On Chiromancy

...from an excess of material. Now it remains to speak of the physiognomy of the hands and their actions, concerning which we shall also speak in the configuration of the hand, with the subject matter noted in the exposition below. First, therefore, it must be known that a hand that is overly short proceeds from coldness and very thick humors. A hand that is somewhat long with fingers that are rather blunt signifies a person who is slow, tardy, and of a phlegmatic temperament. And when you discover a woman to have long fingers and a short hand, it signifies that she will have a difficult labor on account of a short fissure of the womb. When, however, you find a palm that is long, and fingers that are longer in due proportion to the hand itself, and it is found to be not soft to the touch but rather hard, it signifies a person who is ingenious at many evil works, especially a thief and a vicious person. And when you find a hand that is concave, solid to the touch, and well-knit in its joints, it will denote the length of life, but also that the person is defiled by much malice. But if it were poorly knit in its joints, it will signify a shortness of life and a person who is an accumulator of coins. And when the hand is thin and long and disposed in good proportion according to the proportion of the body, and colored, [it signifies] a person of good character, long-lived, a lover of justice and honors, and one who fears God. When, indeed, you find a hand that is shorter than the quality of its body, [it signifies] a caviling and sagacious man, who cannot bear words, but is strong in his arms. And when you find a hand that is quite short and thick, with fingers also short and thick, and somewhat broad at the extremities in the manner of horn-tips, it is a sign that such a man is a transgressor, a thief, an ambusher, and filled with all wickedness, and all the more so the broader his fingers are at the extremities. When the palm is longer than its due proportion, and the fingers are shorter and br...