Its extreme sensitiveness, for in the hand the nerves are far more numerous than in any other part of the body, except in the tongue, and in the palm the nerves are
more in number than in any other part of the hand; this accounts for the very keen sense of touch which the palm possesses, and it also accounts for the readiness of the palm to register the internal heat of the body: for in a fever the hand becomes very hot though the rest of the body may be cold. These are proofs that the nervous fluid from the brain acts directly upon the hand; therefore the thoughts, feelings, actions, etc., done through the medium of the brain impress themselves upon the hand, the more so because the nerve branches are arranged in regular rows in the palm of the hand, and are very close together. In this way, the hand becomes a register of feelings, passions and experiences, whether caused from within or without; and according as the impressions be deep or slight, or the subject impressionable or unimpressionable, so will the record be more or less clear to the hand reader.