Morphology. 91 



the disposition of hair on the arms and fore-arms then 

 has the effect of thatch in turning the rain. Again, 

 I find that in all species of apes, monkeys, and 

 baboons which I have examined (and they have been 

 numerous), the hair on the backs of the hands and 

 feet is continued as far as the first row of phalanges ; 

 but becomes scanty, or disappears altogether, on the 

 second row ; while it is invariably absent on the 

 terminal row. I also find that the same peculiarity 

 occurs in man. We all have rudimentary hair on the 

 first row of phalanges, both of hands and feet : when 

 present at all, it is more scanty on the second row ; 

 and in no case have I been able to find any on 

 the terminal row. In all cases these peculiarities are 

 congenital, and the total absence or partial presence 

 of hair on the second phalanges is constant in different 

 species of Quadrumana. For instance, it is entirely 

 absent in all the chimpanzees, which I have examined, 

 while scantily present in all the orangs. As in man, 

 it occurs in a patch midway between the joints. 



Besides showing these two features with regard to 

 the disposition of hair on the human arm and hand, 

 the above woodcut illustrates a third. By looking 

 closely at the arm of the very hniry man from whom 

 the drawing was taken, it could be seen that there was 

 a strong tendency towards a whorled arrangement 

 of the hairs on the backs of the wrists. This is 

 likewise, as a general rule, a marked feature in the 

 arrangement of hair on the same places in the gorilla, 

 orang, and chimpanzee. In the specimen of the 

 latter, however, from which the drawing was taken, 

 this characteristic was not well marked. The down- 

 ward direction of the hair on the backs of the hands 



