CHAPTER II 



DESCRIPTIONS OF THE PAPILLARY RIDGES 



Range of Subject. — The observations which follow are concerned 

 mainly with the Primates, and deal with the hand and foot 

 equally, but the area has been extended to some lower orders 

 of Mammals, such as an Insectivore, a Carnivore, a Rodent, 

 and a Marsupial, in which groups interesting developments 

 of papillary ridges are seen on the palmar and plantar surfaces. 

 The range then of the subject is wide, extending from Marsupials 

 through the Primates up to Man. The hand and foot of man 

 have been only studied from the point of view of comparative 

 anatomy, without reference to Dr. Galton's classical work on 

 the human finger-prints, which is mainly statistical and may 

 be of considerable biometrical importance, in addition to its 

 value as a means of identification of individuals. 



Method of Treatment. — The papillary ridges may be illustrated 

 either by direct drawings, or by one of the various methods 

 of printing, wliich are described by Dr. Galton, and these prints 

 may be taken either from the Uving or the dead subject. 



The method of delineation here chosen has been as follows : 

 In the case of Man impressions have been taken with printer's 

 ink both of the hand and foot, and from several of these be- 

 longing to the same individual a representative drawing has 

 been made of the ridges of the hand and foot. This has been 

 compared with the arrangements found on numerous other 

 individuals, and has shown a resemblance to them so close 

 that the main groups of ridges on the digits, palm and sole, 

 here depicted may be taken to represent for the purpose in 

 view, the normal human type. Of course, individual variations 

 are not here dealt with as they do not come within the scope 



