PAGECheiroFrontispieceThe Lines of the Hand1Lord Kitchener's Hand2PLATEI.The Three Principal Positions for the Commencement of the Line of Head11II.The Line of Head joined to the Line of Life and its Terminations18III.The Line of Head separated from the Line of Life20IV.Islands on the Line of Head24V.More Variations of the Line of Head27VI.The Line of Head and Line of Heart running together29VII.Double Lines of Head, also Crosses and Squares32VIII.The Line of Life and Sections of Influences from the Mounts37IX.The Line of Life and its Variations40X.The Line of Life and Line of Mars45XI.The Line of Destiny and its Modifications51XII.The Line of Destiny and its Variations53XIII.The Line of Destiny and its Modifications56XIV.The Line of Destiny, Islands, and other Signs59XV.The Line of Sun and its Modifications62XVI.The Line of Heart and its Variations68XVII.The Line of Marriage74XVIII.Marriage Lines and Influence Lines which further help in denoting Marriage78XIX.The Line of Health84XX.The Girdle of Venus. The Ring of Saturn. The Bracelets. The Line of Intuition. The Via Lasciva89XXI.Travels, Voyages, Accidents, and Descending Lines from the Mounts99XXII.The Island, the Circle, the Spot, the Grille, the Star, and the Square102XXIII.Minor Marks and Signs105XXIV.Minor Marks and Signs108XXV.The Great Triangle and the Quadrangle111XXVI.Times and Dates of Principal Events113CHEIROGNOMYILLUSTRATIONSI.The Elementary Hand120The Square or Useful Hand120The Spatulate Hand120The Philosophic Hand120II.The Conic or Artistic Hand123The Psychic Hand123The Mixed Hand123III.Thumbs:The Clubbed Thumb129The Supple Jointed Thumb129The Firm Jointed Thumb129The Waist-Like Thumb129The Straight Thumb129The Elementary Thumb129IV.The Fingers:The Smooth134The Square134The Knotty134V.The Nails:Delicacy of Throat137Chest and Bronchial137Spinal Weakness137Weak Action of the Heart137Paralysis137VI.The Mounts of the Hand:The Mount of Venus141The Mount of Mars141The Mount of Jupiter141The Mount of Saturn141The Mount of the Sun141The Mount of Mercury141The Mount of the Moon141
THE LINES OF THE HAND.THE LINES OF THE HAND.
THE LINES OF THE HAND.THE LINES OF THE HAND.
The success I had during the twenty-five years in which I was connected with this study was, I believe, chiefly owing to the fact that although my principal study was the lines and formation of hands, yet I did not confine myself alone to that particular page in the book of Nature. I endeavoured to study every phase of thought that can throw light on human life; consequently the very ridges of the skin, the hair found on the hands, all were used as a detective would use a clue to accumulate evidence. I found people were sceptical of such a study only because they had not the subject presented to them in a logical manner.
There are hundreds of facts connected with the hand that people have rarely, if ever, heard of, and Ithink it will not be out of place if I touch on them here. For instance, in regard to what are known as the corpuscles, Meissner, in 1853, proved that these little molecular substances were distributed in a peculiar manner in the hand itself. He found that in the tips of the fingers they were 108 to the square line, with 400 papillæ; that they gave forth certain distinct crepitations, or vibrations, and that in the red lines of the hand they were most numerous and, strange to say, were found in straight individual rows in the lines of the palm. Experiments were made as to these vibrations, and it was proved that, after a little study, one could distinctly detect and recognise the crepitationsin relation to each individual. They increased or decreased in every phase of health, thought, or excitement, and were extinct the moment death had mastered its victim. About twenty years later, experiments were made with a man in Paris, who had an abnormally acute sense of sound (Nature's compensation for want of sight, as he had been born blind). In a very short time this man could detect the slightest change or irregularity in these crepitations, and through the changes was able to tell with wonderful accuracy about how old a person was, and how near they were to illness, and even death.
The study of these corpuscles was also taken up by Sir Charles Bell, who, in 1874, demonstrated that each corpuscle contained the end of a nerve fibre, and was in immediate connection with the brain. This great specialist also demonstrated that every portion of the brain was in touch with the nerves of the hand and more particularly with the corpuscles found in the tips of the fingers and the lines of the hand.
LORD KITCHENER'S HAND.LORD KITCHENER'S HAND.
The detection of criminals by taking impressionsof the tips of the fingers and by thumb marks is now used by the police of almost every country, and thousands of criminals have been tracked down and identified by this means.
