DEEMATOGLYPHICS IN PRIMATES 23 



OBSERVATIONS ON PADS AND PATTERNS 



This section is devoted to illustrations and formulated de- 

 scriptions of the dermatoglyphics. The illustrations are from 

 our original material alone. The descriptions are based upon 

 the specimens illustrated, other specimens from the original 

 material and a considerable number of drawings in the litera- 

 ture. The individual hands and feet are identified, as to source 

 and side, in a list which is deposited in The Wistar Institute 

 of Anatomy and Biology. 



The numbers of illustrations of hands and feet vary among 

 the genera according to the amounts of material available. 

 In genera represented by large series of observed individuals 

 correspondingly large numbers of hands and feet have been 

 selected for illustration, to secure comprehensiveness of these 

 graphic records of variation. In most genera represented by 

 limited numbers of specimens all the available hands and feet 

 are illustrated. Left hands and feet are reversed in drawing, 

 to obviate the difficulty of comparing the mirrored relation- 

 ships of right and left members. All figures, therefore, appear 

 as direct views of right members (or as contact prints of lefts). 



The outlines of hands and feet do not conform to a fixed 

 scale of sizes. They are the same outlines used by Midlo ( '34) 

 as standard illustrations of hand form and foot form. 

 Dermatoglyphics are transfers within these standard outlines 

 of original drawings or of interpreted prints made in the 

 course of study. The first step in study of the actual hand or 

 foot was to locate triradii and to trace the radiants extended 

 from them. With these landmarks inserted in the outline, the 

 courses of ridges were then traced in accord with direct ob- 

 servation. The tracing aimed to show only the general morpho- 

 logical characteristics of the configurations, distinguishing 

 open fields, vestiges and the various pattern types without 

 attention to the details of individual ridges. The same pro- 

 cedure was followed in the study of casts of two specimens 

 of Gorilla beringei, one foot of each. 



