Nails
flattened, elastic, horny plates, which are placed as protective coverings phalanges of the fingers and toes. Each nail consists of a root, or part concealed with a fold of the skin; a body, or exposed part attached to the surface of the skin; and a free anterior extremity called the edge. The skin below the root and body of the nail is termed the matrix, from its being the part from which the nail is produced. This is thick, and covered with highly vascular papillæ, and its color is seen through the transparent horny tissue. Near the root the papillæ are smaller and less vascular; hence the portion of nail corresponding to this part of a whiter color; from its form, this portion is termed the lunula. It is by the successive growth of new cells at the root and under the body of the nail that it advances forward, and maintains a due thickness, while at the same time its growth in a proper direction is insured. on the dorsal surface of the terminal