To-day, at Scotland Yard, is to be seen almost an entire library now devoted to books on this side of the subject and to the collections that the police have made, and yet, in my short time, I remember how the idea was scoffed at when Monsieur Bertillon and the French police first commenced the detection of criminals by this method. If the ignorant prejudice against a complete study of the hand were overcome, the police would be greatly assisted by studying the lines of the palm, and acquiring a knowledge of what these lines mean, especially as regards mentality and the inclination of the brain in one direction or another.
It is a well-known fact that, even if the skin be burned off the hands or removed by an acid, in a short time the lines will reappear exactly as they were before, and the same happens to the ridges or "spirals" in the skin of the inside tips of the fingers and thumb.
The scientific use of such a study could also be made invaluable in foreseeing tendencies towards insanity, etc.
Sir Thomas Browne, in hisReligio Medici, after referring to Physiognomy, says:
"Now there are besides these characters in our faces certain mystical figures in our hands, which I dare not call mere dashes, strokesà la voléeor at random, because delineated by a pencil that never works in vain, and hereof I take more particular notice because I carry that in mine own hand which I could never read nor discover in another."
"Now there are besides these characters in our faces certain mystical figures in our hands, which I dare not call mere dashes, strokesà la voléeor at random, because delineated by a pencil that never works in vain, and hereof I take more particular notice because I carry that in mine own hand which I could never read nor discover in another."
But prejudice is a hard thing to combat, and, in consequence, a study which could render untold aid to humanity has been neglected in modern times. Yet it cannot be denied that this strange study was practised and followed by some of the greatest teachers and students of other civilisations.
Whether or no these ancient philosophers were more enlightened than we are has long been a question of dispute, but the one point and the most important one which has been admitted is, that in those days the greatest study of mankind was man. It is, therefore, reasonable to suppose that their conclusions are more likely to be correct than those of an age like our own—famous chiefly for its implements of destruction, its warships, its dynamite, and its cannon.
This study of hands can be traced back to the very earliest, most enlightened forms of civilisation. It has been practised by the greatest minds in all those civilisations, minds that have left their mental philosophies and their monuments for us to marvel at. India, China, Persia, Egypt, Rome—all in their study of mankind have placed the greatest store in their study of the hand.
During my stay in India, I was permitted by some Brahmans (descendants of the Joshi Caste, famous from time immemorial for their knowledge in occult subjects) with whom it was my good fortune to become intimately acquainted, to examine and make extracts from an extraordinary book on this subject which they regarded as almost sacred, and which belonged to the great past of the now despised Hindustan.
As the wisdom of the Hindus spread far and wide across the earth, so the theories and ideas about thisstudy spread and were practised in other countries. Similar to the way in which religion suits itself to the conditions of the country in which it is propagated, so has it divided itself into various systems. It is, however, to the days of the Greek civilisation that we owe the present clear and lucid form of the study. The Greek civilisation has, in many ways, been considered the highest and most intellectual in the world, and here it is that Palmistry or Cheiromancy (from the Greekχεíρ, the hand) grew and found favour in the eyes of those who have given us laws and philosophies that we employ to-day and whose works are taught in all our leading colleges and schools.
It is a well-known and undisputed fact that the philosopher Anaxagoras not only taught but practised this study. We also find that Hispanus discovered on an altar dedicated to Hermes a book on Cheiromancy, written in gold letters, which he sent as a present to Alexander the Great, as "a study worthy of the attention of an elevated and enquiring mind." Instead of it being followed by the "weak-minded," we find, on the contrary, that it numbered amongst its disciples such men of learning as Aristotle, Pliny, Paracelsus, Cardamis, Albertus Magnus, the Emperor Augustus, and many others of note.
This brings us down to the period when the power of the Church was beginning to be felt outside the domain and jurisdiction of religion. It is said that the early Fathers were jealous of the influence of this old-world science. Whether this be true or not, we find that it was bitterly denounced and persecuted by the early Church. It has always been, that the history of any dominant creed or sect is the history of opposition to knowledge, unless that knowledgecome through it. This study, therefore, the offspring of "pagans and heathens," was not even given a trial. It was denounced as sorcery and witchcraft; the devil was conjured up as the father of all such students, and the result was that through this bitter persecution, the study was outlawed, and fell into the hands of vagrants, tramps, and gipsies. In spite of this persecution it is interesting and significant to notice that almost the first book ever printed was a work on Palmistry,Die Kunst Ciromantia, printed in Augsburg, in the year 1475.
