CHAP. IV] THE GENERAL ANATOMY OF THE LEMUROIDEA 69 



Epidermic scales (possibly significant of a reptilian ancestry) 

 are said by Reh (Jenaische Zeitschrift, 1895, p. 190) to occur on 

 the palmar and plantar surfaces of the extremities, and also on a 

 remarkable callosity or pad near the wrist. This view (as to the 

 significance of the scales) is not shared by Klaatsch (Reh, op. cit. 

 p. 188) and Weber {Die Sdugethiere, 1904, p. 29) presumably 

 considers the analogy incorrect. 



The nails (if the claw on the second toe be excepted) are flat, 

 this character being especially remarkable in the nail of the hallux 

 (or great toe). The ends of the nails are usually truncated in a 

 very definite way : in some cases the margin tapers to a point, in 

 others it is crescentic but with the convexity of the curve directed 

 towards the root of the nail. 



D. The Hands and Feet. The skin of the palmar (volar) 

 and plantar aspects is of a dull greyish tint in the specimens 

 mentioned above (cf. C). The character of the exposed surfaces 

 demands a somewhat detailed description. In preparing an 

 account I have consulted the works of Kidd 1 , Whipple 2 , and above 

 all the unrivalled researches of Schlaginhaufen 8 . My personal 

 observations are given in the sequel. The surfaces in question 

 are uneven, as in the majority of mammals. For the epidermis is 

 raised in the form of pads ("Ballen " of German authors); and of 

 these, five (at the finger tips) are " apical," four (situated at the 

 intei'digital clefts) are " interdigital," while there is a single 

 (" hypothenar proximal ") pad nearer the wrist (Fig. 38). It 

 appears that the Lem urine type thus presents all save one of the 

 series held by Whipple to be characteristic of the mammalian 

 chiridium. The missing, or thenar proximal pad may be continuous 

 with the first interdigital elevation 4 . 



In addition to the pads, small nodular elevations of the surface 

 are abundant (Fig. 38). 



1 Kidd, The Sense of Touch in Mammals and Birch, 1907. 



2 Whipple, "The Mammalian Chiridium," etc. Zeitschrift fur Morphologie und 

 Anthropologic, Band vn. 1904. 



3 Schlaginhaufen, (a) " Das Hautleisten System," etc. Morphologisches Jahrbuch, 

 Band xxxm. 1905. (b) " Zur Morphologie der Planta," etc. Zeitschrift fur Ethno- 

 logie, 1906. 



4 The scheme of the primitive pads seen in the foetus of Man is slightly more 

 complex. Cf. Retzius and also Schlaginhaufen, 1905, p. 669. 



