[Letters to Editor]

Abstract

I HAVE made a collection of over fifty outlines of the fingers of European hands (right and left). At present I find that the tendency in the female hand is to a proportionately longer third than index, in both hands, than in the male. In all the hands I have examined, the third finger of the left hand (when longer than the index) is also proportionately longer than the same finger of the right. In this series I have found only one case of an index longer than the third, and only one in which they were equal (both males). These are all carefully drawn into a pocket-book, care being taken that the hand is perfectly free from any muscular strain, which alters the result very appreciably; and the race, sex, and general physical characteristics are noted on the sheet. The list at present includes some eminent classical scholars, a distinguished artist, and numbers of persons of more than average culture; yet there appears to be no correspondence between the mind and the length of the index finger.