In examining this subject it will be found that in the study of mankind it came to be recognised that, as there was a natural position on the face for the nose, eyes, lips, etc., so also on the hand was there a natural position for what is known as the Line of Head, Line of Life, and so on. If these were found in some unnatural position they would equally be the indications of unnatural tendencies. It doubtless took years of study to name these lines and marks, but it must be remembered that this curious study is more ancient than any other in the world.
In the original Hebrew of the Book of Job (chap. xxxvii., ver. 7), we find these significant words: "God caused signs or seals on the hands of all the sons of men, that the sons of men might know their works."
As the student of anatomy can build up the entire system from the examination of a single bone, so may a person by a careful study of an important member of the body such as the hand, apart from anything superstitious or even mystical, build up the entire action of the system and trace every effect back to its cause.
To-day the science of the present is coming to therescue of the so-called superstition of the past. All over the world scientists are little by little sweeping aside prejudice and beginning to study occult questions. Perhaps the "whys and wherefores" of such things may one of these days be as easily explained as are those wireless waves of electricity that carry messages from land to land.
The object of the following chapters is to give clear and unmistakable instruction on the lines and markings of the hands, both from the student's standpoint and from that of the general reader. This is not usually the course adopted in books printed on this subject which have to appeal to a general public.
During my twenty-five years' professional experience in England, America, and other countries, I have carefully noted down the questions that are not answered in books published on this subject. I have also recorded what are the difficulties that arise in the minds of those students who meet this, that, or the other mark or line and search in vain for some explanation as to its meanings. I may add that there is not a single point on which I give information that has not been proved by me from probably thousands of cases that have come before me during my own professional experience.
As regards illustrations, I have endeavoured to make these of the simplest and clearest kind possible. I have every confidence that if they are carefully studied, no student can fail to grasp this subject ina masterful manner, and that whoever acts upon the advice I give in these pages, cannot fail to become successful as an interpreter of this study.
In all my work I regard the Line of Head (page11) or the Line of Mentality as the most important sign that can be found in the hand.
A Line of Head is like the needle in the compass, without a true knowledge of which it is impossible to grasp the "direction of the subject." I have seen more mistakes caused by a lack of grasp of this point than by anything else.
I have seen, for example, many students make the mistake of paying great attention to what looked like a good Line of Sun or Success, and, at the same time, not noticing a weak, badly formed Line of Head, which contradicted the promise of success given by the various lines. If, on the other hand, the student had first noticed the Line of Head, he would have been able to tell the subject that the promise of success was not backed up by the intelligence or the mentality.
As regards the future being foreshadowed, it has been demonstrated that the brain is always growing, changing, increasing, or diminishing. These changes commence years before the effect is shown by the thoughts or actions of the individual. A boy ten years old may at that point commence a development which will not be felt until he is thirty, and then it may change his whole life and career. As this development commences at ten, even at that age it has affected certain nerves, and they in their turn have already affected the Line of Head—a full twenty years before the point of change or action has been reached. It therefore follows that the future maybe seen and told by a careful examination of the hand which, as Aristotle has said, is the "organ of all organs, the active agent of the passive powers of the entire system."
The Line of Head (page11), or indication of the Mentality of the subject, must in all cases be considered as the most important line on the hand. The greatest attention should be paid to it, so as to obtain a clear grasp of the Mentality under consideration.
The two hands must be carefully compared—the left showing the inherited tendencies, the right the developed or cultivated qualities. The slightest change or deviation in the markings from the left to the right should be carefully noted down or remembered.
The direction or the termination or end of the line should, above all, be distinctly noted, for the all-important reason that this shows the direction that the Mentality is inclined to develop towards. For example, if found with the end of the line sloping downwards in the left hand, and having become straight or lying across the palm in the right—the student is safe in concluding that the subject has not been able to follow his natural bent, but by the force of circumstances has been obliged to make himself more practical, to study business methods, and to have undertaken a training towards practicality and level-headedness in order to rise equal to the circumstances that he found himself forced to meet.
In this way the student obtains an insight into the earlier conditions of the life under examination that is invaluable, especially when there is, as will befound in many cases, no Line of Destiny visible in the early years.
Plate I. THE THREE PRINCIPAL POSITIONS FOR THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE LINE OF HEAD.Plate I. THE THREE PRINCIPAL POSITIONS FOR THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE LINE OF HEAD.
If, on the contrary, the Line of Head is found exactly in the same position on the right hand as on the left, or even very nearly so, the student can be sure that there was little or no strain in the early years, but that the subject had easy conditions whichwere favourable, and which allowed him to develop his natural bent of Mentality.
