184 H. H. WILDER. 



Here the pattern is not only huge in area, and composed of coarse 

 ridges, but is very often still in the form of the primitive whorl, 

 composed of concentric circles, and embraced with three triradii. 

 The thenar, on the other hand, lying on the inner side of the foot, 

 is of all foot patterns the most obscure and frequently entirely 

 overlooked. It seldom or never shows more than one or two 

 triradii, and has not yet been reported in the whorl form. 



In short, the correlation between the occurrence of the various 

 patterns of the human palm and sole and their varied experiences 

 during the customary activities of everyday life are so great that, 

 could we suppose the entire species to become extinct, and to have 

 left behind absolutely nothing but the records of numberless 

 palms and soles, the customary uses of the lost hands and feet, 

 even to the differentiation between the separate fingers, .could 

 readily be surmised and described with much detail. 



While it is undeniable that this sounds strongly Lamarckian, 

 there is nothing here intended other than to state the actual facts; 

 whatever one's personal beliefs are with regard to the inheritance 

 of acquired characters, it is certain that there is a strong corre- 

 lation between the occurrence of patterns and the amount of 

 habitual use of the regions where they occur, and between the 

 habitual use and the percentage of occurrence of the more 

 primitive types of patterns. 



We feel that we have established the following correlations 

 between the surface relief, the size of the ridges, the occurrence 

 and type of patterns, and the use of the various regions of the 

 surface. 



I. Over the raised areas of the palm or sole, which come conse- 

 quently into more constant contact with external objects, i.e., 

 have the hardest use: 



(a) The ridges are the largest and coarsest. 



(b) Patterns occur more frequently. 



(c) The patterns show a greater percentage of whorls. 



II. Over the hollowed areas, which are thus shielded from 

 contact with external objects: 



(a) The ridges are the finest and least prominent. 



(b) Patterns are less likely to occur. 



(c) When they occur they are more likely to be vestigial, i.e.', 

 either arches or loops, seldom whorls. 



