_Shaking Hands._--What is the origin of the custom of _shaking hands_ in
token of friendship? And were the _clasped hands_ (now the common symbol of
Benefit Clubs) ever used as a signet, prior to their adoption as such by
the early Christians in their wedding rings; or, did these rings {119} bear
any other motto, or posy, than "Fides annulus castus" (i. e. _simplex et
sine gemma_)?