If, however, it is found that the left hand shows a forked ending to the Line of Head, namely, one end sloping downwards and the other end straight, or nearly so, and that the right hand shows only the straight line, then the student may decide that the subject inherited from the parents two natures, the imaginative and the practical, and that he chose to develop the latter, either in the direction of business or science.
In such a case, the student may state with confidence that the parents of the subject were decidedly opposite in their characteristics. If the line has become straight in the right hand the subject takes more after the side that was practical.
In the case of boys or men it must be remembered that they will take more after their mother's mental peculiarities, and in the case of girls or women that they more generally take after the mental qualities of the father.
On a man's left hand that has the forked ending with the upper end straight, or nearly so, the student can state that the mother was the more practical of the parents. If on the right hand the same mark has become clearest the man developed, followed, or cultivated the mental qualities of the mother more than those of the father. When reading a woman's hand the reverse will apply.
If, on the contrary, the lower line was the more developed on the right hand, then the subject, if a man, had developed the imaginative or artistic qualities of the mother, andvice versaif the subject be a girl or a woman.
When the Line of Head looks light or faint on the left, and strong and clear on the right, the student can safely state that the subject did not inherit any strong mental bent from either parent, but has cultivated and developed his own mentality.
In such a case the subject has been a hard mental student, and has become mentally superior to his or her parents. This is often found in the case of "self-made" men or women, who have had little or no education in their early life or in their home, but who from an innate love of education developed themselves mentally. Such a sign would speak volumes for the will power and ambition of the subject under examination.
If the Line of Head is lighter and poorer on the right hand than on the left, the student can state that the subject has not made the most of his opportunities mentally, and that he has not, and never will, equal the brain power and education of his or her parents.
In such a case one may also be sure that the subject has not a very strong will power—at least mentally—although he might be very obstinate by nature, which will be seen from the quality exhibited by the nail phalange of the thumb (page129).
A poor or non-developed Line of Head in the right hand of any man or woman is also the indication of a lack of purpose or ambition—there being no ambition where a want of mental desire and development is so distinctly shown.
A clean cut deep Line of Head is a more powerful sign of mentality than when the line is very broad, or lying, as it were, merely on the surface of the palm.
A wide broad line shows less concentration and amore vacillating changeable nature. This rule applies with equal truth to all the lines on the palm.
Broad, coarse-looking lines are more a constitutional sign than a mental indication. They are often found in cases where the subject leads a robust outdoor life, and those who have developed the physical side of their nature more than the mental.
Great brain workers usually have thin, fine, clean-looking lines, and especially that of the Line of Head.
It will thus be seen that by observation the student will be enabled to class the sort of life led by the person under examination. No matter how intellectual a man or woman may look, the lines on the hand will indicate whether or not they have developed their intellectuality. In this way it will be seen that a study of the hand becomes a far more accurate guide than the study of the face. Many men and women may have handsome, intellectual faces and yet prefer sport or outdoor life to any mental pursuit or exercise.
Turning from an examination of the direction of ending of the Line of Head, the student must next examine the indications of the beginnings of this important Line. For example, the Line of Head may commence in three distinct different ways.
(1) From inside the Line of Life (1-1,Plate I.).(2) Joined to the Line of Life (2-2,Plate I.).(3) And outside the Line of Life (3-3,Plate I.).
The first is the most uncertain of all. It denotes an over-sensitive, over-cautious, timid person. It also indicates a highly nervous, easily excited individual, one who has little control over himself or his temper, who is easily put out over trifles, and liable todo the most erratic things, or fly off at a tangent when irritated. Such people are always in trouble, generally fighting or quarrelling with those about them and over things that are of no consequence. They are likewise so easily wounded in their feelings, that even a look or an imagined slight will put them out of humour or upset them for days.
If this Line of Head farther out in the palm become straight, it denotes that the subject will, later, by the development of his intelligence largely overcome this failing of over-sensitiveness. If the line slope much or bend down towards the wrist or on to the Mount of Luna (the Mount of Imagination), then the subject will become still worse with his advancing years. If the Line of Head is also poorly marked, or with "hairlines" from it, it is often the indication of some form of insanity which is likely to cause the subject to be placed under restraint in later life.
If, with this latter indication, the student also finds all the upward main lines, such as the Line of Destiny, etc., fading out past the middle of the palm, the indication of insanity and restraint becomes all the more certain.
