Nail

“ A sharp instrument, usually a chisel, is placed against the free edge of the nail so as to cut only through the nail itself and not into the nail bed, with the purpose in mind of removing a wedge-shaped piece of nail of just the size necessary to relieve irritation, and permit of proper drainage and dressing. ”

“ There is no rule for the management of the nail of greater importance than that which prescribes the pressing back of the edge of the scarf-skin which forms the boundary of the base of the nail. This margin is naturally adherent to the surface of the nail, and has a tendency to grow forward with it and become ragged and attenuated. ”

“ When you go to draw a nail, instead of the half-dozen hit-or-miss slips that are the usual fate of such attempts, the bar falls down in front of the nail as the claw grips it from the back. The nail is held in a vise and must come out willy-nilly. ”

“ I nail’d the swell’s mantra in the push, I picked the gentleman’s pocket of his watch in the crowd, &c. A person of an over-reaching, imposing disposition, is called a nail, a dead nail, a nailing rascal, a rank needle, or a needle pointer. ”

“ Fig. 33.—Setting Nails.
You will notice the iron nails have two smooth sides and two rough ones. In using these it is necessary to drive them with the smooth sides parallel with the grain, otherwise they are sure to split the work.
Nails are classified according to their shape and gauge. The only kinds you will probably ever have [Pg 36] occasion to use are the Common, or nail for all ordinary work; the Finishing-nail, with the small head used on finish work; and the Brad, or small-sized finishing-nail. ”

“ The nails lie upon the surface of the true skin and grow from the under side as well as from the little fold of skin at the root of the nail. They are made to give firmness and protection to the ends of the fingers and toes. ”

“ It will thus be seen that by a mere examination of the nail we can astonish our friends by telling them when they have been ill; and it has been estimated that the nail of the thumb grows from its root to its free extremity in five months, that of the great toe in twenty months, so that a transverse groove in the middle of the former indicates an illness about two and a half months before, and in the middle of the latter, about ten months.
The culture of the nails, which when perfect constitute so great a beauty, is of much importance; but the tendency is to injure them by too much attention. ”

“ The edges or sides of the nail are disposed to turn down and grow into the flesh, giving rise to inflammation, ulceration, and often great pain and suffering. The best remedy I have ever known in this difficulty is to scrape with some sharp-pointed instrument, as the point of a penknife, a sort of groove or gutter in the center of the nail lengthways from the root to the end. ”

“ Nails are usually "set," that is, the heads are driven with a nail-set below the surface. They must always be set below surfaces which are to be planed. It is often wise not to drive the first nail or two way in until the work is examined. ”

“ This growth has a certain limit which the nail cannot pass, and which it attains when it exhibits at its extremity a cutting and sharp edge. As long as this edge has the appearance of having a part cut off, the nail continues to grow. ”

“ Instances are by no means unfrequent in which the power of production of the nail at the root becomes entirely destroyed, and it then grows in thickness only. When this affection occurs, it is often remarkable what a mass the nail presents. ”

“ The making of a nail, however, is by no means one of the simplest operations. The same person blows the bellows, stirs or mends the fire as there is occasion, heats the iron, and forges every part of the nail: in forging the head, too, he in obliged to change his tools. ”

“ On the extremities of the fingers and of the toes, there are broad horny nails. These I trace down to the curved line where they issue from beneath the skin, and whence every particle of each nail has issued in succession. They are composed of several strata of polygonal cells, which have all grown in reduplications of the skin, forming compressed curved sheaths (follicles) ; stratum after stratum of cells having been added to the base-line, as the nail perpetually grew forwards. ”

“ In a short time we find that the nail, intercepted in its forward course, has become unusually thick and hard, and has spread out so much upon the sides, that it is now growing into the flesh, and so makes a case for the doctor. ”

“ Fill a china wash basin with a suds of warm water and castile soap. Soak the hands for five minutes. With an old soft linen towel push back the skin around the nails. If there are hangnails snip them away carefully. Cutting the cuticle at the base of the nail was a barbaric feature of a new science which disappeared when it became more rational and refined. Never, under any circumstances, must the inside of the nail be scraped with a sharp instrument. Another thing to be avoided is the vulgar application of pink nail cosmetics. ”

“ A finishing nail, that is, a nail having a head only a shade larger than the shank, is used for the finer kinds of woodwork. After you have driven in a nail until its head is within, say, 1⁄8 inch of the surface put the small, hollow end of your nail set on it, hold them together with your thumb and forefinger and drive it in by hitting the nail set with your hammer. After the head is sunk below the [11] surface of the wood fill in the hole with a wood filler [7] when neither the nail nor the hole can be seen. ”

“ She takes a finger nail in hand and she files it and she trims it and she softens it with hot water and hardens it with chemicals and parboils it a little while and then she cuts off the hang nails—if there aren't any hang nails there already she'll make a few—and she shears away enough extra cuticle to cover quite a good-sized little boy. ”

“ The nails require daily attention: they should be cut every two or three days in an oval form. A piece of flannel is better than a nail-brush to clean them with, as it does not separate the nail from the finger.
When dried, a little pummice-stone, finely powdered, with powdered orris-root, in the proportion of a quarter of a tea-spoonful to a tea-spoonful of the former, mixed together, and rubbed on the nails gently, gives them a fine polish, and removes all inequalities.
A piece of sponge, dipped in oil of roses and emery, may be used for the same purpose. ”

