DERMATOGLYPHICS IN PRIMATES 141 



Lagothrix, Cebus and Gorilla, where the sequence of values 

 in the three areas under consideration is like that of the 

 human hand: IV > III > II. 



Another trend of departure from the average is to be found 

 in the soles of certain Lasiopyginae (Papio, Cercocebus, 

 Lasiopyga), where as in the human sole the maximum intensity 

 is in interdigital III. 



The sequential relations of interdigltal intensity values in 

 man indicate that the interdigital areas of corresponding 

 name are not serially homologous in hand and foot with 

 regard to the expression of pattern intensity. This finding is 

 hardly unexpected, since in the human foot the anatomical 

 axis is shifted from the characteristic orientation. According 

 to Howell and Straus ( '33) : 



" The four dorsal muscles [interossei] are primitively oriented 

 with reference to an axis through the third toe. This is the 

 condition in all monkeys and in some prosimians, but in others 

 of the latter group the axis has shifted to the fourth digit. 

 The axis passes primitively through the third toe in most 

 gibbons, chimpanzees and orang-utans, but in occasional speci- 

 mens of all three forms it has shifted medially to the second 

 toe, the latter condition being normal for both man and 

 gorilla. ' ' 



The observations in non-human primates indicate that there 

 is something inherent in the relationships of the anatomical 

 axis which leads most commonly to a depression of pattern 

 intensity in the configurational field which lies in that axis, 

 usually interdigital III in conformity to the description quoted 

 above. On this basis it might be expected that the human 

 hand would conform to the trend evidenced in other primates, 

 and that the human foot would present a shifting of the mini- 

 mum intensity to interdigital II, thus conforming to the 

 relations of other anatomical features. The observed values, 

 however, suggest that some factor additional to axial rela- 

 tionships may influence pattern intensity. As shown in figure 

 599C, the minimum intensities are those of the palmar inter- 

 digital II and plantar interdigital IV. The reversed topo- 



