PALM AND SOLE STUDIES. 



FIG. 50. 



145 



as a whole. There is also shown a marked tendency for all the ridges to shift from 

 the longitudinal position of the apes to one more nearly transverse, and this ten- 

 dency is much more marked in right than in left hands, evidently corresponding to 

 use, and recording the change from the grasping of tree boughs to the holding of 

 tools and other objects. 



While all degrees of the loss of the original configuration and the assumption of 

 transverse ridges may be found in different human hands, it is seldom that so 

 many of the mound patterns are retained as in Fig. 5 (Coll. No. 90). The formula, 

 however, 11-9- 7 -5, indicated the establishment of the transverse position in the 

 interdigital region. Fig. 5a shows a very primitive Thenar region in a Liberian 

 negro. (Coll. No. 571, taken by F. Starr.) 



evident that in the human species a very considerable reduction 

 of these points has taken place. There are left in all cases, 

 however, the four main triradii, which are so constant as to 

 allow their use as the starting points in palm formulation although 

 it is by no means certain that they are in all cases strictly homol- 

 ogous. Thus, from Figs. 3 and 4 it is seen that the second inter- 

 digital pattern has originally two distal triradii, either of which 

 might persist as triradius A, and it is likely that the one that 

 appears is sometimes one and sometimes the other of the original 

 two. Other of the missing triradii appear occasionally somewhat 

 lower down on the palm (proximal to the pattern) especially in 

 connection with the fourth pattern. 



A definite hypothenar pattern appears on about 20 per cent, 

 of hands of the white race, but the occurrence differs considerably 

 racially and in some may be either more or less frequent. It is 

 occasionally found in its more primitive form, as a whorl with 



