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 type. 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.

No. 29, VERY SHORT, CRITICAL NAILS.

No. 30. OPEN AND FRANK NAILS.

Business, art, eloquence, war, literature, or music, - so you must look for short nails in every examination, and give them, 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.

No. 31. HEART DISEASE NAILS.

There are nails that are broad at the tip, curving around the fingers, broadening at the base, pink in color, and fine in texture (30). These nails show the open, frank nature, to whom honesty of thought 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, piukuess of color is always to be looked for, before giving the full value to this reading.

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 (31). This nail is often found on long fingers, or otherwise large hands, though it may be seen on small ones. It does not belong to any one type of hand, but is found on all-shaped fingers and hands. 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 once seen can always be recognized. 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 nail 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. With this 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 recognize poor circulation and a weak heart; when seen with the above shape, it means pronounced heart difficulty. You must be very careful to note the age of women who have the blue color of the nails, to see if they are near the ages of twelve to fourteen, at which time they are passing from childhood to womanhood, and always have some disturbance of circulation. This trouble terminates when the menses become well established and regular. A blueness found at such an age shows only a temporary obstruction 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.

In all of these cases note whether the color is a general blue all over the nail, which must he read as nervousness or carbonized blood, or whether it is a deep, angry, purplish blue low at the base of the nail. In the latter case it is a thunder-cloud which threatens destruction when the storm bursts, but in all cases watch carefully the ages indicated above, and gauge your opinion by applying the rules given. A. faint blue tinge covering the whole nail will show you a nervous person with some heart weakness, not, however, of as pronounced character as that found by blueness at the base of the nail.

No. 32. BULBOUS OR TUBERCULOUS NAILS.

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 nail plays a part in the formation of it, and the advanced type is described in order that you may use it as a basis on which to rest your gradings of this nail. It is a bulbous nail and grows on a bulbous finger-tip (32). 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 recognized 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 finger 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 from the blood and filling it with oxygen, are so obstructed or destroyed that the blood is not renewed as it goes through them, but carries many of its poisonous qualities back through the circulation. Thus blood obstruction and impurity give these bulbous nails a marked blue appearance. I 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 cold 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. There 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 (33). 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 he warned to use care and avoid taking colds. It is a fine confirmation of this delicacy of throat and lungs if you find the Mercury line full of islands, and you need feel no hesitancy in using it. Hundreds of times I have verified this indication. In the readings applied to all nails, you must look carefully to color. 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 white 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.

No. 33. BRONCHIAL OR THROAT DELICACY.

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 pronounced under any nail, as it will show you the intense ardor and excess of strength of the person.

In the examination of many nails, you will find them differing in some degree from my descriptions. If you will, however, use your powers of observation until you have located typical nails of types described, you will afterwards, with all ease, be able to grade the other nails you meet, giving them the proper degrees of development.