"Index finger" Quotes from Famous Books
 ... for use as an algometer. (See Fig. 35.) It consists of an induction coil, put into action by a bichromate battery. The poles of the secondary coil are placed in contact with the back of the patient's hand and brought slowly up behind the index finger, when the strength of the induced current is increased until the patient feels a prickling sensation in the skin (general sensibility) and subsequently a sharp pain (sensibility to pain). The general sensibility of normal individuals ...
— Criminal Man - According to the Classification of Cesare Lombroso • Gina Lombroso-Ferrero
... it is hardly necessary to say that Ossaroo did his best in the manufacture of that rope—every strand of it being twisted between his index finger and his thumb, as smoothly and evenly as if he had been spinning ...
— The Cliff Climbers - A Sequel to "The Plant Hunters" • Captain Mayne Reid
... admiration—was determined to play with the subject a little longer. The letter was not directed even to the Commoner. It was directed to a "Peer;" and as he uttered this sacred word, with a delicious affectation of reverence, he raised the index finger of his hand to high heaven, as though only a reference to a region so exalted could sufficiently manifest the elevation of the personage who had been the recipient of the letter. The House saw the point, and laughed in great ...
— Sketches In The House (1893) • T. P. O'Connor
... probable that Irene herself would have been surprised if she were told that it was once the custom for engaged young ladies to reveal their happiness by displaying a ring on the middle finger, while those who were free but prepared to wed might coyly announce the fact by a ring on the index finger. Be that as it may, Royson was dumfounded by the sight of the glistening diamonds. They winked at him evilly, and ...
— The Wheel O' Fortune • Louis Tracy
... of speech. Two Kayans quarrelled over the sale of a pig. The current price was a dollar a BUHAK (I.E. the span from finger-tip to thumb-tip, see vol. ii. p. 212). The buyer had insisted on measuring it by spans from thumb to tip of second finger, whereas the customary span is to the tip of the index finger. The case was brought before the chief, who of course might have contented himself, but not perhaps the purchaser, by authoritatively laying down the law of custom. He, therefore, being a man of tact and experience, thrust out his second finger and pointed it ...
— The Pagan Tribes of Borneo • Charles Hose and William McDougall
... a little curtsey to Mrs. Chichester, smiled at Ethel, looked loftily at Alaric, then ran up the stairs and, following the footman's index finger pointing the way, she disappeared ...
— Peg O' My Heart • J. Hartley Manners
... index finger and his friend came in. Looking him in the eye, the President asked in a stage ...
— The Last Spike - And Other Railroad Stories • Cy Warman
... the ladle. Take the wiping cloth in the right hand and with the fingers spread, clean off the top edge quickly, then shape the joint with the one cloth. With a little practice you will gain this knack. The joint can then be wiped. The left hand can steady the pipe. Spread the index finger and third finger to opposite sides of the cloth and ...
— Elements of Plumbing • Samuel Dibble
... an acute irritation of the sensory nerves of the index finger of habitual gun-packers; usually ...
— The Red-Blooded Heroes of the Frontier • Edgar Beecher Bronson
... In one a dry sponge that has been saturated in salt and water is nicely balanced against a small weight at the opposite end. The sponge becomes heavier or lighter according to the presence or absence of moisture, and any variation in this respect may be noted on the gauge above, to which the index finger on ...
— Harper's Young People, August 17, 1880 - An Illustrated Weekly • Various
... is whistling through our nostrils, like the muffled exhaust of a gasoline engine, and our hearts are thumping two-steps on our ribs from the exertion, when we reach the end of the rock-bestrewn point which, like a long index finger, is thrust out into the bosom of the lake. The wind, still dead north, and laden with tiny drops of moisture, like spray from a giant atomizer, buffets us steadily; but thereof ...
— A Breath of Prairie and other stories • Will Lillibridge
... state of preservation, with the exception that the bones of the legs were exposed, and more or less disintegrated, in some places. The hands, even to the finger nails, were perfect, however, and there was a silver ring on the index finger. One hand grasped a large stone axe—the handle being modern. The right hand rested across the chest, clasping ...