This class of Head Line is largely found in cases where the subject is naturally inclined towards drink and intemperance of every description.
Even in cases where there are good lines running up the palm, it will usually be found that the subject gives way to occasional fits of intemperance or the desire for drugs. The qualities of the fiery Mount of Mars, from which such a Line of Head starts inside the Life Line, is largely the cause of the peculiarities above indicated. The opposite Mount of Mars (page141) on the side of the hand, on the contrary, givesmental control, so that even when the Line of Head runs out straight on the palm it partakes of this "Mental Mars" quality, and so denotes that later on in years the subject with such a Line of Head will be able to develop mental control. The sloping Line of Head, however, would denote that the subject allows himself to turn, as it were, away from mental control, and so lets the earlier tendencies become his master.
This point alone is worthy of the consideration of all parents, and if observed by them would do much to help such children to develop mental control over themselves. The accompanying plates show this formation of the Line of Head in all its variations.
The position of this line indicates in all cases a highly sensitive disposition, which inclines towards the side of caution and also lacks self-confidence (2-2,Plate I.). Even the cleverest people with this sign seem to rein themselves in too tightly, and are always inclined to undervalue their capabilities and talents.
When, with the same indication, the line is also sloping slightly downwards, the sensitiveness is still more increased. This form is largely found on the hands of artists, painters, and those who even in other walks of life have the sensitive artistic temperament, even though it may not have been developed to a larger extent. If, on the contrary, the Line of Head joined to the Line of Life runs straight out across the hand towards the mental Mount of Mars (2-2,Plate I.), the subject, though still extremely sensitive, has got greater courage of his opinions. Such people do not get credit for being as highly sensitive as dothe other people with the line sloping downwards towards the Mount of Imagination. The straighter the Head Line is found, the subject can be more relied on to carry out his determination, and often these highly sensitive and even nervous people are found doing very determined work in connection with some battle for principle or for right which they believe it their moral duty to carry out. If this class of Line of Head, however, go very far across the hand and straight on to the Mental Mount of Mars, it indicates an extremely strong-willed determined person who has the power to hide his sensitiveness and nervousness and stake everything for what he believes his duty to carry out.
The difference in the observation of these two distinct classes of individuals, namely, those with the Line of Head joined but sloping, and the Line of Head joined and straight across the hand, has caused many exponents of this study to make great mistakes in the judgment of their subject. When, as is very often the case, the Line of Head is forked (3-3,Plate II.), also when joined and when these forked lines are equal to one another, especially in cases where the Line of Head is joined to the Line of Life showing the sensitive temperament, this forked mark often indicates a certain want of decision. The subject is inclined to balance too much between the two qualities of brain, the practical and the imaginative. As to what they should do for the best, in such cases it is always wise to advise the subject to act according to first impulse either in dealing with practical or imaginative things. By so doing they employ, as it were, the intuition of the brain, and by using it do not waver and vacillate by too much reasoningover the question or endeavouring to see both sides of it at once. When the sloping Line of Head has a gentle curve downwards towards the Mount of the Moon (1-1,Plate II.), distinct control over the imagination is indicated. The student will then know that the subject simply uses his imagination when he wishes to do so instead of being controlled by it. But the contrary is the case when the line bends too far down this Mount (4-4,Plate II.). In this case thesubject is the slave of his imagination and generally does erratic and peculiar things or can only work in moods of the moment. People of this latter class seldom, if ever, produce the great results in the world of art or imagination as do those who have the line simply curving downwards into this Mount.
Plate II. THE LINE OF HEAD JOINED TO THE LINE OF LIFE AND ITS TERMINATIONS.Plate II. THE LINE OF HEAD JOINED TO THE LINE OF LIFE AND ITS TERMINATIONS.
When the Line of the Head bends completely down and turns with a curve, as it were, under the base of the Mount of Luna (5-5,Plate II.), the tendency is to extreme morbid imaginings and such extreme sensitiveness, that people on whose hands it is found generally separate themselves from the rest of their fellows, and either retire from the world altogether and live a solitary life or else make their exit by the gate of suicide. The latter is, in fact, generally the ending of such lives. Their extreme sensitiveness evidently renders life for them almost unbearable. But this formation must not be confounded with the Line of Head curving downwards through the upper part of the Mount (4-4,Plate II.). In this latter case, it can even descend as far down as the wrist itself, and, unless it has an island or star at the end of the line, there is not the danger of suicide. In all such cases, however, there is extreme imagination, extreme sensibility, and a tendency to melancholy and morbidness, but there is no indication of the brain breaking down under strain as there is in the other case of what is known as the distinct tendency for self-murder.