“ However absurd it may appear, we shall give examples of this superstition:—A person with broad nails is of gentle nature, timid, and bashful. Those whose nails grow into the flesh at the points or sides are given to luxury. A white mark on the nail bespeaks misfortune. Persons with very pale [Pg 378] nails are subject to much infirmity of the flesh, and persecution by neighbours and friends. People with narrow nails are ambitious and quarrelsome. ”

“ You can easily prove that the nails do grow constantly from the root or base, out toward the tip, by watching, some time when you have pounded one of your nails, how the black or discolored patch in it will grow steadily outward toward the tip, where it will be broken off and shed.
You cannot see the softest and youngest row, or layer, of the nail cells at the base, because a fold of skin, the nail fold, has been doubled, or folded, over them to protect them while they are young and soft. ”

“ The upper and free border of the nail should always be left projecting a line or so beyond the extremity of the finger, and be pared only to a slight curve, without encroaching too much on the angles. ”

“ In making nails by hand, the „nailer“ heats the end of the nail-rod at his small forge, and brings it into the form of the spike of a nail by a few strokes of his hammer on the anvil. It is then cut to any required length on a chisel, leaving it still attached to the rod. ”

“ They are very fond of eating the toe-nails—so fond, indeed, as to render the nail-scissors of no value, and they also profess a penchant for the epidermis—if I may be allowed a professional expression—of the feet and legs; not that they object to the skin of any other part of the body, by no means; they attack the legs merely on a principle of easy come-at-ability. ”

“ Apparently in this case the nail is supposed to contain a portion of the life and strength of the person to whom it belonged, and if the nail grows it gradually absorbs more and more of his life and strength, and he consequently becomes weaker and weaker through being deprived of it. ”

“ It's quite the latest thing! For finger nails, too, you know. That delicate rose pink, with just the touch of creaminess in it! It's the creamy tint that's new, you know. Isn't it just simply wonderful! ”

“ Instances are on record, where the nail is regularly shed; and, whenever the old nail falls off, a new one is found beneath it, perfectly formed. Sometimes the growth in length is not entirely checked, although growth in thickness is induced ”

“ To preserve the half moon, or what the anatomists call the lunula, which rises just above the root of the nail, and is esteemed so great a beauty, care must be taken to keep down the skin, which constantly tends to encroach upon it. ”

“ Brads have smaller, thicker heads, nails have larger, flat heads.
To drive a nail straight, start it straight. The hole cannot be [Pg 10] straightened by bending the nail so that it looks straight after it is partly driven. Many gentle blows with the hammer will often drive a nail where heavy blows would fail. The fingers pinching the nail often prevent its bending. ”

“ Care should be taken not to cut them too short, though, if they are left too long, they will frequently get torn and broken. They should be nicely rounded at the corners. Recollect the filbert-shaped nail is considered the most beautiful. ”

“ Too great an inward inclination of the nail will, however, give rise to a bind.
It is probable that 'tight-nailing' results more often from fine punching of the shoe than from any fault in the pitch of the hole. ”

“ Doubtless you have been out without gloves, and the sun has tanned them. The very narrow rim of insensible skin that surrounds the nail preserves the true skin from being torn and made sore at its termination at the quick. ”

“ To extract ingrowing toe-nails the patient is deeply anaesthetized owing to the extreme sensitiveness of the matrix of the nail, the nail is then seized with a forceps and literally dragged out by main force, leaving a sore and tender surface, which renders the foot useless for long after the operation. ”

“ Fragment of Pottery.
nails. She is long ago gone to dust, and her dust dispersed, but the impress of her nails remains.
This is much like what we are all doing, and doing unconsciously—leaving little finger-touches on our creations, giving shape to the minds and habits of our children and of those with whom we are brought into contact, shaping, adorning, or disfiguring our epoch, and the impressions we leave are indelible; they will in turn be transmitted to ages to come. ”

“ The rapidity of its growth can be ascertained by filing a slight groove on its surface, and noticing how the space between it and the root of the nail increases, in the course of a few weeks. When the nail is removed by any accident, it will be replaced by a new one, if the root be not injured. ”

“ On nails driven into the walls are hung singular-shaped instruments, all keen or pointed with points as fine as a needle and edges as sharp as a razor; some shine like mirrors; others, on the contrary, are of a dull gray or murky blue. ”

“ He is taller by almost the breadth of my nail, than any of his court; which alone is enough to strike an awe into the beholders. ”

“ Where you added one nail at a time in shaping the first sleeve, cast off one nail at a time in shaping the second sleeve. If you added two nails, cast stitches off two nails at a time, until only 44 nails, 22 in each row, are left. ”

“ Nails were formed by combining sinew, skin, and bone, and were made by the creators with a view to the future when, as they knew, women and other animals who would require them would be framed out of man. ”

“ Shaving the nail thin on the top, or cutting a V-shaped piece out of it, tend to relieve. Raise up the nail and put a bit of absorbent cotton under it. The best way is to avoid foot troubles by wearing well fitting shoes which are sufficiently large. ”

“ I have seen some individuals with nails on the posterior thumbs, but generally speaking, they are devoid of them: of the five animals sent home, two have the nails, and three are without them; one has the nail well formed, and in the other it is merely rudimentary. The length of my letter precludes my dwelling on many particulars which, as I have not seen the recent publications on the subject, might be mere repetitions; and I will only mention, as briefly as I can, the skulls of these animals in my possession. ”

“ Then again, we are in the habit of taking knives or rasors and paring our nails every little while, so much so that we can safely say that in the course of a year we cut off or pare from our fingers and toes, as the case may be, perhaps an inch of nail, at this rate, a man who lives to be seventy-two years of age would pare off seventy-two inches of nail, which would be six feet. ”