Characteristic peculiarities in Ridges
(about 8 times the natural size).
Fig. 6.
Systems of Ridges, and the Creases in the Palm.
There are three particularly well-marked systems of ridges in the palm of the hand marked in [Plate 3], Fig. 6, 1, as Th, AB, and BC. The system Th is that which runs over the ball of the thumb and adjacent parts of the palm. It is bounded by the line a which starts from the middle of the palm close to the wrist, and sweeps thence round the ball of the thumb to the edge of the palm on the side of the thumb, which it reaches about half an inch, more or less, below the base of the fore-finger. The system AB is bounded towards the thumb by the above line a, and towards the little finger by the line b; the latter starts from about the middle of the little-finger side of the palm, and emerges on the opposite side just below the fore-finger. Consequently, every ridge that wholly crosses the palm is found in AB. The system BC is bounded thumbwards by the line b, until that line arrives at a point immediately below the axis of the fore-finger; there the boundary of BC leaves the line b, and skirts the base of the fore-finger until it reaches the interval which separates the fore and middle fingers. The upper boundary of BC is the line c, which leaves the little-finger side of the palm at a small distance below the base of the little finger, and terminates between the fore and middle fingers. Other systems are found between c and the middle, ring, and little fingers; they are somewhat more variable than those just described, as will be seen by comparing the five different palms shown in Fig. 6.
An interesting example of the interpolation of a small and independent system occurs frequently in the middle of one or other of the systems AB or BC, at the place where the space covered by the systems of ridges begins to broaden out very rapidly. There are two ways in which the necessary supply of ridges makes its appearance, the one is by a series of successive embranchments (Fig. 6, 1), the other is by the insertion of an independent system, as shown in 4, 5. Another example of an interpolated system, but of rarer occurrence, is found in the system Th, on the ball of the thumb, as seen in 2.
Far more definite in position, and complex in lineation, are the small independent systems which appear on the bulbs of the thumb and fingers. They are more instructive to study, more easy to classify, and will alone be discussed in this book.
In the diagram of the hand, Fig. 6, 1, the three chief cheiromantic creases are indicated by dots, but are not numbered. They are made (1) by the flexure of the thumb, (2) of the four fingers simultaneously, and (3) of the middle, ring, and little fingers simultaneously, while the fore-finger remains extended. There is no exact accordance between the courses of the creases and those of the adjacent ridges, less still do the former agree with the boundaries of the systems. The accordance is closest between the crease (1) and the ridges in Th; nevertheless that crease does not agree with the line a, but usually lies considerably within it. The crease (2) cuts the ridges on either side, at an angle of about 30 degrees. The crease (3) is usually parallel to the ridges between which it runs, but is often far from accordant with the line c. The creases at the various joints of the thumb and fingers cut the ridges at small angles, say, very roughly, of 15 degrees.
The supposition is therefore untenable that the courses of the ridges are wholly determined by the flexures. It appears, however, that the courses of the ridges and those of the lines of flexure may be in part, but in part only, due to the action of the same causes.
The fact of the creases of the hand being strongly marked in the newly-born child, has been considered by some to testify to the archaic and therefore important character of their origin. The crumpled condition of the hand of the infant, during some months before its birth, seems to me, however, quite sufficient to account for the creases.