PADS ON. THE PALM AND SOLE OF THE 
HUMAN FCETUS. 
ROSWELL H. JOHNSON. 
In examining the soles of the feet of human foetuses of two 
and three months, I have found four distinct dome-like ele- 
vations situated interdigitally along the line of the meta- 
tarso-phalangeal joints. Similar mounds were found in the 
corresponding position upon the palm, there being, however, 
only three true mounds in a transverse line. The thumb-index 
finger elevation was merely represented by the large thenar 
eminence. The reason for the absence of the true mound is 
probably that its presence would interfere 
with the opposition of the thumb. Upon 
the palm the mounds are less distinct, and 
in the older foetuses the well-defined outline 
becomes lost, leaving only an elevation com- 
parable to the “mounts” of the palmists, 
to which Wilder (97) has called attention. 
The mounds on the sole are succeeded by 
the smooth “ball” of the foot of the adult 
in embryos of about one hundred milli- 
meters in length. 
Unfortunately the poor preservation of 
many of the specimens resulting from the 
— Plantar surface of 
inevitable exigencies of their collection and the right foot of fætus 
preservation make it impossible to deter- The method of eg 
: b causes the mounds to ap- 
mine precisely the stage of development pear with too sharp out- 
attained by the pads in the various cases. ""* 
This difficulty and the gradual increase to a maximum with the 
subsequent gradual decrease prevent a precise statement of the 
stages of development of the foetus where the pads are evident. 
The accompanying table shows the conditions found in the 
embryos examined, with the exception of a few cases of very 
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