The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-05-13
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WuNN NNNFH
'fiereftyt tsok N tteNs hHNsf nalls ~
min@ . aahd = phyaelsa ~ sorh-~hai e,eltd
et,enoe 'OtsrSvs thas every onr ~ thsm
h bftten dswH N NE qrlch Thsy'te hen
hitten dovn n tha uniek ever anes eco
fpmemhrf, aei IN SPITE ~ sveFythina y
crp,ti d. I've tried III ~ mos N tho
aBhefnaa thai have hon invahsed ~ sop
folha from anawtUe IN their nails, and zee
hafs ase nv ~dlaafacafuliy bitteh nalla ~
sbow how ineffective Eich scbsHrs arS-
In my oaae, n any Fate
sNgw, ny mothsr M hsr hness nails N
precisely Tho same fashion, ahe had Q
beautlfui pair NJ hands, with lone, slender,
tapefine fingers, and u vas ~ the MIA
sriee ~ her eriatends thai ahe simply cofid
no, CT sway from The habit N ruialne hsr
nails BY biting thsm. Not only that. hut
my mother told me that her father In
veseraieiy BIT his nails. and her father,
IN turn, told her that hls mother had tried
all Of her life TO do away with the habit
II biting her nails withous sucCsee.
so you see thai In my oaae the nall
biting habit Ia distinctly hereditary.
MY curiosity e. to this matter led me
10 investigate II IN the cases Of other persona,
ell Of them In my practice. who had the
nail biting habit, and I found that In every
case I tackled their immediate progsnitors,
on one aide or the other. had the nat biting
habit.
There's no reason whatever why I should
bite my nails. II 10 asserted BY some
specialists In nerve diseases that che practice
springs from o certain form Of nervousness;
but I doubt II that can DO true, for I am
actually the least nervous pereon on top
Of the globe, 90 far az I know. My mother
wac one Of the most composed persons OF
her ssx I ever knew. I have long since
given up trying 10 break myself OF tho
practice, which. being al involuntary
and unconscious one, 10 almost impossible
to control. I have. with the greatest diff
Guilty. contrived ct times TO lot four or fave
Of my nails grow. permitting them to attain
an almost foolish length, because was 90
proud Of them; but at the same time that
these long ones looked like the hooked
finger nails Of a Buddhist anchorite, the
other onea were gnawed h the quick.
Among other things, I've tried thes scheme
Of dipping my finger tips in 6 colorless and
extremely bitter composition, 90 that when
I put my nails 10 my lips TO bite them I'd
be reminded OF my resolution by the Bit
ter taste Of my fingers. ] found IL about
as hard to remember to keep my finger
tips dipped in this fluid as it was to remen-
Der not to bite the nails, and 90 there I was.
Also, for a time, I employed the plan Of
keeping my finger tips encased in thin
patent metal tips, made for the purpose,
but these things aroused 90 much curiosity
among my patients and forced me to answer
90 many questions that ] had TO give up
that scheme. Moreover, the same difficulty
about remembering to keep the unhandy
things on was always present.
y recently saw it stated in a French
medical journal Of the greatest reliability
that fully two-thirds Of all Of the school
children Of France are addicted 10 the
practice OF biting their finger nails, and the
article expressed the writer's alarm over
this fact. as showing that nervous diseases
must be undermining the French race.
While I don't agree with the nervous disease
part Of this, the showing is certainly a
curious one. A very small proportion Of
the school children OF this country, 80 far
as my observation goes, bite their nails.
l do not believe that nervousness has any
thing to do with the nail biting habit