Nails

Nails

In the examination of hands, a careful investigation of the finger nails should be make, and all possible information gained as to their texture, shape, and color. In order to lay the foundation for a good understanding of these matters, we will for a moment consider their structure and uses.
Microscopically examined, nails are composed of minute hair like fibres, so closely knit together that they adhere to each other, and form a compact horn-like substance. The nails grow out of the skin at the ends of the fingers, and do not grow form the muscle or bones. This is proven by the fact that when the skin has been stripped from the fingers, the nails have also been removed, and are found to be imbedded in it. The nail of the human hand corresponds to the claw of the carnivores, and in low types of humanity, like the Digger Indians, grows very long and strong, and is used as a weapon of offense and defense. The lion of tiger depends upon claws and muscular strength to win their battles, consequently their claws are very long, sharp, and strong. The higher intelligence of the human species, and the fact that they have hands to carry out their ideas, enable humankind to make weapons of defense for use, even though these weapons be only primitive spears or arrows. Thus advanced humanity does not consider the nails in the light of a weapon, and we must seek their usefulness from some other standpoint.
There are located at the ends of the fingers a great number of nerve cells which make possible the sense of touch possessed by this part of the hand, and it is evident that one use for the nails is to protect and shield from harm this concentration of delicate nerve filaments. In order that the sense of touch may be extremely acute, the nerves must be as near the surface of the skin as possible. If there was no protection afforded by the nails, this could not be, and with the nerves of touch deeply imbedded under the skin, the sense of touch would be a blunted one. During a study of the hands, my conviction has constantly increased that the Creator intended us to read from them for the benefit of the human race, so it has appear to me that there were yet other clues for the nails which have not been enumerated.
I have conceived them to be windows, though which the palmist might look virtually into the interior organization of the human being, since the part which lies under the nail, and which is commonly called the "quick", is intensely delicate and sensitive, and has conveyed to its surface in the most accurate manner all the secrets of the circulation. This ebb and flow of the blood seen through the nails, which I have likened to glass in the window, makes wonderful revelations as to health and temperament. All the wealth of information revealed by color in the hands is accentuated by looking though this glass, not at the color of the nails as it is most improperly called but at the color under the nails, which is reflected from a part of the hand so delicately organized that in some cases it shows almost the pulsations of the heart.
In this way you will see that we have come st ill nearer to solving the mysteries of the blood current which are so important. Thus the great nerve centers under the nails, when they are operating in a healthy manner, allow you to see the blood current by the texture of the nails, and, on the contrary, when the nerve center in the quick is impaired, it leaves its impression on the nail texture, by changing the quality of the nail itself. Here we again encounter very common-sense reasons why the nails are only one more physiological link in the perfect science of Palmistry.

Quality
Nails show quality, just as does the skin. In fine-grained, fine-textured hands you will generally find fine, smooth texture of the nail. In some hands the skin texture is fine, and the nails tending to coarseness. In this case you know that something is out of proportion and that the normal balance has been disturbed. The coarse nail found on a fine texture of skin may be a short, heavy nail showing great critical qualities, and this nail belongs more naturally to large hands, coarse skin, with hard or at least elastic consistency.
It may be that the coarser texture of the nail will show the advanced state of nerve disorder, indicated by the fluted nail. In any event, if you find a fine-textured hand and coarse nails, it should cause you to search for the meaning; so in the first part of an examination of nails, compare the texture of the nails with the texture of the skin, and see if they both belong to the same grade of fineness. If they do, so far as texture goes, you have a normal condition; if they do not, seek to find what is out of balance.