— Montezuma's Castle and Other Weird Tales • Charles B. Cory
... thing, of course," said Marion ironically. "Yes, you; with color of eyes, hair, length of index finger of the right hand, curvature of thumb, disposition—whether peaceable or otherwise, and prison record, ...
— Whispering Smith • Frank H. Spearman
... know. Put the Brant brain to work and figure out something." Scotty unrolled his sling, slipped the loop over his index finger, and gave Rick a tight grin. "Keep the boy busy, ...
— The Scarlet Lake Mystery • Harold Leland Goodwin
... off his former occupations with the index finger of his right hand on each digit of ...
— Elkan Lubliner, American • Montague Glass
... middle and ring fingers of the right hand were of unusual size, the middle finger measuring 5 1/2 inches in length four inches in circumference. On the left hand the thumb and middle fingers were hypertrophied and the index finger was as long as the middle one of the right hand. The middle finger had a lateral curvature outward, due to a displacement of the extensor tendon. This affection resembled acromegaly. Curling cites similar cases, one in a Spanish gentleman, Governor of Luzon, in ...
— Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine • George M. Gould
... assistant, lay their Mid[-e] sacks upon his back and after a few moments a m[-i]gis shell drops from his mouth—where he had been instructed to retain it. The chief Mid[-e] picks up the m[-i]gis and, holding it between the thumb and index finger of the right hand, extending his arm toward the candidate's mouth says "w! w! h[)e] h[)e] h[)e] h[)e]," the last syllable being uttered in a high key and rapidly dropped to a low note; then the same ...
— Seventh Annual Report • Various
... his lantern and went forward; and in a minute or two later the index finger of the speed-recorder began to mount slowly toward the fifties. At fifty-two miles to the hour, Ford, sitting in the observation end of the car where he could see the ghostly lines of the rails reeling backward ...
— Empire Builders • Francis Lynde
... into his pocket and produced six coins, counted them with his left index finger, and held them out to her. "Thirteen four half," ...
— The Wheels of Chance - A Bicycling Idyll • H. G. Wells
... my hand by the metacarpus under the index finger, and had broken the first phalanges. Its force had been arrested by a metal button on my waistcoat, and it had only inflicted a slight wound on my stomach close to the navel. However, there it was and it had to be extracted, for it ...
— The Memoires of Casanova, Complete • Jacques Casanova de Seingalt
... nail of his right index finger rested upon the opened page of the book to which he seemed constantly to refer, dividing his attention between the volume, the contents of the test-tube, and the progress of a second experiment, or possibly a part of the same, which was taking place upon ...
— The Return of Dr. Fu-Manchu • Sax Rohmer
... tracks in the corridor after she closed the door. He stared at the floor with eyes that saw nothing. He slowly raised his hand and set his right index finger upon the toupee and scratched meditatively through the mesh—scratched carefully, having accustomed himself to handling his boughten hair with cautious touch. He had not liked her intonation when she said "Frank and I." He muttered something about his feelings. He had never thought of ...
— When Egypt Went Broke • Holman Day
... could occasionally hear the word Nai-ai'[1] in the song. After singing this song for about ten minutes, it was changed to the antelope song, and, instead of touching the roll with the clenched hands, which represented the heavy tread of buffalo, they closed the hands, leaving the index finger extended and the thumbs partly open, and in time to the music, as in the previous song, alternately touched the wrappers with the tips of the left and right forefinger, the motions being quick and firm, and occasionally ...
— Blackfoot Lodge Tales • George Bird Grinnell
... and sat by the table. My husband lit another cigarette. Nervously flicking the ends off with the index finger of his left hand, and speaking quickly, as if the words scorched his lips, he told me I was mistaken if I supposed that he wanted a scene like this. He thought he could spend his time better. I was equally ...
