THE ANTERIOR LDIBS OF QUADRUPEDS. 31 



and general qualities of bodies. The wliole of 

 the palmai' surface is exquisitely sensitive, 

 but it is on the pulpy tips of the fingers that 

 the greatest sensibility resides. There the 

 multitudinous nerves form a congeries of 

 papillae, supported on cushions of cellular tissue, 

 and protected by the nails. These latter add 

 firmness to the tips of the fingers, and serve 

 not only as a support, but also as a barrier 

 between external bodies and the nerves beneath 

 them, thereby intercepting the communication 

 of definite impressions, in order that the 

 nervous energy may be more folly concen- 

 trated on the pulpy portion appropriated to 

 touch, and that the impressions there received 

 may be the more definite and vivid. The 

 nails arise out of the true skin, and grow from 

 a pulpy root ; they are closely attached to the 

 soft parts, which they cover, and cannot be 

 torn away without intense pain. From the 

 arrangement of the muscles of the pahn, which 

 bend the thumb and fingers, the centre of the 

 palm is concave, and by this provision the 

 hand is more efficient under many circum- 

 stances as an instrument of prehension. To 

 this, also, the roughness, or rigid linear mark- 

 ings of the cuticle of the palm and inside of the 



