Eaton weekly Democrat. [volume] (Eaton, Ohio) 1866-1875, 1871-03-09
Finger Nails.
BY NORMAN BRIDGE, N. D.

sides; they were made for protection to
the fingers, and to furnish the ends ot
them more strength and solidity. Oul
fingers can stub along better for having
these nails, and we can stub along
through life much easier for having such
stiff, stout back-splints at the tips of oul
digits; for having such weapons at oul
finger ends. ...
But what concerns us most in this ar
ticle is the anatomy and growth of the
nail What is it made OF, and how does
it grow? Some people-son1e boys and
girls-are SO stupidsas never to ask the
reason, sohy and the ,hoU of anything
They always take things for granted
and if asked how the finger nail is
formed they would say it grows, and
that is all. 4+-. 20
q. once knew foolish young fellow to
be asked who made him, and he said,
Nobody, I crowd I s'pose.' Some
people imagine that all things simply
grow-not hoV they grow.
Now the finger nail is made up of
nearly the same elements as the skin ;
it is much harder of course, and more
dense. So is a cheese more dense than
the soft .curd from which it is made, but
\ they differ only in one being harder
than the other, and in having lost some
of the watery element that is a part of
/ its substance; the skin and nail differ in
the same way. llal- s.- .-
n If you take,a piece of the hard part
of the nail, no bigger than a speck,
and put it under a high-power micro
scope, you will discover that it is made
up of multitude of little scales packed
] together as closely as they can be made
1 to lie, and so firm and solid that they
| give the horny character to the nail
| They are laid f1atwise with the surface,
and are squeezed closely against each
other like the figs that come to our mar
! kets packed and pressed down in boxes.
Examine next, a part very near the bot
| tom or under surface of the nail, and it
will be seen to have scales like the first,
but they are less fattened; in shape,
they more closely resemble the figs re-
ferred to. Go a little deeper and mag
Nifty particle from near the bed of the
nail, and instead of scales you will find
little roundish bodies-almost spherical,
but hattened in spots where they press
against each other; they are translu-
! cent, if not transparent, and are softer
than the scales near the surface. These
little bodies are called cells. They are
so exceedingly small that it would take
1900 laid side by side in a row to reach
| an inch. . .s
Investigations with the microscope
have demonstrated that these cells are
continually being manufactured at the
base of the nail, that is, beneath it, and
its root. They are continuing up from
the "quicl,n and each cell or layer of
full grown cells is lifted up on the backs
of those that are just forming. This is
necessary to make room for the newer
bodies; layer after layer of these cells
are created, each to be displaced by
those that come after it as soon as one
is formed it is pushed-not aside, but
pushed upsodrd to make room for others.
AS the cells mount upward toward the
surface of the nail they become iattened
by degrees and grow harder the farther
they get from the place of their birth
the more "crIisty" they become. The
soft rounded cell of the "quiclC" be-
comes after while the hard substance
I'VE put to a thousand uses and scratch
with. rr.- "A
The popular notion, then, that the
nail grows wholly. from its root, from
the part next the joint, is mistaken
one. "a 1t is formed as well from the
whole surface beneath it; it grows from
both parts. Now, it is plain that if the
cells were continually growing and be-
ing piled upon each other, there would
soon become very thick heap, if they
were not, removed. How, then, is the
nail prevented from becoming thick
and tfnseemIy? ! just in this wise We
have said it grows both from its root
and beneath its body while from it's
under surface it is being made thicker by
its growth, the new nail substance that is
forming at the root keeps sliding it lit
tie by little forward toward the end of
the finger; hence it cannot become
thick it, would if let alone, but it is
moved along and prevented. Any one
who fully understands this process will
readily see why the hard part of the nail
lis always thicker at the end than far
back, toward the root.
But it seems that from the smooth
surface whence these cells originate,
there is not room enough for-as many of
them to grow as are needed. When INC
cells are young they are much larger
than when old; they are rounded in
contour and contain more water. This
fact makes it absolutely necessary that
they have more space to stand upon
and to grow from when young, than
they need later in life pack them
never so tightly side by side, and you
cannot make enough of them grow
from a surface no larger than the nail,
SO that when they become hard there
will not be too few.
see now OeauUl1ul Is the PROVISION Oh
nature for this need
The principle is clear that in billy
country there are more square feet of
surface than in one that is level, just as
it is farther over a mountain than 1T is
through it. Make series of little
ridges on the ground, as tall as they are
thick, and so near that the cutters be-
tween them are no wider than they, and
you have about double the area you had
to start with. Now, this is exactly what
occurs in the growing of the finger nail;
running lengthwise of it are multi
tude of little ridges and bitches, hills
and valleys so small that when cut
across, you can with the naked eye only
Just perceive them. On the whole of
this uneven surface the little cells are
growing as thicl<ly as they can be
placed, and nearly twice as many can be
accommodated as would be possible
were the surface smooth.
As the cells are lifted up and APP
proach the serface they usually fall
into perfectly even layers, although on
the surface of the nail we often have
little ridges running iengthwise of the
finger. Look at your qyR fingers and
see 'Esiz9l Lzs. o ...-. -..s1g:s1fl