Under the head of texture of the nail, remember that the horn of the nail should be even and smooth in surface, the grain of the nail which runs form top to base must be smooth, and not composed of ridges, or flutings as we call them. Where the nail texture is smooth it is because the filaments that form the nail substance are all of one size, while fluted nails are made up of fibres of different sizes growing together.
The nail must also be pliable, not brittle; it must look alive and elastic. The fluting, or ridging, of the nail from the top to base is an indication of nervous disorder. Accompanying the fluted appearance, if the case be serious, will be found a brittle condition of the nail, causing it to break easily, and instead of growing over the end of the finger in a protecting way, it is growing away from the flesh, seemingly not adhering firmly to the quick. In my practice, I regard the white spots which appear on the nails as the first warning of delicate nerves, though there may be no knowledge, on the part of the subject, that their nerves are not perfectly sound. The white spots indicate a beginning of the loss of vitality of the nail from deficient nerve force, and are nature's first warning of trouble ahead. As the disorder increases, the white flecks first grow larger, then grow together, then cover the whole nails, taking away the transparency and clearness. The window glass, has become clouded.
Following this condition, ridges begin to appear, these grow more and more pronounced and frequent, and soon the fluted nail manifests itself (24). By this time the subject is painfully aware of their nerves. As the fluting grows more pronounced, the nail grows brittle, beings to turn back form the end, loses its graceful shape, and becomes high on one side of the finger and low on the other, or is very short because the nail is bitten down into the quick. At this stage there is great delicacy of nerves or grave danger of paralysis. The nerves under the nail are thus reflecting by means of the nail the disorder which has occurred in the greatest of our nerve centers, the brain, and the vitality of the nail is being burned up, and oil dried out of it; the filaments, instead of binding themselves together in a homogeneous mass, are piling on top of each other, and the nervous confusion of the system is producing a confusion of the nail structure and life. Thus in this progression, from the mere warning conveyed by the white flecks, through the stage of fluting, to the brittle, turning-back nail, you can trace the degree of danger from nerve destruction or disorder in your subject. I have seen cases where smooth, even textured nails, after a sudden attack of nervous prostration, grew out white and cloudy in color, and strongly fluted. I have seen these same nails, as health returned, gradually resume their normal texture and lose the fluted
appearance.

There is another indication which I have often verified, where the nail shows a ridge crosswise. Seemingly the nail has stopped growing, its vitality has been interrupted (25). It is as if one nail had dies, and another had grown on to the finger to replace it. This cross-ridges nail shows that a serous illness has interrupted the health of the subject, and that the illness was attended with grave danger. When you encounter this nail, it will give splendid material with which to work, for you can almost always tell what the nature of the sickness was, and how long previously it occurred.

The nail always record a past event, and is not, as have been incorrectly stated, a source of information as to the future. It requires about six months to grow a new nail, so that in handling this indication you can tell how long since the illness occurred by noting how far the ridge has grown: if one quarter of the length of the nail, about one and one half months; one third, two months, one half, three months; and this can be continued until the nail has completely grown off the end of the finger.
With this cross-ridge you will often see a firm-textured nail replaced by a fluted nail. In this case, it shows that nervous trouble has been the cause, and by judging how far out the new nail has grown, you can tell that at some time between one and six months past the subject has been dangerously ill from a nervous disorder. The exact date can be told by the distance the ridge has grown out.
If the new nail is badly fluted you can say, "This trouble has not entirely disappeared", and in this case you should advise rest and freedom from all excitement. In the progress of this chapter, we shall find other nail formations showing disease. If any of these show in the new nail, that will be the disease that has caused the trouble. Whenever you find the cross-ridged nail, handle it as above outlined, and it will give you excellent results. Remember that it always shows a grave health indication.

Width of nail
As an indicator of general health and robustness of constitution, the nails are also valuable.

In this regard it has been my observation that a narrow nail shows a person who has not robust muscular strength, but is carried by nervous energy (26). It is a psychic nail, and the delicacy of the psychic character is present, rather than muscular strength as shown by a broad nail (27).
The narrow nail, will be either white, yellow, blue, or pink, never red, and it will be often found with the blue color at the base, denoting poor circulation. Neither the broad nor the narrow nails are indicative of special diseases, but, as I have said, of general health and strength. When you find the delicate, narrow nail, read a delicate constitution, with a broad nail a robust one, especially if the nail be, as it often is, red in color.
Of course if in the handling of these two nails you see abnormal developments, such as yellow or blue color, use these to indicate special trouble as is indicated by color, and if you also find changes of texture, such as fluting or brittleness, read it as showing nervous trouble. The general indications of robustness or delicacy are to be studied only when found without complications of color or texture.

