Deficient will is strong when on guard, stronger than a normal will under similar circumstances, but it is not the real quality, and subjects with such a will fall by the way whenever they are not intentionally exerting it. Whenever drunkards have, by sheer force of will, reformed, it was because they had the strong will to begin with; they could not otherwise have succeeded. Many students have come to think that all persons with large will phalanges will be necessarily successful, as they have so much determination to push them forward. This will be true if they have anything to push. Determination is only a force that can push something else; it is not worth much by itself. It can drive some other power to achievement, but determination must have something to drive, or it is valueless. If your subject is literary, musical, artistic, or practical, determination behind these gifts will undoubtedly bring them to good account, but it would be worth little that a man was merely determined, for he must have some ability before determination can bring him success.

Understanding this, do not say, upon seeing a large thumb, "You are bound to have great success, you have so much determination." The person may be ignorant, heavy, and coarse; if so the will phalanx would only make him stubborn, and his coarse qualities would be the coarser.

And now go back to the position of the thumb on the hand. We have considered the high-set thumb, which is akin to the monkey's, as well as its opposite, the low-set one; we will now take up the straight thumb, set close to the hand (69). A thumb placed either high, low, or normally, and which has, as its distinctive mark, the closeness with which it lies by the side of the hand, the straightness of its carriage, and lack of flexibility at the joint, shows a person the opposite of the one whose thumb is low set and opens wide from the fingers. This is not called the stiff thumb; for it is not always pronouncedly stiff, although it has not the flexible or supple joint. The marked peculiarity in this thumb is its carriage, as a whole, and its disposition to lie close to the side of the hand. This indicates a cautious person, one who will be afraid to say much because he fears you may presume on the acquaintance and ask some favor. These people are close, lack sympathy, and are hard to approach. They surround themselves with a wall which is difficult to scale. They hold you at arm's length, and are entirely lacking in independence, narrow in their views, bigoted and set in their ways, and do not impress you as being open or frank.

They are secretive, neither giving nor inviting confidences, consequently they are persons who do not make many friends, nor do they seek them. If with this thumb you find the fingers stiff and lacking flexibility, it will accentuate all of the peculiarities; and if they have short, critical nails, it will, in addition, make them mean and petty. This thumb shows at a glance the want of warmth and sympathy, the caution, secretive ness, narrowness, and unresponsiveness of its owner.

No. 69. THUMB CARRIED CLOSE TO HAND.

The medium setting of the thumb (70), neither too high nor too low, not tied closely to the hand, and not lying away from it as if trying to break loose, but seeming to stand upright, bold, fearless, independent, and full of life; shows a person with well-balanced views, not prodigal, yet not stingy and mean. One who always listens to a reasonable appeal, and who responds in a sensible way. He is ruled by neither head nor heart, but by a combination of both. He is balanced, properly cautious, reasonably generous, dignified, and responsive to approaches coming in sensible and reasonable ways. He does not overflow with sentiment, nor does he shut himself off from his fellow-men; but in business, religion, love, home-life, everywhere, he is a balanced, sensible person. You feel, with this thumb, that the owner is not hiding from you either thoughts or actions, that he is frank in disposition, true to friends, and that his acquaintance is worth cultivating. It is a thumb that attracts you and gives you confidence, shows neither the domineering will, nor the quibbler, speaks of no extreme in anything, but of even temper, good thoughts, and a balancing of qualities.

No. 70. MEDIUM SETTING.

No. 71. ELEMENTARY THUMB.

We now come to a consideration of the shape of the thumb as a whole, and it is very important to understand this thoroughly. In this consideration we shall begin at the bottom and go upward in the scale, starting with the heavy, elementary development (71). This thumb is one which is shaped like a banana, is entirely devoid of symmetry, the two joints do not show where they separate, but the whole thumb looks like a wad of flesh stuck on the hand. The illustration shown gives a clear idea of this thumb, and is the best specimen I have ever seen. Everything about this thumb speaks of heaviness, coarseness, animalism. It is brute force in will, brute force in reasoning, and brute passion in love. There is nothing elevating or uplifting about it; all is heavy, coarse, and common, blunt, tactless, and ignorant. The owner of this thumb walks over everyone he meets, cares nothing for refinement of manner or speech, nor for the feelings of others, and is boorish and clownish even among those as coarse as himself. It is the personification of ignorant obstinacy, operated in an unreasoning way.