Nails

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 inbedded in it.
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.
I have conceived nails to be windows, though which the palmist might look
virtually into the interior organisation 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 his 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 tis gloss, 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 organised that in some cases it shows almost
the pulsations of the heart.
Thus the great nerve centres 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 centre in the quick is impaired,
it leaves its impression on the nail texture, by changing the QUALITY of the
nail itself.
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 mails, it should cause you to
search for the meaning; so in the first part of an examination of mails,
compare the texture of the nails with the texture of the skin. 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 anil, remember that the horn of the nail
should be even and smooth in surface, the gain 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 which runs from top to base must be smooth, it is
because the filaments that form the anil 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 this 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 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 waring of delicate nerves, though there may be no
knowledge, on the part of the subject, that his 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. By this time the subject is painfully
aware of his 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 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, form 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 form 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.
There are nails that are broad at the tip, curving around the finger,
broadening at the base, pink in color, and fine in texture. These nails show
the open, frank nature, to whom honesty of though is natural, and to whose
owner genuineness is the mainspring. They 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.
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.
With this cross-ridge you will often see a firm-textured nail replace 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.
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. It is a psychic nail, and the delicacy of the psychic character is present, rather than muscular strength as shown by a broad nail.
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
The degree of shortness is important.

All short nails show a critical turn of mind.

Not VERY short = it will only be a quizzical or investigating disposition.

Extremely short, flat nail with the skin growing down on it = Shows pugnacity
and a person who does not argue with you because he believes he is always right,
but because he loves 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. This
nail gives almost a clubbed appearance to the finger. 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. He disagrees with you on subjects when he knows perfectly well you are right simply for the delight it gives him to argue. He criticises everything, for in this way he can best provoke contention, and while he does not want to fight with you physically, he loves the battle of the mind, and will bring to bear on the argument all his physical energy, until he tires out an ordinary mortal, and wins 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 tip. 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.

CROSS RIDGE
It is as if one nail had dies, and another had grown on to the finger to replace it. This cross ridged nail shows that a serious illness had interrupted the health of the subject, and that the illness was attended with
grave danger. When you encounter this nail, it will give splendid materialwith which to work, for you can almost always tell what the nature of the sickness was, and how long previously it occurred.

SMALL 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. This nail is often found on long fingers, or
otherwise large hands, though it may be seen on small ones.
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 recognised. 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 hail 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.

COLOR---------
BLUENESS
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 recognise poor circulation and a weak heart when seen with the above SHAPE, it means pronounced heart difficulty.

CHANGE OF MENSTUATION WITH BLUENESS
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 or at the change of life at over 42. These ages cause a temporary disturbance 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 passed, and before change of life has come, means serious 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 as of probably short duration.

A GENERAL blue all over the nail = nervousness or carbonised blood.
A deep, angry, purplish blue low at the base of the nail = a thunder-cloud
which threatens destruction when the storm burst.

A FAINT blue tinge covering the whole nail = a nervous person with SOME heart
weakness, not however, of as pronounced character as that found by blueness at
the BASE of the nail.

OTHER COLORS
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 nails gives you an insight of color easier, because the thick skin does
not cover 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 withe 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 whole nail, and that which settles darkly at the base.
You must note with care if you see redness pronounce under any nail, as it will show you the intense ardour and excess of strength of the person.

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 mail plays a part in the formation of it,
The advanced type is a BULBOUS nail and grows on a bulbous finger tip. 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 recognised 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 finer 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 form the blood and filling it with oxygen, are so obstructed or destroyed that the blood is not reviewed 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. It 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 child 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.
These 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.
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 cold. 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 is using it. Hundreds of times I have verified this indication.
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