ars, the index finger to Jupiter, the middle finger to Saturn,
the ring finger to the Sun, and the little finger to Venus. Each
finger-joint has its name, the lowest being called the procondyle, the
middle the condyle, and the upper the metacondyle. He passes briefly over
as lines of little import, the _via combusta_ and the _Cingulus Orionis_,
but lays some stress on the character of the nails and the knitting
together of the hand, declaring that hands which can be bent easily
backward denote effeminacy or a rapacious spirit. He teaches that lines
are most abundant in the hands of children, on account of the tenderness
of the skin, and of old men on account of the dryness, a statement which
might suggest the theory that lines come into existence through the
opening and closing of the hand. But the adoption of this view would have
proved more disastrous to chiromancy than ridicule or serious criticism;
so he straightway finds an explanation for this fact in the postulate that
lines in young people's hands speak as to the future, and in old men's as
to the past. Later he goes on to affirm that lines in the hand cannot be
treated as mere wrinkles arising from the folding of the skin, unless we
are prepared to admit that wrinkled people are more humorous than others,
alluding no doubt to the lines in the face caused by laughter, a
proposition which does not seem altogether convincing or consequential,
unless we also postulate that all humorous men laugh at every joke. There
is a line in the hand which he calls the _linea jecoraria_, and the
triangle formed by this and the _linea vitae_ and the _linea cerebri_,
rules the disposition of the subject, due consideration being given to the
acuteness or obtuseness of the angles of this triangle. Cardan seems to
have based his treatise on one written by a certain Ruffus Ephesius, and
it is without doubt one of the dullest portions of his work.[123]

It is almost certain that Cardan purposed to let the _De Varietate_ come
forth from the press immediately after the _De Subtilitate_, but before
the MS. was ready, it came to pass that he was called to make that
memorable journey to Scotland in order to find a remedy for the ailment
which was troubling the Archbishop of St. Andrews, a journey which has
given to Britons a special interest in his life and work. In dealing with
the Cosmos in the _De Subtilitate_ he had indeed made brief mention of
Britain; but, writing then, he had no perso