SCIENCE OF THE HAND. 45 



thick, are found on people who are exact and love detail and are 

 quick to notice little things. Short fingers belong to people who are 

 quick and impulsive, careless for appearances, jump at conclusions. 

 When fingers are thick and clumsy, as well as short, they belong to a 

 nature that is cruel and selfish. If the fingers are rather slender and 

 inclined to bend backwards, they indicate a nature clever and charm- 

 ing, inclined to be inquisitive. Fingers that are naturally crooked or 

 twisted denote an ill nature. The fingers of a selfish person are usually 

 thick at the base, if waist like at the base they denote an unselfish per- 

 son. Spaces between the fingers of the open hand denote independ- 

 ence of thought and action, especially when the space is wide between 

 the third and fourth fingers. 



If the first or index finger is very long it indicates a proud, dom- 

 ineering nature. Napoleon the Great had an unusually long index 

 finger fully as long as the middle finger, When the third finger is 

 as long or nearly so as the first, it denotes great ambition for riches 

 and Conors. If excessively long, almost as long as the middle finger, 

 the hand belongs to a man who is naturally a gambler. A long little 

 finger denotes mental balance and power in speaking or oratory. Mr. 

 Gladstone's little finger almost reached the nail of his third finger. 



The Nails. These more than any other part of the hands indi- 

 cate tendency to disease. In the illustration of the nails, Fig. 1 shows 

 the kind of nail of people who are subject to throat affections. Fig. 

 2 is a characteristic type of one disposed to bronchial troubles. A 

 similar type of nail, but longer, and especially where it is much curved, 

 both from side to side and up and down, is indicative of lung trouble 

 (Fig. 3) ; when, in addition, it is inclined to be square at the top and 

 narrow at the bottom (Fig. 4) it indicates consumption. Long nails 

 wide on top and bluish in color indicate imperfect circulation and 

 nervous disorder. Very short nails and small (Fig. 5) indicate bad 

 circulation from heart trouble. When shaped like that in Fig. 6 the 

 person is liable to attacks of angina-pectoris (valvular disease of the 

 heart) . Short triangular nails (Fig. 7) or those of similar shape but 

 wider at top and flat, indicate a tendency towards paralysis. Fig. 9 

 represents a type found on people liable to fits. In general it may be 

 stated that the long, moderately curved pink nails represent good 

 health and calm disposition. Short nails, pale in color, indicate ten- 

 dency to disease of the trunk or lower limbs, and critical or quick- 

 tempered dispositions. Where the nail is broader than it is long it in- 

 dicates a combative, sometimes a brutal or sensuous nature. Clean, 

 smooth nails, are a better indication of health than rough or lined or 

 spotted nails. We have thus briefly outlined the principal characteristic 

 indications of the hand as a guide to natural tendency towards health 

 or disease, and as a guide to character. It must be borne in mind that no 

 one indication is to be accepted as final in itself, but the different 

 parts, the shape of the hands and fingers, the shape and color of the 

 nails and the lines, all should be taken into consideration. One indi- 

 cation modifies, more or less, the other, and hence the judgment must 

 be on the hand as a whole. 



