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it; and further remarkable by its great mobility, in conse- 
quence of which it can be directed outwards, almost at a 
right angle to the rest. This digit is called the ‘pollex,’ or 
thumb ; and, like the others, it bears a flat nail upon the back 
of its terminal joint. In consequence of the proportions and 
mobility of the thumb, it is what is termed ‘opposable ;’ im 
other words, its extremity can, with the greatest ease, be 
brought into contact with the extremities of any of the 
fingers ; a property upon which the possibility of our carrymg 
into effect the conceptions of the mind so largely depends. 
The external form of the foot differs widely from that of 
the hand; and yet, when closely compared, the two present 
some singular resemblances. Thus the ankle corresponds in 
a manner with the wrist; the sole with the palm; the toes 
with the fingers; the great toe with the thumb. But the 
toes, or digits of the foot, are far shorter in proportion than 
the digits of the hand, and are less moveable, the want of 
mobility being most striking in the great toe—which, again, 
is very much larger in proportion to the other toes than the 
thumb to the fingers. In considering this point, however, it 
must not be forgotten that the civilized great toe, confined 
and cramped from childhood upwards, is seen to a great disad- 
vantage, and that in uncivilized and barefooted people it 
retains a great amount of mobility, and even some sort of 
opposability. The Chinese boatmen are said to be able to 
pull an oar; the artisans of Bengal to weave, and the Carajas 
to steal fishhooks by its help; though, after all, it must be 
recollected that the structure of its joints and the arrange- 
ment of its bones, necessarily render its prehensile action far 
less perfect than that of the thumb. 
But to gain a precise conception of the resemblances and 
differences of the hand and foot, and of the distinctive charac- 
ters of each, we must look below the skin, and compare the 
bony framework and its motor apparatus in each (Fig. 19). 
The skeleton of the hand exhibits, in the region which we 
term the wrist, and which is technically called the carpus— 
