428 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1952 



to the apex of the metacarpophalangeal knuckle. The results (in 

 mm.) follow: 



Digit 8 



Right 

 Left . 



To this may be added the dimensions of the nails of the left hand. 

 Only on this side are the details clear enough to yield accurate results. 

 The nails had been cut moderately short. 



Nails 



Length 17 



Breadth 16 



So far as the hands have been compared, there seems to be a con- 

 sistent difference in size in favor of the left hand. Yet we are told 

 that the right was temporarily swollen. In a right-handed indi- 

 vidual, which I am assuming Lincoln to be, it is unusual for the left 

 hand to predominate in size. Nor am I able to account for this dif- 

 ference in the somewhat contrasting positions of the two hands. Prob- 

 ably the asymmetry, although unusual, was natural. 



LINCOLN AND THE POPULATION OF HIS TIME 



Up to this point we have been examining these unique casts and 

 comparing them one with the other, simply as isolated records. Be- 

 cause our first objective was to check one cast against another, the 

 scale provided by the casts themselves was sufficient. Now, however, 

 we want to see how Lincoln's physical dimensions rank in the popula- 

 tion from which he arose. For this we need population figures to 

 serve as a scale. Accordingly, at this point we will consider Lincoln's 

 place in the American population of his time. 



It is hard to realize that Lincoln was born 144 years ago — in 1809 ; 

 it is harder still to realize that his was the first white generation born 

 in Kentucky. In 1775, only about 35 years prior to Lincoln's birth, 

 Daniel Boone had successfully opened up the Kentucky area. Then 

 toward the end of the eighteenth century the Lincolns and the Hankses 

 had followed their friends the Boones and others down the Shenan- 

 doah Valley, through the Cumberland gap in the Shenandoah Moun- 

 tains, and up the Wilderness Road into the heart of Kentucky. 



The people who participated in this movement were predominantly 

 English and Scotch by national extraction. We know this, of course, 

 not only from the history of American colonization but also from an 

 analysis of their names. As a matter of fact, most of the schedules 

 of names recorded in the First Census of 1790 are still in existence 

 (Rossiter, 1909) . From this source we learn that the names "Lincoln" 

 (in all its various spellings) and "Hanks" are recorded for heads of 



