DATA FOR THE PROBLEM OF EVOLUTION IN MAN. 
A SECOND STUDY OF THE VARIABILITY AND CORRELATION 
OF THE HAND. 
By M. a. LEWENZ, B.A., and M. A. WHITELEY, B.Sc. 
(1) A FIRST study* of the hand was published in 1899 by Miss Whiteley and 
Professor Pearson who dealt with the measurements of the first joints of the fingers 
in 551 pairs of female hands. In that memoir they had in vievv a full statistical 
reduction of Dr Pfitzner's measurements on the hand skeletonf, proposing to compare 
his and their own results. Although Dr PHtzner has only measured about 50 
female hands, still the large number of bones he has dealt with and the numerous 
correlations to be found rendered the arithmetical work by no means light. After 
Miss Whiteley had progressed some way with the reduction of the metacarpal bone 
correlations, she was unable to continue the work, which was then taken in hand 
and completed by Miss Lewenz. To her accordingly most of the numerical 
constants given in this paper are due J. 
Although the paucity of data is a great drawback, it yet seemed better in the 
first place to reduce the short series of female instead of the longer series of male 
hands, because only this sex had been dealt with in the first study. We hope 
eventually to obtain measui-ements on the male hand and compare them with 
Dr Pfitzner's male series. 
In every case we give the probable error of our determinations which are 
naturally large. In all the workings grouping has been avuided and standard 
deviations and correlations found by taking actual sums of the squares and of the 
products of deviations. In the statement of general results we have, bearing in 
mind the largeness of the probable errors, endeavoured to express only conclusions 
which result from an examination of several series and not from single instances. 
(2) We may divide our discussion into four parts : (i) the comparison of the 
absolute lengths and variabilities of different bones in both hands ; (ii) the 
* R. S. Proc. Vol. 65, pp. 126—151. 
t Schwalbes Morphologische Arbeiten, Bd. i. pp. 21 — 35, and Bd. ii. pp. 99 — 106. 
J I am responsible for editing and to some extent rearranging Miss Lewenz's material. K. P. 
Biometrika i B6 
