THE second line, which, according to our hypothesis, receives the Electric Current when it enters our bodies through the finger of Jupiter, is the line which may be seen tracing its way across the hand below the line of Heart, and this has been named the line of the Head (82). It is an important line, and innumerable experiments have shown that it absolutely indicates the amount of mentality possessed by the subject, the kind of mentality, the power of mental concentration, and the ability to exert self-control. The importance of this line will be recognized when we consider what a tremendous part mind plays in the shaping of our destiny. No matter how fine the rest of the human machine may be, it can never operate perfectly unless there is a proper mental attitude. The mental attitude cannot be what it should be unless the brain is physically healthy and the subject possesses the ability to concentrate his mind and thus go through life with definite-ness of purpose. Mind is the force that enables us to alter our natural life map, makes us able to modify our type qualities, and, more powerfully than any other factor, influences the life of every human being.

The kind of mind that each subject possesses will be largely the key to his future, for it makes him whatever he is, improves or mars his natural self, builds up or tears down the strong places in his character, and acts correspondingly with the weak ones. Thus the Head line will demand the closest study, in order to correctly determine the quality and quantity of brain power present.

No. 82.

The organ called the brain is the centre from which emanates the vital force that throbs along every nerve in the body, and, manifestly, whatever reflects it is also a wonderful revealer of disease, especially of those disorders termed nervous. As the human brain is locked within the skull and is so extremely delicate and sensitive that physical examination of it cannot be made with safety, it is only when accident has laid bare certain portions that its workings can be studied. Even the closest microscopical examination fails to reveal any essential difference in structure between the brain of a man of high intellectual endowments and blameless moral life and that of a criminal of the most brutal type. This fact I have seen verified in post-mortem examinations before a body of scientific experts. It is because the brain is so carefully protected that it cannot be studied and examined minutely during life that we have not yet learned to locate in it the seats of good and evil. But the hand is always present to be studied, and in the Head line it has been found that the inner workings of the mind are disclosed.

Therefore, for the present we must be satisfied to use the Head line rather than the brain itself to discover the workings of the mind, and we can feel satisfied that it accurately records the information. All of the data which is incorporated in this chapter concerning the Head line is the record of careful examinations and verifications, and it is because these numerous examinations have been so universally accurate that I unhesitatingly state that the line of Head may be relied upon as a revealer of the amount and condition of the mentality of any subject. In the same way it is most accurate in disclosing diseases due to an impairment of the brain, and extending from it to the nervous system.

In beginning a study of the line of Head, your first care should be to locate it, and if it be absent, to discover that fact. As the mind, working through the brain, is the force which operates directly on all lines, the Head line is seldom absent, for it is the indicator of that which produces lines. However, there will often be only a single line crossing the hand, and you may be at a loss to tell whether it is the Head or the Heart line. In ninety-nine per cent, of cases such a single line is the former, and it is the Heart line which is absent. I think it best to read such single lines invariably as lines of Head. The length of the Head line should next have your attention. It should not run to the percussion as does the Heart line, but if the line runs across the hand, as in No. 82, it tells by its length of abundant mentality the kind to be estimated by the character and color of the line. If the line is short (83) it indicates that the subject is not so " long headed," or, in other words, has not strong mentality.

This latter line must be carefully noted, for it may also mean that the life of the subject is short and stops at the point where the Head line ends; for illness and duration of life are to be read on several of the lines and not on the Life line alone.

No. 83.

No. 84.

No. 85

If with a short Head line is also found a short Life line, corresponding in length with the line of Head (84), the fatality is quite certain. If a star is seen on the end of this short Head line (85) the indication will be sudden death, the star showing the explosion. If a star be seen on the end of both the short lines of Head and Life (86) the fatality may be read confidently if seen in the right hand, or, as threatened, if seen in the left hand. The larger and better formed these stars, the more certain the indication.

A cross on the end of a short Head line must be read as stopping the Current, ending the mentality, and producing death, but not so surely by apoplexy or in a sudden manner as if indicated by well-formed stars. A cross on the end of a short Head line, and of a Life line (87) must be read as an indication which is nearly as strong as a star. These defects stop the Current, and life cannot continue unless the Current flows freely. With these markings note in every case the type of subject, also color of the line or sign. If Jupiterian (predisposed to apoplexy), Saturnian (predisposed to paralysis), Martian (who has large blood supply in brain), these indications will be more serious, especially if found red or pronouncedly yellow in color. In all short Head lines the accompanying signs on the Life line, Mercury line, Heart line, and Mounts must be noted, in order to distinguish whether the subject lacks mentality or is predisposed to disease, as in the above cases. The long Head line per se shows abundant mentality and the short line less of it.

No. 86.

No. 87.