— The Woman Thou Gavest Me - Being the Story of Mary O'Neill • Hall Caine
... period of silence in which they indicate their concentration by frowns, cautious moves, head scratching. GOOD BLACK is pointing his index finger over the board indicating moves. He wig-wags, starts to move, scratches his head thoroughly, changes his mind and fools ...
— Three Plays - Lawing and Jawing; Forty Yards; Woofing • Zora Neale Hurston
... at first silently—a mere pointing of the index finger to nature; then in whispered songs, bird-like, at morning and evening. To her and to the child the birds are real people, who live very close to the "Great Mystery"; the murmuring trees breathe His presence; the falling waters chant ...
— The Soul of the Indian - An Interpretation • [AKA Ohiyesa], Charles A. Eastman
... bait. He leaned into the canopy and with an over-stiffened index finger pointed forcefully at each gauge. For more than a quarter-hour this went on, with Bridget pitching questions—most of ...
— A Fine Fix • R. C. Noll
... strands of gray-green moss hung, waving and coiling, in the night wind. Only one old man was on his hands and knees as if to crawl from the field; but a comrade spurned him with his foot and wound his bony hand about the coward's neck. Another had turned his head to the enemy, pointing his index finger in scorn, although he stood ...
— The Splendid Idle Forties - Stories of Old California • Gertrude Atherton
... whole day. In only their petticoats and white shifts, with bare arms, sometimes barefooted, the women aimlessly ramble from room to room, all of them unwashed, uncombed; lazily strike the keys of the old pianoforte with the index finger, lazily lay out cards to tell their fortune, lazily exchange curses, and with a languishing irritation ...
— Yama (The Pit) • Alexandra Kuprin
... improved method of constructing scales of the platform kind, and it consists in attaching a spiral spring to a spindle, to the top end of which spindle the platform is secured, and to the bottom end of which a rod and index finger is attached so that when an article, to be weighed, is placed on the platform, the weight of the article will act upon the spring and be indicated ...
— Scientific American, Vol. 17, No. 26 December 28, 1867 • Various
... wander over the wreckage as his right index finger spun the dial. Actually, the room wasn't as much of a shambles as it had looked on first sight. The—burglar?—hadn't tried to get at anything but the Converter. He hadn't known exactly where it was, but he'd been able to follow the leads to its hiding place. That ...
— Damned If You Don't • Gordon Randall Garrett
... of having the patient hold his breath as long as is possible. The remedy is best applied by the sufferer holding his breath and leaning as far backward as is possible, and in the meanwhile distracting the attention by pointing the index finger of one hand towards the nose, and bringing the former toward the latter as slowly as is possible. Sticking the tongue out and holding the breath at the same time will often relieve hiccough, or if the victim can be induced to sneeze the distressing symptom will at once cease. The slow ...
— Health on the Farm - A Manual of Rural Sanitation and Hygiene • H. F. Harris
... been heard above the sound of his cough by one directly outside the tent. Werper was satisfied. A grim smile touched his lips as he withdrew the weapon from the rugs and placed it carefully in the right hand of the dead man, fixing three of the fingers around the grip and the index finger inside the trigger guard. ...
— Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar • Edgar Rice Burroughs
... the "regulations" which Sunny Oak had furnished him with, and, with an index finger following out the words, he read down the details of the work for Sunday—in so far ...
— The Twins of Suffering Creek • Ridgwell Cullum
... himself, and placing the index finger of his right hand in his left hand, after the manner of the didactic, "the great thing is the discard, and your discard should be governed by two considerations—first, to better your own hand, and second, to cripple your opponent's. Your moderate ...
— The Turquoise Cup, and, The Desert • Arthur Cosslett Smith
... passing along the roads to the northeast leading to Lorraine may see at every cross-road a great index finger pointing to the single word VERDUN. To many thousands, nay, hundreds of thousands of men passing over these roads in the five fateful months of critical battle, these six letters spelled mutilation and death, yet the word was an inspiration to heroism in every home of France, and from every corner ...
