404 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



50 in a compartment. As practically worked out, the distribution of 

 these prints in compartments would be an unequal one, and while cer- 

 tain of the compartments would have but a single representative, or be 

 even empty, some of the others would have a much larger number than 

 fifty, possibly even several hundred. 



But the line formulae are but a primary classification and do not 

 by any means exhaust the resources of these very varying parts. As a 

 secondary classification, for the farther subdivision of the palms, to be 

 appended to the first and employed whenever expedient, the use of a 

 'pattern formula may be suggested. This is based upon the irregular 

 occurrence of patterns such as occur normally in the simian hand and 

 appear sporadically upon various localities of the human palm. 



If we count as a pattern each place where there is a definite loop, 

 whorl or noticeable disturbance of the usual even course of the ridges, 

 although by doing so we violate certain of the underlying morphological 

 principles as shown by the comparison with other mammals, we may 

 expect to find any or all of five patterns, located as described in the 

 previous article and corresponding roughly to the divisions into which 

 the palm is divided by the lines of interpretation, viz., one thenar, one 

 hypothenar and three interdigitals {palmar of the previous paper). 

 Of these the thenar, of rare occurrence among people of the white race, 

 is morphologically composed of the vestiges of two, a genuine thenar 

 and the interdigital which corresponds to the interval between the 

 thumb and index; the three interdigitals lie below the three intervals 

 between the fingers from the index to the minimus ; and the hypothenar 

 appears upon the large eminence of the same name which forms the 

 outer boundary of the palm. 



A pattern formula will thus need five places, one for each of the five 

 patterns in a prearranged order, and, again adopting the principle of 

 placing in the first position a very obvious one, about which there is 

 no doubt, the order suggested may be, liypothenar, thenar, first, second 

 and third interdigital. When any one of these is present, it may be 

 designated by an abbreviation, such as a capital H for hypothenar, 

 Th (or better, the Greek d) for the thenar, and 1, 3 and 3 respectively 

 for the others. When absent, may fill the position, and when there 

 is merely a rudiment, a small r may be added to the as an exponent. 

 Thus a few representative pattern formula" would be the following, 

 iaken from actual cases: 



H.0'.1.2.3 00.0.3 



H. 0.0.2 3. 0.0.1.2.3. 



H. 0.0.0.3. 0.0.0.2.3. 



H. 0.0.0 0. 0.0.2.0. 



0.0.0.2.0. 0.0.0.0.3. 

 0.0 2.0. 



