FINGER-PRINTS—THEIR EVOLUTION AND SIGNIFICANCE. 207 
suggested by Galton that one of the probable uses of the 
papillary ridges is to elevate the mouths of the sweat ducts, 
and so enable them to discharge their contents in a 
favourable position for moistening the skin in connection 
with the sense of touch. Even if this suggestion be 
accepted, it does not explain why, in some parts of the palm 
and sole, the ridges assume the form of designs, or why many 
sensitive parts of the skin do not show papillary ridges. It 
is a well-known fact that the sensibility of the sole is much 
less than that of the palm, and yet, in spite of its greatly 
thickened cuticle, the papillary ridges and patterns are equally 
distinct in both. Further, the tip of the nose, the red part 
of the lips, and the back of the third phalanges are two or 
three times more sensitive than the plantar surface of the great 
toe, and yet only the papille of the latter are arranged in ridges. 
But it is sometimes argued that the increased sensibility of 
those parts which have no papillary ridges may be due to a 
thinner covering of cuticle; and, while making all allowance 
for this condition, nevertheless it does not meet the whole 
case, nor does it provide any explanation of the presence of 
ridges and patterns. Indeed, as regards the palm itself, it 
has been shown that touch-bodies are most numerous on 
the tips of the digits, somewhat diminished in number on 
the three eminences which occupy the palm immediately 
above the clefts between the fingers, and still further 
reduced in number on the ball of the thumb and ball of the 
little finger, while, lastly, their number is greatly reduced in 
other parts of the palm. You will observe that the areas 
where touch-bodies are most numerous correspond exactly to 
the positions where patterns are found, or, in other words, to 
the position of “ pads ”; and, moreover, that there is no diminu- 
tion in the number of papillary ridges, or in the complexity 
of the patterns simultaneously with the diminished number of 
touch-bodies and consequently diminished sensibility. These 
facts only show that although very varying degrees of 
sensibility are associated with papillary ridges and pattern 
areas, yet these special arrangements are not essential to the 
highest development of the sense of touch, besides occurring 
with very varying degrees of sensibility. It has also been 
Supposed that papillary ridges endowed the skin so provided 
