re we go further I must also impress on the student to grasp the fact
that every line or sign on the hand plays a dual role. By one of their
roles these lines indicate the disease the person is most liable to for
the entire run of the life, and in another role these lines indicate the
date when the illness will reach its greatest gravity.

To explain carefully this strange phenomenon of nature, I have divided
this line into sections (_see_ Plate VIII.), and although I am not
writing on astrology in these pages, yet all believers in that science
may be interested to find how wonderfully these twin sciences agree when
the comparison is pointed out by an impartial observer such as I claim to
be.

In Plate VIII. are shown the Sections of the Line of Life with their
various tendencies divided by the mounts at the base of the fingers. This
will materially assist the student to comprehend their significance and,
together with the influence of the month of birth as set out in the
chapters on the Mounts of the Hand (page 140), will enable him to obtain
an accuracy on all matters relating to health, diseases, and dangers to
the life that up till now has never been attained.

We will now proceed to consider the details as regards the Line of Life
itself.

THE LINE OF LIFE

It is very important at the outset to consider the qualities of this very
important line. In some hands it is broad and shallow on the surface of
the hand, in others it is deep and fine; the appearance of this line is
very often deceptive, and leads students astray when they have not had
their attention called to its appearance.

The broad, shallow Line of Life often leads people to suppose that it is
a sign of a very healthy, robust constitution; but, on the contrary, such
an indication is not nearly as good a sign as a clear, thin, deep line.
The broad Life Line seems to belong to people who have more robust animal
strength, whereas the finer line relates to people who have more nerve or
will-force. Under any strain of ill-health, it is the finer line that
will hold out, whereas the broad-looking line has not the same resisting
force.

Very broad lines on the hand denote more muscular strength than will
power, and I cannot impress this difference too strongly on the minds of
my readers. If the line is made of chain formation (1-1, Plate IX.), it
is a sure sign of a tendency to bad health, and especially so if the hand
be soft. The same marks on a har