Sound mind, or, Contributions to the natural history and physiology of the human intellect / [John Haslam].

  • Haslam, John, 1764-1844.
Date:
1819
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Sound mind, or, Contributions to the natural history and physiology of the human intellect / [John Haslam]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    mainly the hand has contributed to our advancement. If we investigate the standards of admeasurement, we find that many have been derived from the human body, and more especially from its oper- ative instrument, the hand. That the members and dimensions of our own body should have been the original standards of measurement is most natu- ral, and the terms in which they are con- veyed afford a sufficient illustration of the fact. Thus, we have a nail; pollex^ pouce^ pulgada^ Swedish turn, for ah inch; which word has been misapplied by our Saxon predecessors, and corrupted from the Latin uncia, which related only to weight. We still measure by digits, by fingers’ breadth, by hands high. Cubit from cubitus, was formerly employed* 12