Short Nail
There is a nail which has many degrees of development, and which is to be read as indicating its peculiar qualities in proportion to the pronounced ness in which it is seen. This is the short nail (28). All short nails show a critical turn of mind, but if the nail is not very short, it will only be a quizzical or investigating disposition. This must be taken as the mildest type, while the extremely short, flat nail with the skin growing down on it, is its opposite, showing pugnacity and a person who does not argue with you because they believes they are always right, but because they love contention. You will find these nails sometimes not a quarter of an inch long and very broad, covering the entire visible and of the finger, and giving the tip an exceedingly flat, blunt appearance (29). This nail gives almost a clubbed appearance to the fingers. The skin seems to cling to the nail, and loves to grow down on it until it can stretch no farther and breaks. This generally results in leaving a ragged appearance where the skin joins the nail. This nail goes with a vigorous constitution, an active mind, and a very critical, pugnacious, argumentative disposition. It shows a person who would rather argue than eat. They disagree with you on subjects when they know perfectly well you are right simply for the delight it gives them to argue. They criticize everything, for in this way they can best provoke contention, and while they do not want to fight with you physically, they love the battle of the mind, and will bring to bear on the argument all their physical energy, until they tire out an ordinary mortal, and win a victory not always of right, but of a hang-on pugnacious, critical disposition. In dealing with these people you are sure of only one thing, and that is that they will be on the other side of the question as soon as they know which side you take. Manifestly the way to handle them is to be entirely negative, giving no inkling as to what you think. The extreme development of this nail you will not often encounter, but you will meet daily very strong examples of the short critical type. The influence of this nail will be strong on any hand on which it appears.
Add to it knotty fingers, a big thumb, a hard hand, big Mounts of Mars, and a most pugnacious, disagreeable creature will result.
The critical mind is a factor in everything, - love, business, art, eloquence, war, literature, or music,- so you must look for short nails in every examination, and give then, when found, their full meaning. Remember they always show a degree of the critical turn of mind, greater or less as the nails are more or less short.

There are nails that are broad at the tip, curving around the fingers, broadening at the base, pink in color, and fine in texture (30). These nails show the open, frank nature, to whom honesty of thought is natural, and to whose owner genuineness is the mainspring. The are broad, open-looking nails, and in their breadth show the broad ideas of their owners. In this nail, pinkness of color is always to be looked for, before giving the full value to this reading.

Blue Heart Nail
There is a nail which is small in size though regular in form, with the end quite square, and tapering toward the base, or the base may be the same width as the outer end (31). This nail is often found on long fingers, or otherwise large hands, though it may be seen on small ones. It does not belong to any one type of hand, but is found on all shaped fingers and hands. It is a nail which shows heart trouble, and more of an organic difficulty than a lack of circulation. This nail is quite distinctive in appearance, and one seen can always be recognized. The nail is a small one, though it does not have the appearance of a critical nail, nor is it at all like the narrow nail described showing delicate constitution. So it is not a narrow nail, nor a short one, but is most properly a small nail, yet well proportioned.
With the small nail is often found a deep blue color, which is most pronounced at the base, and if the nail has a moon, the blue color may even extend past its top. With the shape of nail above described you know that the heart structurally is not all right, and with the additional blueness you have an unfailing confirmation of the trouble. When you see the deep set blue at the base of any nail, you will at once recognize poor circulation and a weak heart when seen with the above shape, it means pronounced heart difficulty.

You must be very careful to note the age of women who have the blue color of the nails, to see if they are beginning puberty 12-14, at which time they are passing from childhood to womanhood, and always have some disturbance of circulation. This trouble terminates when the menses become well established and regular. A blueness found at such an age shows only a temporary obstruction of circulation, and you must not treat it so seriously as if found between the years of sixteen and forty-two. Blueness found during these years, when the age of puberty is passes, and before the change of life has come, beans serous difficulty, not often of a temporary character. Between the years of forty-two and forty-six the change of life occurs, and then again blueness is found, as the circulation is once more temporarily interrupted, and again you must consider the difficulty probably short duration. In all of these cases not whether the color is a general blue all over the nail, which must be read as nervousness or carbonize blood, or whether it is a deep, angry, purplish blue low a the base of the nail. In the latter case it is a thunder-cloud which threatens destruction when the storm bursts, but in all cases watch carefully the ages indicated above, and gauge your opinion by applying the rules given.
A faint blue tinge covering the whole nail will show you a nervous person with some heart weakness, not, however, of as pronounced character as that found by blueness at the base of the nail.