— Defenders of Democracy • Militia of Mercy
... a time," he whispered, sitting down and touching the palm of his open hand with the index finger of the other, "a youth held in his hand a cup, rare an' costly, an' it was full o' happiness, an' he was tempted to drink. 'Ho, there, me youth,' said one who saw him, 'that is the happiness of another.' But he tasted the cup, an' it was bitter, an' he let it fall, an' the ...
— Darrel of the Blessed Isles • Irving Bacheller
... Marion wound the string of her vanity bag so tightly round and round her index finger that her pink, polished nail turned purple. She next unwound the string and rubbed the nail solicitously. "Just because we're down there at Toll-Gate doesn't mean you aren't safe up here. Why, you're safer, really. Because if any one ...
— The Lookout Man • B. M. Bower
... all," she retorted, carelessly; "it is an arrangement for mutual convenience. But remember," she added, lifting her index finger in playful threat, "that we ...
— Stories by American Authors, Volume 10 • Various
... getting rid of the drummer if he will only be frank. All he must do is to give a fair reason why he does not wish to do business. He can say: "I have bought"—that is the best one, if it is true; it is the index finger pointing out a short route for the salesman straight to the front door. Or, he can say: "I have all in that line I can use for some time." "I have an old personal friend to whom I give my trade for these goods—he treats me squarely" is a good ...
— Tales of the Road • Charles N. Crewdson
... the botanist, with a prevalent index finger, and the resolute deliberation of a big siege gun being lugged into action over rough ground by a number of inexperienced men, "you prefer a natural death to an artificial life. But what is your definition ...
— A Modern Utopia • H. G. Wells
... received of this laxity came in the shape of a sharp dig in the ribs from the index finger of a young man who demanded to know why Mr. McGraw didn't wake up and pay for his lodging. Bob turned his startled sleepy eyes up at the stranger. He had expected to confront a janitor, but his first glance informed him that he was mistaken. The individual before him evidently was a state employee; ...
— The Long Chance • Peter B. Kyne
... even blacker than ever, and the blackness was so uniform that his entire profile became strongly pronounced, thus rendering every motion distinct, and the varied pouting of his huge lips remarkably obvious. The extended left hand, too, with the frequent thrusting of the index finger of the other into the palm, was suggestive of argument, and of much ...
— Blown to Bits - or, The Lonely Man of Rakata • Robert Michael Ballantyne
... enough, little girl." The doctor patted her hand and looked at her index finger. "The nail's coming all right, isn't it? But I think that man makes you practice too much. You have it on your mind all the time." He had noticed that when she talked to him she was always opening and shutting her hands. "It ...
— Song of the Lark • Willa Cather
... it, but your index finger is not straight. It curves in toward your middle finger so that you can hold all the tips together if you want to. And when Pheola laid her two index fingers together, they curved away from each other at their tips. I got a flash and went ...
— The Right Time • Walter Bupp
... tremendous excitement must have surged and boiled within him, slowly, deliberately, and weakly came to his feet. He placed his right foot on the chair, and rested his right elbow on the raised knee. The index finger of his right hand, pointing to the chairman and moving slightly to lend emphasis to his narrative, was the only thing that modified the rigid immobility of his figure. Without a single change in the pitch or modulation of his voice, never hurrying, but ...
— The Ape, the Idiot & Other People • W. C. Morrow
... the guidance of the outstretched arm and index finger leveled toward the distant spot, where the smoke of a camp-fire was seen climbing toward the blue sky. The scene on which the boys looked was similar to that which met the eye of Ned Preston and Deerfoot when ...
— Camp-fire and Wigwam • Edward Sylvester Ellis
... his hawk-keen vision. Calendar had started to alight, his foot was leaving the step when Stryker's glance singled out their quarry. Instantly he turned and spoke to his confederate. Calendar wheeled like a flash, peering eagerly in the direction indicated by the captain's index finger, then, snapping instructions to his driver, threw himself heavily back on the seat. Stryker, awkward on his land-legs, stumbled and fell in an ill-calculated attempt to hoist himself hastily back into ...
