A thin, hard, dry palm indicates timidity, and a nervous, worrying, troubled nature.
A very thick palm, full and soft, shows sensuality of disposition.
When the palm is firm and elastic, and in proportion to the fingers, it indicates evenness of mind, energy, and quickness of intellect.
When not very thick, but soft and flabby, it denotes indolence, love of luxury, and a tendency toward sensuality.
A hollow palm has been proved to be an unfortunate sign; such people usually have even more disappointments than fall, as a rule, to the lot of mortals. I have as well noticed a peculiarity that has not been mentioned in other works on the subject, namely, that the hollow inclines more to one line or portion of the hand than to another.
If it inclines to the line of life, it promises disappointment and trouble in domestic affairs, and if the rest of the hand denotes ill-health, it is an added sign of delicacy and trouble.
When the hollow comes under the line of fate, it indicates misfortune in business, money, and worldly affairs.
When under the line of heart it tells of disappointment in the closest affections.
I do not hold with other works on the subject, that the fingers must be longer than the palm to show the intellectual nature. The palm of the hand is never, properly speaking, exceeded in length by the fingers. How can we expect this to be the case with the square, spatulate, and philosophic types? The statement that in every case the fingers must be longer than the palm is erroneous and misleading.
Large and Small Hands
It is a thing well worth remarking, that, generally speaking, people with large hands do very fine work and love great detail in work, while those with very small hands go in for large things, and cannot bear detail in employment. In 1892 I examined the hands of the diamond setters and engravers engaged in some of the largest goldsmith’s establishments in Bond Street, London, and out of nearly a hundred, I did not find a single exception to this rule. One man—and I have the cast before me now—had extraordinarily large hands, yet he was famed for the fineness and minutiæ of the work which those great hands turned out.
Small hands, on the contrary, prefer to carry out large ideas, and, as a rule, make plans far too large for their power of execution. They love to manage large concerns and govern communities, and, speaking generally, even the writing of small hands is large and bold.