There is a nail which you will meet, that is so pronounced in its formation that, once seen, it will never be forgotten or mistaken for any other. The end of the finger as well as the nail plays a part in the formation of it, and the advanced type is described in order that you may use it as a basis on which to rest your gradings of this nail. It is a bulbous nail and grows on the bulbous finger-tip (32).It may have had any shape originally, as you will find it on the narrow, broad, square, or any other tip. Nothing as to squareness or tip formation plays any part with this nail; it is the bulbousness alone which is its distinctive feature. This is the nail which shows an advanced stage of consumption or tubercular trouble. Medical authorities say it is a lack of nourishment that produces it, and among physicians it is a well-known and recognized indication of tubercular trouble located somewhere in the subject. In appearance the end of the finger thickens underneath until it forms a distinct bulb or pad, which is sometimes as round as a marble. Over this bulbous tip the nail is curved, forming a complete clubbed, blunt end, the top curved with the nail, the under part fleshy. This formation makes the end of the finger a complete knob, and the appearance is most striking and disagreeable. This nail shows the advanced stage of tuberculosis, sometimes of the spine, most often of the lungs. Often the color of the nail is quite blue, showing the stoppage of circulation incident to the blood congestion, or, in this case more properly, blood contamination. The lungs, which should be removing carbonic acid gas from the blood and filling it with oxygen, are so obstructed or destroyed that the blood is not renewed as it goes through then, but carries many of its poisonous qualities back through the circulation. Thus blood obstruction and impurity give these bulbous nails a marked blue appearance. I always regard them as a most serious indication. I have seen cases, however, and have in mind one now, of a subject who has had a degree of bulbous nail for several years and is still alive. A sudden cold would be apt to produce a fatal case of pneumonia, however, at any time, so that life at the best is held by only a slender thread.

There is a nail which has a curved formation approaching the bulbous, though in a very slight degree. In this case the end of the finger has not taken on a bulbous formation, but only the nail shows a decided inclination to curve (33).
It is not in any sense the bulbous nail mentioned above, and it is in almost all cases found to be a large nail. This nail may also be on any shaped tip; it is the curving alone that distinguishes it. The indications shown by this nail are delicacy of bronchial tubes and throat. Sometimes it may go as far as a weakness of the lungs but not of advanced disease. It shows one who is exceedingly liable to colds at least, and for whom sudden changes of temperature produce disturbance of throat and bronchial tubes. It is a delicacy to be guarded against, and the client should always be warned to use care and avoid taking colds. It is a fine confirmation of this delicacy of throat and lungs it you find the Mercury line full of islands, and you need feel no hesitancy in using it. Hundreds of times I have verified this indication.

Color
In the readings applied to all nails, you must look carefully to color. Often the color under the nails will be more pronounced and easier of recognition than the color of the palm. The fact is, that the view through the nail gives you an insight of color easier, because the thick skin does not color the quick and the circulation is more readily exposed to view. the same rules apply to color under the nails as to the palm.
- The white nail shows the lack of warmth. These must not be confused with the whiteness of a nervous nail, which shows white because the nail substance is clouded, but it is the whiteness under the nail which relates to coldness. There is a very good way to distinguish the white nail, and that is by putting it beside a pink nail. This is also the way to learn the difference between blue and yellow nails. The pink nails are plentiful- you will see many of them everywhere; so it will be your best plan to fix the pink nail well in mind, and from it judge a nail that is white or of any other color.

In blue nails we must consider the two kinds of blueness. That which tinges the while nail, and that which settles darkly at the base.

You must note with care if you see redness pronounced under any nail, as it will show yo the intense ardor and excess of strength of the person.

In the examination of many nails, you will find them differing in some degree from my descriptions. If you will, however, use your powers of observation until you have located typical nails of types described, you will afterwards, with all ease, be able to grade the other nails you meet, giving them the proper degrees of development.