The Line of Head is more frequently found connected with than separated from the Line of Life.When the space is not very wide (3-3,Plate I.), it is an excellent mark to have, giving independence of thought, quickness of judgment, and a certain mental daring that is invaluable in fighting the battle of life. When the Line of Head is at the same time lying fairly straight across the palm, such individuals have an immense power over others, but their capabilities are always more distinctly shown if they should in any form go in for some kind of public life. Peoplepossessing this mark are rather less "hard students" than those with the Line of Head and Line of Life joined together, but they have such brilliancy and quickness of thought that they seem to see in a flash that which takes the other class hard work to attain. But these people with the "open Line of Head" must, above all things, have purpose in their life. Without purpose they are rather like a ship drifting on an idle sea. They may spend their life in an aimless way unless "the call" comes to them or the tide of ambition turns their way and carries them onward.
Plate III. THE LINE OF HEAD SEPARATED FROM THE LINE OF LIFE.Plate III. THE LINE OF HEAD SEPARATED FROM THE LINE OF LIFE.
The same class of line but sloping is the more uncertain of the two characters, because the person is still more inclined to work only by moods. If the mood or the desire does not come, such people, although always brilliant and clever, may often waste their lives doing nothing.
Those people with the Line of Head "open" and ascending slightly upwards towards or on to the Mental Mount of Mars (3-3,Plate III.), are self-appointed leaders, organizers of any public movement. They will sacrifice everything, home, affection, and all ties for what they believe is their public duty in connection with the work that they have undertaken.
The Line of Head very open and separate from the Line of Life denotes a character with too little caution or sensitiveness (4-4,Plate III.). The subject will go to the opposite extreme of him with the Line of Head and Line of Life joined. When the space is very wide it denotes excessive impetuosity and lack of continuity of purpose, a person who pushes himself forward on all occasions, a great desire for notoriety and one continually changing his plans as far as the world is concerned. When this line is excessivelyopen or separate from the Line of Life, the brain seems to be an extremely excitable one. The subject suffers greatly from excessive blood to the head, mental hysteria, sleeplessness, and all things that affect the brain. If the Line of Head is badly formed with islands, or a broad line with breaks and hair lines (1-1,Plate IV.), it is just as much a mark of another form of insanity as the Line of Head curving downwards at the wrist, but with the line mentioned the type is inclined to be morbid with a tendency to suicide.
This other Line of Head with islands indicates the character that will be more likely to be excitable and fly into a temper and kill other people. A Line of Head not too widely separated and either one end of it commencing on the Mount of Jupiter, or with its main branch from the Mount of Jupiter (4-4,Plate III.), is one of the most brilliant marks of all. The student must, however, carefully establish this difference of the Line of Head in his own mind, as well as the termination or the ending of this line. Once he has these two points firmly established, he has gained the great keynote to this subject. When once this part is mastered, he has a sure foundation to work on.
My next remarks will relate to the minor marks and their meaning, and to islands or breaks on or in the Line of Head.
What are known as "islands" in the Line of Head are very important, especially if they are considered both in relation to the age at which they occur, and also in relation to the mentality itself.
In the first place the principal rule the student must bear in mind is, that islands must be considered as showing a weakness in any line wherever they may be found, and are to be considered unfortunate signs.
On the Line of Head when found in the form of a continuous chain (1-1,Plate IV.), all through the line, they denote mental weakness, but generally produced by ill-health which more immediately affects the brain.
Such mental weakness or "brain illness," if found with nails showing very small "moons" or none at all, denotes an anæmic condition of the blood that affects the brain, a low condition of vitality and bad circulation, which seems to starve the brain of blood and prevents such people from making any continuous effort in regard to study or will power, and causes them to act in an erratic fashion.
If at the same time the Line of Head is seen placed very high on the hand, this sign is worse still in its meaning, and such subjects are inclined to be "half mad" in periods.
When the Line of Head is widely separated from the Line of Life, then this chain formation of islands is still more accentuated and more difficult to cure. Such subjects have periods of mental excitability which it seems impossible for them to control, and in such moments they are liable to fly off at a tangent and commit mad or rash acts, but acts generally dangerous to other people.
When, however, the Line of Head is very sloping (2-2,Plate IV.), with this formation of islands the subject is inclined to have fits of depression and melancholy, during which he is likely to shrink away from people or make an attempt against his own life."Suicide while temporarily insane" is the verdict of the jury in such cases.