THE HAND. 67 



of the forearm to the front of the styloid process of the radius. 

 In the upper third of its course the artery is overlapped by 

 the supinator longus. To make allowance for this, the 

 incision for the ligature of the artery in this situation should 

 be made, not precisely in the line of its course, but rather 

 nearer the middle of the forearm. 



The line of the ulnar artery runs from the middle of the 

 bend of the elbow (slightly curving inwards) to the outer side 

 of the pisiform bone. The radial and ulnar arteries can, in 

 most cases, be effectually commanded by pressure well applied 

 at the wrist, in wounds of the palmar arch. 



Before we make incisions along the forearm, it is always 

 desirable to ascertain whether the ulnar artery, which usually 

 runs under the superficial muscles, may not run abnormally 

 over them ; in which case its pulsations can be felt all down 

 the forearm. 



THE HAND. 



147. It is beside the purpose here to examine the question 

 whether the hand can tell more than the arm, the leg, or any 

 other part of the body, about the physical constitution of its 

 owner, and to what use it has been put. Those who are 

 interested in this subject should read a very elaborate treatise 

 by Carus, 11 ' On the Reason and Meaning of the Different 

 Forms of the Hand.' Still less would I indulge curiosity by 

 inquiring whether the professors of chiromancy, relying on 

 the text ' erit signum in manu tua et quasi monumentum 

 ante oculos tuos,' can advance any reasonable pretensions for 

 their assertion that they can read in the furrows of the palm 

 the future destiny of its master. 



148. Furrow in palm. The only furrow in the palm 

 useful as a surgical landmark is that which runs transversely 

 across its lower third, and is well seen when the fingers are 

 slightly bent. This transverse furrow corresponds pretty 

 nearly with the metacarpal joints of the fingers, with the 

 upper limit of the synovial sheaths of the flexor tendons of 

 the fingers (that of the little finger excepted (143)) ; also with 



