Errors connected with the Positions of the Hand.

1. The employment, in ordinary unexcited delivery, of any other state of the fingers, than that designated as the natural state; also any faulty mode of presenting the extended, clenched, collected, or pointing positions.

2. The moving of the fingers about in an indefinite manner, or upon themselves, or the clenching of the hand, when it is hanging by the side, where it ought to be perfectly at rest.

3. The too frequent presentation of the prlm in the other positions which have been described, instead of that which is called its natural position.

4. The placing of the hand edgewise, equidistant from prone and supine, as represented in

Fig. 24; which has no meaning but as a childish imitation of the act of riving or splitting.

Fig. 24.

5. The hollowing of the palm, by approximating the fingers and thumb to it. An open palm adds both grace and energy to delivery.

6. The use of the tremulous motion of the hand, without any assignable reason.

7. The bringing of the two hands together, as in clasping them, laying the one in the other, crossing the fingers, &c. To ordinary delivery, these are not appropriate, whatever significance some of them may have as the symbols of excited passion.

8. The bringing of the hand to the face, or the laying of it on any part of the body, except when the sentiment expressly demands it.

9. Instead of placing the hand on the heart in the man

ner prescribed, the touching of the breast with the thumb or the tips of the fingers, the placing of the hand in the wrong place, as on the pit of the stomach, too far toward the left side, or too high up on the breast, also a wrong position of the arm, as when it is made to hug the body, or when the elbow is unnaturally thrown out from the body.

10. The employing of the hand in adjusting any part of the clothing, in brushing up the hair, in flourishing a handkerchief, in moving a book or turning over its pages merely as a matter of habit, and when no necessity demands it.— The orator is denied no privilege of using his hand, in helping himself to a glass of water, or using a handkerchief, when his convenience demands it; but then this should, as far as possible, be done during the paragraphic rests, so as not to obstruct or interfere with the regular current of his delivery. And even in doing this, all affected, finical positions of the hand should be avoided, as well as those which are peculiar and awkward.

SECTION VI.

OF THE ARM.

THE arm performs but a subordinate part in gesture, it being little more than the agent for moving the hand. The performance of this office however is sufficient to give it great importance in the action of the orator. Every natural expression of feeling is characterized by its simplicity; and in their simplicity, the movements of the arm find the chief element of grace. Ornament is not to be sought after, as a primary excellence; as a secondary excellence however, it should not be undervalued. Awkward gestures detract from the force of the sentiments delivered, instead of adding

to it, by withdrawing the mind from the matter to the manner-from the subject in hand to the action of the speaker. These then should be most sedulously avoided; and to aid the learner in adopting a free and graceful action of the arm, the following suggestions are made.

First. The action of the arm should always be free and unconstrained, appearing to proceed rather from the shoulder than from the elbow; though care should be taken, that the elbow be neither straight, nor rigid and stiff.

Second. The arm should be so moved, that the hand should always describe curved lines, instead of those which are straight and angular. The curve is the line of beauty; and grace in the action of the arm depends very materially on the observance of this principle.

Third.—In all ordinary gestures, the motion of the hand through vertical or horizontal curves is deemed more graceful than that through lines oblique to these. The lines employed for this purpose are presented in Fig. 25. Let the line z fR be considered a part of the vertical circle passing down in front of the speaker's body. Let ze Rez be another vertical circle crossing this one at z and R, and passing each side of the speaker. This may be called the primitive or extended circle. Half way between these two circles, and cutting them at z and R, let two oblique circles, z o R bz and Z c R b z, be supposed to pass--the dotted part of the circles being back of the primitive circle. And let the centre of the speaker's breast-the point from which the movements of the arms may be conceived to emanate, be supposed in the centre of this imaginary sphere. These circles will represent the lines in which the vertical movements of the hands are made,-without however intending to imply, that mathematical precision in this respect

is either practicable or desirable. The right hand may move easily and gracefully anywhere in the lines ze R, zo R, Z f R, and occasionally, though with less ease or grace, in the line z C R. The left hand moves through the corresponding lines on the other side.

These circles are crossed by three others, the first HH H, at the elevation of the speaker's breast, and here designated as horizontal, another D D D, depressed 45° below, and the other E E E elevated 45° above the first, and both parallel to it. These latter circles represent the lines in which the transverse movements of the hand are made,--the right

hand without difficulty passing from c on the left back to b on the right, while the left may pass from o to b. These movements are reversed and made inward when the hand is to be placed upon the breast or other part of the body.

Fourth.-A mere swing of the arm, even though it is in a curved line, and though it is in itself ever so graceful, does not accomplish the most important objects of gesture, In general, there should be a point, at which the gesture of the hand should abruptly terminate. This remark applies more particularly however to the movement in the vertical circles. And the points at which the gestures of the hand should thus terminate are the points at which these vertical and transverse circles cut each other. Allowing the right hand then occasionally to cross the body to the circle z C R, and also to be thrown back, as it sometimes is, to the circle z b R, there is presented the following regular system of gestures, depending on the position of the arm and hand at the time the gesture terminates, each of which will be designated by a name for convenience of future reference, and illustrated by a figure.

Systematic Positions of the Arms.