SCIENTIFIC PALMISTRY. 47 



of the papillary ridges becomes of little importance. The influence 

 of environment becomes entirely removed, and the only reason for the 

 farther continuance of these parts is the conservative power of hered- 

 ity, which may perpetuate, apparently for a vast period of time, charac- 

 teristics no longer of necessity to the organism. 



Briefly stated, the law described above is this : that only useful 

 and important parts retain a certain normal form in the various 

 individuals of a given species, and that, as they become of less impor- 

 tance, they tend more and more to vary individually, the range of varia- 

 tion increasing with time and the degree of uselessness, if such an 

 expression may be allowed; conversely, an organ that is seen to possess 

 marked individual variation is shown to be of secondary importance, 

 and may be either a rudimentary organ, that is, one on the way 

 towards a greater perfection in the future and in which the variations 

 represent the numerous experiments or attempts to find the form best 

 adapted for a special purpose, or, again, it may be a vestigial organ, or 

 one in which its point of highest usefulness is passed and in which 

 the variations represent various degrees of degeneracy, or stages in its 

 gradual eradication from the organism. 



Returning to the case under consideration, a brief mention should 

 be made of another feature of the monkey palm or sole besides that of 

 the patterns, and that is the low but evident mounds upon which the 

 patterns are placed and which more properly represent the elevations 

 or pads themselves. Although these have suffered more in the transi- 

 tion to the human form they are commonly not absent, even in the adult 

 and may be seen with especial clearness in the embryo. In many adult 

 hands the three palmar pads are clearly brought out by simply bending 

 back the fingers and looking across the palmar region, and this not- 

 withstanding the fact that the modern, rather ingenious 'science' of 

 palmistry locates here four 'mounts' rather than three, and associates 

 them with the fingers instead of with the intervals between them; 

 an interesting illustration of what even the most careful observation 

 will do without a rational basis. 



The endless variety shown in the disposal of the epidermic ridges 

 as outlined above will suggest several important lines of study, as, 

 for example, the discovery of a system or of laws governing the varia- 

 tion ; the possible influence of heredity upon the variation ; and through 

 this the possibility of the discovery of characters which may serve as 

 criteria of race ; the use of the markings in personal identification, and 

 so on ; and, although the simple scrutiny of a few palms may suffice for 

 a preliminary examination, a need will soon be felt of some method 

 by which a permanent and accurate record may be made, something in 

 the form of a print or impression which may be available at all times 