— The Black Bag • Louis Joseph Vance
... Twenty feet away, almost entirely concealed among the tumbled masses of boulders, was a small cabin. About it there were no signs of life with the exception of a thin wreath of smoke rising like a ghostly spiral up the side of the chasm wall; from it there came no sound. Rod's index finger quivered on the trigger of his rifle. Should he wait—until the outlaw came forth? Half a minute he stood there, a minute, two minutes, and still he heard nothing, saw nothing. He advanced a step, ...
— The Gold Hunters - A Story of Life and Adventure in the Hudson Bay Wilds • James Oliver Curwood
... digit; medius (middle finger); minimus (Little finger); index (fore or index finger). Associated Words: digital, ...
— Putnam's Word Book • Louis A. Flemming
... in going to the City Hall he was in the Herald Building, making straight for the office of the editor. Mr. Chaffner was standing with a group of men earnestly discussing some matter, when his eye was attracted by Mickey, directly in range, and with the tip of his index finger he was cutting in air letters plainly to be followed: "S.O.S." Chaffner nodded slightly, and continued his talk. A second later he excused himself, and Mickey ...
— Michael O'Halloran • Gene Stratton-Porter
... toward each other and met. Oncle Jazon held up the scalp with one hand, pointing at it with the index finger ...
— Alice of Old Vincennes • Maurice Thompson
... in the office. Apparently they were two souls with but a single thought, for the right hand of each sought the shelf whereon reposed the blue volume entitled "Lloyd's Register." Dan Hicks reached it first, carried it to the counter, wet his tarry index finger, and started turning the pages in a vain search for the American steamer Yankee Prince. Presently he ...
— Captain Scraggs - or, The Green-Pea Pirates • Peter B. Kyne
... in beginning a speech. Often his hands were locked behind him. He gesticulated more with his head than his hands. He stood square-toed always. He never walked about on the platform. He scored his points with the long, bony, index finger of his right hand. Sometimes he would hang a hand on the lapel of his coat as if to rest it. Perspiration dripped from his face. His voice, high pitched at first, ...
— A Man for the Ages - A Story of the Builders of Democracy • Irving Bacheller
... bandit is lying in wait for me, do you? Look you now! I'll leave you my gun. Take it in your hand and plant yourself there before the door. Bring out a chair, if you like, and sit down on it. Pull down the hammers of both barrels and hold your thumb on them and your index finger on the trigger. The left barrel is filled with ten buckshot and you can be quite sure that whoever approaches you from the lower end of this passage will inevitably get five in his body,—and five of them is enough for anybody. The second barrel, the ...
— The Poor Plutocrats • Maurus Jokai
... the doctor, wincing, as the skipper unrolled the map on the dresser-like table, and catching up first one specimen bottle and then another used them as paper-weights to keep the chart flat, while he began to operate with his big rough, brown, index finger. ...
— The Ocean Cat's Paw - The Story of a Strange Cruise • George Manville Fenn
... and followed after. The geometers took their quadrants, their sextants, two Lappland girls[1], and descended onto the Sirian's fingers. They made so much fuss that he finally felt something move, tickling his fingers. It was a steel-tipped baton being pressed into his index finger. He judged, by this tickling, that it had been ejected from some small animal that he was holding; but he did not suspect anything else at first. The microscope, which could barely distinguish a whale from a boat, could ...
— Romans — Volume 3: Micromegas • Voltaire
... third verse all rise and stand in couples in small groups all around stage. On the first two lines of the third verse each one faces his partner slightly, nods at him and shakes index finger of right hand at partner. On "dear, old U.S.A." all make a deep bow to audience. After third verse is completed, all form a circle and skip around in time to the music, repeating the third verse. On "clap, clap, clap together," they stand still and clap hands as before. ...
— The White Christmas and other Merry Christmas Plays • Walter Ben Hare
... were spoken in low tones, yet there was a strange force in them. The speaker bent forward and the index finger he pointed at his hearers seemed to have been thrust suddenly from between his eyes. When the sleeve of his mantle fell back it disclosed upon his arm a fish, having a lion's head with a circle in ...
