282 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



and structure, and (2) as to what it does; that is to say, it 

 has to be regarded (1) anatomically and (2; physiologically. 

 Anatomy concerns form and structure only, and has nothing to 

 do with the uses or abuses to which organs or their parts may 

 be put ; it has nothing to do with activity, and its objects are by 

 it regarded statically. Physiology concerns the action of objects 

 only, though to know this presupposes a certain knowledge of 

 their structure; it has in itself, however, nothing to do with form 

 and structure, and its objects are by it regarded dynamically. 



The word "hand" and the word "foot" as ordinarily used have 

 each a certain compound reference both to form and employment 

 — i. c, both to Anatomy and Physiology. It will be necessary then 

 to try and disentangle this involution of meanings in order to com- 

 prehend what the two words " hand" and "foot" really mean. 



We will first consider some of the main characters of, and 

 differences between, the human hand and foot considered ana- 

 tomically, i. c, according to their form and structure ; in other 

 words, their morphology. The hand consists (1) of the wrist, 

 (2) of the fleshy or middle part of the hand, and (3) of the thumb 

 and four fingers, spoken of anatomically as " digits." At the end 

 of each digit is a nail, which covers the outer or dorsal surface 

 of the digit. Of the digits the third is the longest, and then 

 comes cither the second or the fourth. 



When we examine the bones, which constitute the firm sup- 

 port of the softer structures which are wrapped round them, 

 and with them form the hand, we see that the first two con- 

 stituent parts of the hand are much more distinct than they 

 seem to be when the hand is viewed externally. For the wrist 

 is formed of a small number (eight) of irregularly shaped short 

 bones grouped together in two series or rows, one row of four 

 being towards the arm, the second row being next the bones of 

 the middle part of the hand. These small bones, which together 

 form the wrist, are called "carpal bones," and the whole skeleton 

 of the wrist is called the " carpus." The bones of the fleshy or 

 middle part of the hand are five long bones, each attached to the 

 carpus and one end, and destined to support a digit at the other. 

 Each of these five bones is called a " metacarpal bone," and the 

 five metacarpal bones are spoken of together as the " meta- 

 carpus." The metacarpal bone which supports the thumb, or, 

 as it is technically termed, the "pollex," is fitted on to its 



