76 ARBOREAL MAN 



digits. In the Gorilla, the digital formula for the foot 

 is exactly the same as that for the hand, and both may- 

 be expressed as: 3>4>2>5>1. Such a formula is an 

 exceedingly primitive one, and it is present in the primi- 

 tive manus of such chelonian reptiles as the water tor- 

 toises. The strangely primitive human hand has an 

 identical digital formula, the third being the finger that 

 reaches farthest forwards, the fourth the next, the second 

 the next, followed by the fifth, and the thumb is farthest 

 back of all. There is an almost equally common varia- 

 tion in the human hand in which the second digit may 

 be as long as, or longer than, the fourth, and this is 

 doubtless due to the functional importance of the index- 

 finger. I am not sure that it should not be considered 

 as the typical human condition. In such cases the 

 formula stands thus: 3>2>4>5>1, or 3>2=4>5>1. 



Man retains a very primitive digital formula for his 

 hand. His nearest Primate kinsfolk retain it for both 

 hands and feet. 



It is when we attempt to apply this formula to the 

 human foot that we see how great is the alteration that 

 has taken place between the existing Anthropoid with 

 the best primate foot and Man himself. The digital 

 formula for the human foot is as a rule: 1>2>3>4>5 

 (see Figs. 29 and 30). Such a statement holds good for 

 the feet of the great majority of present-da}^ British 

 people. It is commonly assumed by artists, and even 

 by surgeons, that the elongated big toe which projects 

 in advance of the other four toes is not a natural human 

 characteristic, but is a result of boot pressure. A long 

 big toe is regarded rather as a deformity than as a natural 

 human possession in which to take justifiable pride. 



Professor Flower long ago turned his attention to this 

 point, and he examined the feet of hundreds of the bare- 

 footed children of Perthshire, and among them all he 

 found no case in which the big toe did not project beyond 

 the second toe. We must look upon a big toe which 



