On Chiromancy

In every hand there are always four primary lines; the remaining lines, however, are sometimes present and sometimes absent. And when they are present, they will always indicate some effect, whether good or evil. For this reason, this science is subject to astrology. Now, however, we shall declare the significations of these signs.

When the line of the heart is broad, long, and disposed with good proportion, and likewise the line of the liver, but the line of the head is thin and slender, it signifies that the man will live a long life, yet he will be foolish and of little intellect. We have already stated the cause of this: that when the line of life or heart is disposed and formed with proper proportion, it is a sign of long life; but the line of the head, being short and thin, demonstrates a weak virtue of the brain, whence folly remains and a paucity of intellect.

When the line of the head is bifurcated toward the wrist and is not continuously straight, it signifies that the man attempts a double state, nor can he occupy himself in one task alone, but he wanders into diverse matters. But if it extends straight toward the mount of the hand near the wrist, he will twist his thoughts toward all manner of evils, and without fear of God, he will be led astray by an immense cupidity of possessing. But if it converges bifurcated toward the percussion [the edge of the hand], he will change his morals for the better, with fear of God and a love of virtue.

When there is no continuation in it, but oblique lines separate it, it is a sign that there is weakness in the virtue producing that line, lacking power. It denotes, therefore, that the animal virtue of the brain is weak, from which it also follows that a will of this kind is mutable toward diverse thoughts, as much toward good as toward evil. And when the line of the liver is long, broad, and splendidly colored, it signifies a long-lasting...