Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 15, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 January 1918 — WHAT THUMBS ARE WORTH [ARTICLE]

WHAT THUMBS ARE WORTH

Digit Is Estimated to Represent Fully .One-Third of the Total Value of the Hand. One has only to grasp a pen or a tool of some sort to realize that the different fingers are far from having yie same value in regard to their usefulness in performing work. The most important, states a writer, is the thumb, for without it seizing or holding would be very imperfect. The hand is no longer pincers, but merely a claw, when deprived of the thumb. It may be estimated that the thumb represents fully a third of the total value of the hand. The total loss of the thumb is estimated by competent authorities as 15 to 35 per cent for the right and-10 to 1$ per cent for the left hand, except for workers in art, whep 40 to 50 for the right and 25 to 40 per cent for the left hand comes nearer the value. The total loss of the index finger causes an incapacity estimated at from 10 to 25 per cent for the right hand and 10 to 15 per cent for the left. The middle finger is less Important than the index. The ring finger is least Important, and the little finger may be compared to its neighbor, except in the professions in which it serves as a point of support for the hand. '