive, which was a much finer machine when devoted to its proper uses than it is in its changed condition, and it does not run the saw-mill as well as a little upright engine would, which was built for the purpose at a cost of only about five hundred dollars. thus, from a lack of knowledge about the human engine, millions of failures are seen of people who could successfully have done the thing they were intended to do, but who have grown sour, discourages, and unsuccessful when force into vocation for which they were never created. Is this the fault of the Creator? Truly not, for the more one studies His handiwork the more comes the conviction that everything has been provided for. He made the human hand a reflector of the brain, and He wrote in it a language plain, simple, and easy to understand, which He intended that we should use for our benefit, for He put in Human brains the key by which this language could be read. But mankind with, all-important own wisdom, yet with ignorance as dense as night, has been blind to advantages and refuse to decipher the story plainly written for guidance. Some well- meaning folk have laughed and sneered at those investigations having for their object the solving of this great problem, the knowledge of character and aptitudes, and in addition have asked, " Is it not wrong to pry into the secrets of the Almighty?"
Such a question, well-meaning in its intentions, is equal to the ignorance of the dark ages, and in no sense is it in tough with the progress of science in this century, when the secrets of the Almighty have been unfolded by those who have discovered and harnessed electricity, and liquid, and liquid air, and who have made many useful additions to the sum-total of those gifts for which humanity should be grateful to its Creator.
No one will say it is "prying into the secrets of the Almighty", for the botanist to study flowers; they see lines in the leaves which tell them a story and their work is scientific.
No one will say that it is prying "into the secrets of the Almighty" for the physician to study disease; they look at your tongue and tell you that your liver is torpid. The liver and tongue are connected through the alimentary canal, and the tongue reflects the liver. Why is it "prying into the secrets of the Almighty" for the palmist to look at your thumb, and tell you that your will-power is deficient?
The center of the brain is in direct connection with the thumb, and Will being a mental quality, why is it so ridiculous that the thumb should reflect this quality of the brain? It is not; scientific Palmistry is perfectly logical, and all its deductions are reached from an estimate of the mental and physical condition of the subject. The time has arrived when the intelligence of the world should no longer permit the liver of children to be hampered, impeded, and ruined by the fact that they are forced into vocations in which they can never be successful, when by the conscientious use of our science they can be guided to their proper sphere in life. Many have reached adult years as failures have asked the question, "What right has the Creator to plunge me into this world without my consent, leave me ignorant of myself, give me no knowledge of the future, allow me to become wicked, careless, or corrupt, and then visit a judgment or punishment upon me?" The Creator has not done this; He has written what you want to know in your hand, but human ignorance and folly have refused either to read it or to allow it to be read. Many have heard when it was too late what they might have been. The time to prevent the failure is before it occurs, by starting with the child.

Let us approach this study with minds filled with its seriousness, for in no other way can we fully receive its benefits; and let us put aside forever the idea that its whole object is to tell a gushing maiden of her lovers. The human being, then, is the human engine. The type will tell us for what purpose the engine was created. If this engine is to operate to the best advantage, it must be balanced in all its parts, no one portion so heavy that it overweighs the others.
If such as state exists, the machine runs sideways or twisted, and the human being is out of proportion, narrow and warped. A perfect balance is what we seek, and when we find a perfectly balanced hand we find a balanced character and a person who succeeds by steadiness of manner and movement, and not through efforts put forth by fits and starts. It is very certain that brains and health are absolutely necessary to success. Health may sometimes be absent, but brains never. So, in our study of mankind, we are constantly trying to see how well balanced, how healthy, and how brainy subjects are. The first portion of our study will be given to Chirognomy, which does not relate to the lines in the hand; and this section must be thoroughly mastered before the lines can have any meaning for you. For this reason, I ask that you will take each of the following chapters in succession, as this will lead you gradually to a thorough understanding of the fundamental matters which will enable you to appreciate the finishing chapters which treat exhaustively of the Mount types. As we shall refer at times to the lines in the hand before reaching their full consideration, I insert an image of the seven main lines; the location, character, and general attributes of which should now be learned.

The Line of Heart will show the strength or weakness of the affections, and the physical strength of the heart. The clearer, more even, and better-colored the line is, the better is the heart's action, and the more constant the affection.

The Line of Head will show the strength of the mental powers, and the physical strength of the brain. The clearer, more even, and better-colored it is, the better is the concentration of the mind, and self-control, and the less danger there is from brain disorders.

The Line of Life shows the strength of the constitution, the kind of strength, whether muscular robustness, or nervous energy, and, as physical strength is a great factor in human life, this line is most important.

The line of Saturn accentuates the Mount of Saturn, and shows that the balancing qualities of that type are present. One how has these restraining elements is less liable to do foolish things, and the course through life is likely to be more even and smooth. The more even, clear, and straight this line is, the more even the course through life will probably be.

The Line of Apollo accentuates the Mount of Apollo, and brings out strongly the brilliant qualities of that type. The clearer, more even, and better-colored this line is, the more creative power in art, or productive money-making quality in business the subject has.

The Lines of Saturn and Apollo do not show defects of health. The Line of Mercury, often called the Line of Health, shows distinctively health difficulties. It will be treated fully hereafter.