Palmistry

Palmistry : is the art of assessing a person's character and foretelling their future by reading the various features and lines on the palm of their hand.

Judging by the number of hands painted in prehistoric caves it would seem that palmistry held a interest for humans since the stone age. Archaeological discoveries have discovered hands made of stone, wood and ivory by ancient civilizations.

The emperor of china used his thumbprint when sealing documents in 3000 bc. Information on the laws and practise of hand reading have been found in vedic scripts, the bible and early semitic writings. Aristotle (384-322 bc) discovered a treatise on palmistry on an alter to the god hermes.

The greek physicians Hippocrates and Galen (ad 130-200) were both knowledgeable about the use of palmistry as a clinical aid. Julius Caesar (102-44bc) judged his men by palmistry. Notable people such as Paracelsus (1493-1541) and Fludd (1574-1637) brought respectibility to palmistry through their writings. Later Dr Carl Carus, physician to the king of saxony in the 19th century matched palms to personality.

Advances in genetics, psychology and forensics have propeled palmistry into the modern age. In 1901 scotland yard adopted the technique of fingerprinting in criminal investigation and identification.