Palmistry
An ancient method of fortune telling is palmistry or palm reading, a method of alleged divination also known as "chiromancy." It probably originated in the East and was spread westward possibly by the Romany peoples (or Gypsies).
Palmistry involves analyzing the shape of the hand and fingers, the lines of the palm ( including the "head," "heart," and "life" lines), and other features, including— more recently— the fingerprints.
Hand Print
Although the hand itself provides the most "information" to the palmist, inked palm prints have often been used as an adjunct or substitute. Illustrated here is a palm print bearing a written name and date in 1896 (although whether it is the subject's birthdate or the date of the print is uncertain). It appears to have been made for a reading, and bears an annotation in Hindi script.
