Nails

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ As regards the nails, short strong nails show courage, combativeness and critical faculties. White polished and filbert-shaped nails indicate sensitiveness and refinement, but no force of character. Short, weak, crooked and black-coloured nails show deceit and slothfulness. Round nails indicate a luxurious, pleasure-loving nature. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Nails that are trimmed unevenly and nails that are bitten off are ugly and indicate untidy habits. The shape of the nails should follow the outline of the ends of the finger. Neither is it a sensible fashion to trim the nails to points or to let them grow very long. ”

“ OF THE NAILS OF THE FINGERS.
Broad nails show the person to be bashful and fearful, but of a gentle nature. When there is a certain white mark at the extremity of them, it shows that the person has more honesty than subtilty, and that his worldly substance will be impaired through negligence. White nails and long, denote much sickness and infirmity, especially fevers, and are an indication of strength, and deceit in women. If upon the white anything appears at the extremity that is pale, it denotes short life by sudden death, and the person to be given to melancholy. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Most of the nail is fast to the finger, but at the outer edge there is a little space between the nail and the finger, and if we are not careful this little space gets filled with dirt, and then the nail has a black band across the top, which looks very ugly. When the nails are long, the band is wider, and, although the dirt is under the nail, it shows on the outside, because the nail is transparent, that is, it can be seen through. ”

“ But, white as it was, the fine, filbert-shaped nails were whiter still. They were absolutely milky, and the half-moons had the ghostly whiteness and lustre of pearls. I was both startled and fascinated. Surely no living flesh was ever that color, and no human being with blood in him ever had such nails. ”

“ Occasionally the edges of the nails should be filed, and the hard skin which forms round the corners of them cut away. The important point in cutting the nails is to preserve the beauty of their shape. That beauty, even in details, is worth preserving, I have already remarked, and we may study it as much in paring our nails, as in the grace of our attitudes, or any other point. ”

“ 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. ”

“ You get so that you aren't satisfied unless your nails run down about a quarter of an inch further than nails were originally intended to run, and unless they glitter freely you feel strangely distraught in company. Inasmuch as no male creature's finger nails will glitter with the desired degree of brilliancy for more than twenty-four short and fleeting hours after a treatment you find yourself constantly in the act of either just getting a manicure or just getting over one. ”

“ When a person presses the chin, the breasts, the lower lip, or the jaghana of another so softly that no scratch or mark is left, but only the hair on the body becomes erect from the touch of the nails, and the nails themselves make a sound, it is called a 'sounding or pressing with the nails'. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Nails are also classified according to the shape of their heads; as, common or flat-heads, and brads or finishing nails. Flat-heads are used in ordinary work, where the heads are not to be sunk in the wood or "set."
Some nails get their names from their special uses; as, shingle-nails, trunk-nails, boat-nails, lath-nails, picture-nails, barrel-nails, etc. ”

“ They let their Nails grow very long, which, they reckon, is the Use Nails are design'd for, and laugh at the Europeans for pairing theirs, which, they say, disarms them of that which Nature design'd them for. ”

“ 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 nails, also, as we have mentioned in our chapter on Childhood, have their folk-lore, the little specks which are seen on them being regarded as ominous. Many have their particular days for cutting [80] the nails. Of the numerous rhymes on the subject, we may quote the following as a specimen, from which it will be seen that every day has its peculiar virtue:—
"Cut them on Monday, you cut them for health ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The nails are a peculiar modification of the epidermis and have the same cellular structure as that of the epidermis. The nails are found on the dorsal surface of the fingers and toes and act as a protection, and enable one to pick up small objects, or to grasp more firmly any object. ”

“ I should guess also that this person’s feet had some marked peculiarity, since such pains had been taken to conceal the footprints. Then the cast of the hand here encourages speculation. Fingers long, slim, and delicate, save at the nails, where, with the exception of the little finger, are to be found unmistakable signs of the habit of biting the nails,—see, here are the hang-nails,—but, strange to say, the nail of the little finger has been spared, and suffered to grow to an unusual length. ”

“ Highly polished finger-nails of a length to suggest claws, are bad form though one sees them on women who ought to know better. The nails should be carefully filed—not trimmed—to a shape only slightly pointed, they should show the pretty half-moon at the base and may bear a slight polish but no artificial coloring. ”

“ The nails are also formed of epidermis cells which have undergone compression, much like those forming the shaft of a hair. In other words, a nail is simply a thick layer of horny scales built from the outer part of the scarf skin. The nail lies upon very fine and closely set papillæ, forming its matrix, or bed. It is covered at its base with a fold of the true skin, called its root, from beneath which it seems to grow.
The growth of the nail, like that of the hair and the outer skin, is effected by the production of new cells at the root and under surface. The growth of each hair is limited ”

“ The root, as well as the lateral portion, is implanted in the skin, and has a thin margin which is received into a groove of the true skin. The under surface is furrowed, while the upper is comparatively smooth. The nails grow in the same manner as the cuticle. ”

“ The old superstition of naming the spots on the fingernails still survives in country places, where some old lady may say gravely: “You have an enemy; look at the spots on your finger nails,” and young girls count them for friend or lover. ”

“ In doing this we should see to it that the nails are made smooth, and even, but are not hammered harder than is absolutely necessary, because the lighter one can hammer the nails the better they will be. ”

“ How many a young man and woman have asked this question! and are troubled to know why it is that some persons have such bloodless hands, perfect nails, so free from hang-nails, as they are called, while their own hands look so much like duck's feet or bird's claws. ”

“ I am never tired of studying them. To me the most beautiful and interesting hands are the pure psychic and the dramatic—the former with its thin, narrow palm, slender, tapering fingers and filbert nails; the latter a model of symmetry and grace, with conical finger-tips and [163] filbert nails—indeed, filbert nails are more or less confined to these two types; one seldom sees them in other hands. ”

“ All sorts of cosmetics, the most penetrating oils, rubbing and scouring the hands, paring and scraping the nails, and cutting round the roots of the nails, are resorted to, in hopes of making their hands appear natural ”

“ A little cold cream rubbed in nightly around the edges of the nails is a great help. No sharp instrument should ever be used to clean the nails. The orange-wood sticks are best adapted to this purpose. ”

“ The habit of biting and picking the fingernails is a very unpleasant one, and keeps the nails in a broken and unhealthy condition. The nails should be carefully trimmed with a sharp knife or a pair of scissors. ”

“ The root is a soft, thin, white substance, which terminates in the form of a crescent, and to which the epidermis strongly adheres: from this part, the nails increase, and derive all their nourishment. The body, or middle, is considerably broader, thicker, and of a deeper red than the root; while the extremity is of still greater firmness.
The use of the nails, in animal economy, is to defend and cover the nervous warts or papillae of the toes and fingers from external injury, when they come in contact with rugged bodies. ”

“ Cutting Nails and Hair.—Cut your finger-nails every Friday, and you'll not have the toothache. (M. A.)
When you cut your finger-nails or hair, see that the moon is full. Be careful to burn your hair; do not throw it in the path of other people, because it might do them harm. Never, under any circumstances, pick up human hair lying in the road, especially woman's hair. ”

“ The Graces, the Graces, remember the Graces. Page 390.
[7] The ends of your nails should be small segments of circles, &c. every time that you wipe your hands, rub the skin round your nails backwards, that it may not grow up and shorten your nails too much. Vol. II. page 60.
THE Fine Gentleman's Etiquette; OR,
LORD CHESTERFIELD's ADVICE TO HIS SON, VERSIFIED.
Price One Shilling. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”