536 Hepburn — The Papillary Ridges on the Hands and Feet of Monkeys and Men. 



Postscriptum. 



While this Paper was in the hands of the printer, I had an unexpected oppor- 

 tunity of examining the papillary ridges on the feet of a dead negro. The skin 

 of the feet was extremely callous in some parts, and in consequence the impres- 

 sions I obtained were somewhat imjDerfect, still they were sufficiently distinct to 

 enable me to form a clear idea regarding the general arrangement and direction 

 of the papillary ridges. From the point of the heel forwards to the ball of the 

 great toe the ridges ran exclusively in a general transverse direction without 

 forming any pattern. The ball of the great toe, on the other hand, presented 

 a very distinct series of concentric ridges around a central whorl-like core. 

 This pattern had developed much more freely towards the inner border of 

 the foot than towards the centre of the sole, where the ridges ran in a more 

 or less longitudinal direction. I could not make certain whether the ridges 

 assumed the form of designs towards the outer border of the foot where the 

 ridges ran obliquely outwards, but there was no indication of transverse lines 

 across the sole at the level of the ball of the great toe. It appears, therefore, that 

 the supporting area and the grasping area are clearly indicated on the feet in 

 question. 



Although the negro is regarded as belonging to a lower type of mankind than 

 the", European, yet very similar functions are performed by the feet of the two 

 races, and, consequently, there is much interest attached to a comparison between 

 impressions of the papillary ridges on the feet of the two races. My opportunity 

 for such an examination has not been very extensive, but in all the cases I have 

 studied there has been a distinct conformity so far as the presence of two 

 characteristic areas are concerned, viz. a posterior area between the heel and the 

 ball of the great toe, and an anterior area extending across the sole of the foot at 

 the level of the ball of the great toe. In the former area the ridges have always 

 been arranged in a transverse direction without the formation of patterns ; in the 

 latter, patterns are present, and between the patterns the ridges vary in their 

 amount of obliquity. One pattern is situated on the ball of the great toe, another 

 is situated opposite the cleft between the second and third toes, and another is 

 found opposite the cleft between the third and fourth toes. I have not seen any 

 pattern opposite the cleft between the great toe and the second toe, nor between 

 the fourth and fifth toes. Their absence coincides with the absence of elevations 

 in these regions, and would seem to be adverse to Kollmann's suggestion as to their 

 causation, viz. lateral jiressure between nascent structures. 



