What is Onychomancy ?

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXVII, Issue IX, 31 August 1901, Page 427

What is Onychomancy ?

FORTUNES TOLD BY THE FINDER NAILS.

“Vanity Fair” records a new cult which, it says, is coming over from America to set up in London. It is called Onychomancy, which, being interpreted, means fortune-telling from the nails. The system carried on by professors ot onychomancy, says “Vanity fair,” “is to rub some substance on the nails, after which they are exposed to the sun, and the professors read the hidden secrets of the future through the nails, which become slightly transparent under the action of the chemical and the sun’s rays.” Another mode by which the secrets of the future were unravelled until only recently, and may be still by professors of the occult, consisted in placing strands of differently coloured wools before the client, who was told to pick out two or three of the wools and place them in any position best liked. The combination of colours was read by the professors into certain prophecies. Happily there are fewer soothsayers practising at present. Man.r an hour’s unnecessary misery is traceable to their utterances. Weary Straining for Novelty. It is said of us by foreigners that as a nation we do not know how to relax ; that our recreations retain too much of the element of business ; our enthusiasm is too self-conscious. We play as if the world were looking on, and we feared to become ridiculous by laying aside our dignity ; and there is a good deal of truth in this. The American temperament is both stern and eager ; it enters into all things intensely, and exhausts them rapidly. Then it must have something new. As the elders, so are the children. Not -only do they inherit a tendency to be •critical, but they are encouraged from the first in a passion for novelty by the parents and guardians, who cannot endure monotony themselves. They have no chance to

develop affectionate associations with certain modes of recreation and particular toys; for the amusements of the hours pass, giving place t » others, and the toys frailly constructed by dealers interested in their speedy demolition break before they have time to grow dear, and are carried off in the rubbish cart. Something goes with the load of discarded household treasure that no'UMly sees, and perhaps nobody knows anything aliout. A tiny bit of some child’s heart, a portion of that piecious faculty that makes life gracious, sentiment, is wasted, and he is left the poorer for the loss. He is given a new dob or horse to replace the old ones, now deemed too disreputable to be allowed about the house. But they are not the same. He is obliged to learn to love over again, ami his feeling is not so deep or spontaneous this time. The tender grace or a dead love ne’er comes again.

I suppose few people stop in these busy, prosperous times, when the term of an objects usefulness is limited by fashion, to think of the moral effect of durable, substantial possessions. They can scarcely get them, any way, for houses aie now pasted together, furniture made with rotten woods, varnish, and glue, and fabrics outlast manufacturers’ intentions if they wear longer than a season. Let adults do as they like and consume their vitality by the fever of keeping up with the age, but let us be wiser for our children. Let us secure for them some things on which they may safely set their affections because they will last. Markets are always regulated by demands, and if a few' people insist upon sound, sensible productions, they will infallibly obtain them. If when we buy toys for our young people, w r e will luve none that are wrought.of cheap, shabby materials, and seek everywhere for something really w’orth the having, don’t you imagine merchants will revolutionize their stock ?

It may seem a slight thing, but I protest that the joys of childhood are all slight things, yet out of them character is wrought and a large part of the pleasures of age are made. It is a matter of some moment that our baby girl’s first doll shall be so strong, as w’td. as beautiful, that she may c ntmiie to be, to. all the te in of nursery

plays, mother of the growing <loll family, and that little Jack’s rocking horse may grow’ old with him, and yet retain its functions and parts. New things delight the eye, but it is human nature to love old things best. We injure child nature w hen we too often detach it from what it has taken to its heart.

Strive as we will, we cannot get bejond our human limitations. That which has once lieen part of us claims us in some way for ever. We cannot unite renounce it even if we would, for there is a vein of sentiment in us all that will not be dried up, and it makes us regret sometimes, even while? we consent to the banishment of things endeared to us by association. There is such a thing as growing so wise that nothing in the whole world will besufficently fresh to amuse us ; and the only safeguard against it is to cultivate in our young children, while their hearts are still innocent and loving, a taste for simple, natural enjoyments, instead of an insatiable craving for novelty. — Mrs F. H. Winterburn in the Household. The King of Italy and His English Governess The King 1 of Italy’s great regard for England and English customs is due, no doubt, to the fact that he was brought up by an English governess, Mrs Lee, who had almost entire charge of his education during his early boyhood. Mrs Lee was always extremely well received at the Quirinal, the late King Humbert and Queen Margherita having the greatest regard for her. What was still more wonderful, she managed to secure the goodwill of the Italians about the Court without in any way incurring their jealousy. When Mrs Lee died, the Italian Koval Family took her death quite as a personal loss, and showed every possible mark of affection and esteem for her memory.

A Picture by the Late Empress Frederick Fetched £5OO. The King lately acquired a picture in Bayswater which was drawn under circuinstanees of unusual interest. At the time of the Crimean War each member of the Royal Family contributed pictures by their own hands, to l>e sold for the benefit of the widows and orphans of fallen soldiers. One of these works by the Princess Royal, ?alled “The Battlefield,” attracted con siderable attention, and was purchased by a resident in Lancaster Gate tor the sum of 500 guineas. The picture recently came into the possession of a Mr Ellis, of Bayswater, and the King, being informed of the fact, promptly acquired the work. Are You Perfect? The dimensions of a perfect woman are these: Five feet 5 inches in height: weight I:JS pounds. From tip to tip of each middle finger just five feet five inches, the same as her height. The length of her hand should be one-tenth of her height; her foot one-seventh, and the diameter of her chest one-fifth.

From hei thighs to the ground she should measure just the same as from her thighs to the top of her head. 'The knee should come exacth midway between the thigh and the heel. 'lhe distance from the elbow to the middle finger should he the same as from the elbow to the middle of the chest. From the top of the head to the chin should he just the length of the foot, and the same distance from the chin to the armpit. A woman of this height should measure twenty-four inches around the waist, thirty-four about the bust, if measured under the arms. 'lhe upper arm should measure thirteen inches and the wrist six inches. 'Phe calf of the leg should measure fourteen and a half inches, thigh twentv-tive and ankle eight.