mediately above the Line of Marriage (12, Plate XVIII.). A very
good plan, in trying to see these Lines, is to press this portion of the
hand with the tips of the fingers, and then note which of these small
lines stand out the most clearly.

Sometimes they are extremely deeply marked, and as a rule much more so on
a woman's hand than on a man's. In many cases it is necessary to employ a
magnifying glass in order to see them.

Broad and deep lines denote male children, fine and narrow lines,
females.

When they appear as straight lines they denote strong healthy children,
but when very faint or crooked, the children indicated are always
delicate.

When the first part of the little line (taking it upward from the Line of
Marriage) is marked with a small "island," such a child will be very
delicate in its early life, but if the line appears well marked when the
"island" is passed, the probability is that it will grow up strong and
healthy. When ending or broken at the "island" the child will never grow
up.

When one line stands out very clear and distinct among the others, the
child the mark indicates will be more to the parent, and will be more
successful than any of the others.

To know the number of children anyone will have, it is necessary to count
these lines from the outside of the hand in towards the palm.

A person with the Mount of Venus very flat on the hand, and very poorly
developed, is not likely to have any children at all, and this is all the
more certain if the first Bracelet is found rising up like an arch into
or towards the palm (_see_ page 91).

CHAPTER X

THE LINE OF HEALTH OR THE HEPATICA

There has been very considerable discussion among students of this
subject as to the part of the hand on which the Line of Health (1-1,
Plate XIX.) commences.

My own theory, and one that I have proved by over twenty-five years'
experience and also watching its growth on the hands of children, is,
that it rises at the base of or on the face of the Mount of Mercury, and
as it grows across the hand and attacks the Line of Life, it foreshadows
the development of illness or germ of disease, which, at the date of its
coming in contact with the Line of Life, will reach the climax of its
attack.

The Line of Life, it must be remembered, merely relates to the promised
length of life from heredity and natural causes, but the Line of Health
denotes the effect of the class of life the subject has led.