MAN 171 



child who could almost make them touch, and 

 who habitually would endeavour to make the 

 great toe oppose the others when any graspable 

 object was brought into contact with the front 

 part of the sole."* 



Regarding the lines in the sole of the foot, Dr. 

 Robinson says: "The sole is covered with lines 

 of a character exactly similar to those on the 

 hand ; and when the toes are bent downwards 

 these become deep creases, showiag that they 

 are, like the palmar lines, the natural folding- 

 places of the integument to facilitate the action 

 of grasping. . . . The lines are scarcely visible at 

 fourteen months old, and are only present in a 

 few cases after the age of two years. In adults 

 no trace of them can be seen when the foot is at 

 rest, and only the faintest indication at one or 

 two spots when the toes are flexed to the utmost. 

 The obliteration is doubtless owing to the foot 

 being used as an organ for progression rather 

 than prehension, and it will be seen that the most 

 distinct line crosses the sole at the spot where 

 the epidermis is always dense and callous, and 

 the subcutaneous tissues thickened into a cushion- 

 like pad by the pressure and friction consequent 

 on walking. This line undoubtedly marks the 

 place where the chief fold in the skin was situated, 

 when the toes were habitually clasped round 

 some object such as the branch of a tree." It 

 has been pointed out by other writers that the 

 lines of the sole of the foot can plainly be seen 

 in the adult foot of some savage races. It must 

 be added, however, that the survival of the lines 

 in the adult civilised foot is by no means so rare 



* Nineteenth Century for May, 1892. 



