THE line of Mercury has been variously called the line of Health, the line of Liver, and the Hepatica. It should start on the Mount of Moon and run upward on the percussion to the Mount of Mercury, from which it takes its name (478). This line is valuable as an indicator of the state of the digestive apparatus, the operation of the liver, and it also shows the presence of various maladies and conditions which may arise from the impairment of these most important functions. Bad conditions seen in other parts of the hand can often be referred to a poor Mercury line for explanation, and some of the most accurate work possible in the entire range of hand-reading can be done with the aid of the Mercury line. In connection with the lines of Life, Saturn, and Apollo, it is an important adjunct, and in all combinations any indication seen on the Mercury line should be given great weight. When we remember what an important part in the human economy is played by the digestive apparatus and by the proper secretion and discharge of bile, we see that the line of Mercury has influence upon many parts of our lives, and that it is an ever-present factor in our success or failure. Physicians say that with a good digestion and a normal flow of bile, disease would be unknown to the human race.

In a large percentage of illnesses, without doubt the correction of derangement of the digestive apparatus and a control of the bile supply cures the patient. It is also a fact that the bilious types are the only ones which are really criminal, other types doing bad things under a stress of some exciting cause. Bad types of Saturnians and Mer-curians prefer the criminal way of doing things to the honest one. All through the study of human nature and character, we see the ill effect and plague of bile when not properly regulated. The Mercury line is exceedingly useful as a guide to business success, as no factor more surely enables one to cope with the affairs of the world than a clear brain, and nothing more surely keeps the brain from clogging than a good digestion and an active liver. Added to good health, no set of qualities will more surely aid in obtaining the best results from business than those peculiar to the Mercurian type. As the Mercury line indicates both the condition of the digestive organs and the state of the liver, and accents the strength of the Mercurian type, it is manifestly of unusual assistance when estimating the outcome of a business career.

No. 478.

The Mercury line in its relation to health must always be used in connection with the type of the subject. If we see indigestion or biliousness in the hand of a Jupiterian subject, a type naturally predisposed to overeating, we consider that to him it means an increased danger. And as certain disorders of the stomach cause vertigo, we know that if the case be very pronounced the subject is likely to be stricken with one of his type diseases, apoplexy. In a similar manner, the Mercury line will aid in estimating the degree of danger indicated by health defects of all the types. In connection with defects in the Head line, the Mercury line is a valuable assistant, for it is well known that the stomach and liver largely influence the condition of the physical brain. Functional disturbances of the heart are also brought on by indigestion, consequently a defective Heart line may find its disturbing cause indicated in the Mercury line. Poor health may wreck a brilliant career, and the Mercury line may explain defects seen in the Saturn or Apollo lines. All over the hand the influence of the defects it indicates may be felt and in any perplexing case do not forget to examine the Mercury line before completing the estimate. The Mercury line will not be found in all hands.

Without being able to state the exact percentage, I should say that at least one half the hands will be without it. In few cases is it a perfectly marked line, and this is not hard to explain, when perfect health is the possession of so few. I do not regard the absence of the Mercury line as necessarily a detriment, for on many hands which I have examined while making a study of this line, the health of those who have no line was found to be uniformly good. If there is to be a choice between no line or a defective one, it is preferable that none be seen. The absence of the Saturn line leaves a subject free to carve his way through the world, and in a similar manner the absence of the Mercury line shows that in its health directions there are no disturbances which must cause a subject trouble, and if he takes care of his stomach and liver he has open to him the possibility of no trouble from them. His health in these directions will be largely "self-made," and proportionate to the care he takes of himself. One other condition is generally present when the Mercury line is absent: the hand is not usually much lined and rayed, for if it were, a Mercury line would surely be present.

Such a hand, having few lines, is consequently less nervous, and as nervousness greatly increases the improper action of the liver, a lack of nervousness increases the subject's favorable condition. In making the final estimate for a subject, consider that, with the Mercury line absent he has to face at least no inevitable disease of digestion, and no disorder of the liver that he cannot control by caring for himself.

The Mercury line should rise from the Mount of Moon, but in practice it rarely does. In the largest number of cases it rises toward the Saturn or Life line, and from the centre or base of the hand, often in the Plain of Mars. It is much better that the line should rise between the Saturn line and the percussion (479) than between the Saturn line and the Life line (480) ; rising from the Life line (481) is one of the most unfavorable markings. To give the most favorable health indications, as well as the best promise of business success, the Mercury line should at no time touch the Life line, but branches from the Life line may go to it, or vice versa, or chance lines may connect the two, without bad results. The source of the Mercury line, outside of its unfavorable connection with the Life line, has no special meaning. Unless it rises from or touches the Life line it may be considered a normal line.

No. 479.

No. 480.

No. 481.