— The Coming of the King • Bernie Babcock
... at the water, and I saw in his face the peculiarly wistful expression that so often accompanies thoughts which are both elusive and far away. The index finger of his right hand was slightly raised, indicating a subconscious impulse to point upward. Slowly turning back to us, he said in a tone of solemnity that lingers with me even now, a year later, as ...
— Wings of the Wind • Credo Harris
... Chamber wearing a pair of silver spurs, carrying a heavy riding-whip, and followed by a favorite hound, which crouched beneath his desk. He wrote, and occasionally spoke, in riding-gloves, and it was his favorite gesture to point the long index finger of his right hand at his opponent as he hurled forth tropes and figures of speech at him. Every ten or fifteen minutes, while he occupied the floor, he would exclaim in a low voice, "Tims, more porter!" and the assistant doorkeeper would hand him a foaming tumbler of potent malt liquor, ...
— Perley's Reminiscences, Vol. 1-2 - of Sixty Years in the National Metropolis • Benjamin Perley Poore
... by removing the putrid matter in which they breed. When the symptoms first appear give the patient a warm water emetic. Drink until the stomach throws it back. Do not be afraid to drink. If the stomach is obstinate, use the index finger to excite vomiting. This washes out the contents of the stomach, which will be found fermenting and full of bacteria. Then give him a large cup of hot water—very hot—with a little salt in it. Let the ...
— The Royal Road to Health • Chas. A. Tyrrell
... handed it over, an index finger pointing out the item. "Large as life, Blackwell. No, sir. You ce'tainly didn't ride herd ...
— Crooked Trails and Straight • William MacLeod Raine
... shot from the hollow of the crooked index finger, and projected by the thumb. Good shooting is often done in this way, but the most expert shots place the marble on the point of the index finger, and project it with a firmer grip of the thumb. This method is more difficult to acquire, ...
— Healthful Sports for Boys • Alfred Rochefort
... Snaggs shiver—all his coarse, bullying manner and braggadocio deserting him, as Jan Steenbock's accents rang through the ship, like those of an accusing judge; the index finger of the second-mate's right hand pointing at him, as he leant over the poop rail, like ...
— The Island Treasure • John Conroy Hutcheson
... at first cut only something very easy, such as a slice of chicken; he should not attempt anything with bones or gristle, or anything that is tough. In his left hand is put his fork with the prongs downward, held near the top of the handle. His index finger is placed on the shank so that it points to the prongs, and is supported at the side by his thumb. His other fingers close underneath and hold the handle tight. He must never be allowed to hold his ...
— Etiquette • Emily Post
... his hands and made three rapid strokes with his index finger, like a motion-picture actor writing a twelve-line letter; then the words ...
— Cappy Ricks Retires • Peter B. Kyne
... bridegroom took up his lodgings in the Louvre, but, five days later, Coligny, returning to his little hotel in the Rue des Fosses-Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois, was fired at by an assassin named Maurevert in the pay of the Guises, receiving one ball in the left arm and losing the index finger of his right hand by another. The excessive grief and concern manifested by the king seems to have disarmed his suspicions; but Catherine, aided by the leaders of the Catholic party, was incessantly urging ...
— Paris from the Earliest Period to the Present Day; Volume 1 • William Walton
... the upper gum that requires lancing, you ought to go to the head of the child, looking over, as it were, and into his mouth, and should steady the gum with the index finger of your left hand; then, you should take hold of the gum-lancet with your right hand—holding as if it were a table-knife at dinner—and cut firmly along the inflamed and swollen gum and down to the tooth, until the edge of the gum-lancet ...
— Advice to a Mother on the Management of her Children • Pye Henry Chavasse
... Olirzon's knife. Its tapering eight-inch blade was double-edged at the point, and its handle was covered with black velvet to afford a good grip, and wound with gold wire. He nodded approvingly, gripped it with his index finger crooked around the cross-guard, and advanced to ...
— Last Enemy • Henry Beam Piper |
