Returning now to the text, the remarkable arrangement of hair on man’s
forearm, attention may be directed to the accompanying figure of the
forearm of a lemur, an ape and man, in which the extensor or back view
of this limb-segment is shown, the heavy “war-arrows” being employed
to direct the attention of the reader to the main lines in which the
hair-streams flow. The front or flexor surfaces in the lemur and
ape are not shown because they are precisely like the corresponding
back surfaces, and the flexor surface in man is shown in the figure.
The figures are so much like diagrams that a very little detailed
description will suffice. For the examination of the hair on man’s
forearm the best subject is a dark-haired youth, and it is easily
traced, though in any hairy subject it can be shown up well by placing
the forearm in water for a minute and allowing the water to drain
off. The normal and congenital hair-slope on the forearm is then well
displayed.
On the front surface of man’s forearm the hairs point away from the
elbow and divide in the middle of the surface into two streams, one
passing to the outer and the other to the inner border in a downward
gentle curve, and they join the streams of hair on the back surface. In
this pattern there is nothing very peculiar, for it is shared by many
monkeys.
When the back surface is examined it is found to present an arrangement
of the hair which is _unique_ among hairy mammals. The figure shows the
eccentric course taken by the hair on the back surface. In the centre,
exactly along the extensor border of the ulna, from the wrist to the
point of the elbow, the hair-stream has been bold enough to turn
straight _upwards_ in a narrow line, and it was here that our three
great leaders saw their chance of claiming for Selection a tiny bit
of territory, a kind of Duchy of Luxembourg between two great States,
though, as I proceed to show, the claim is disallowed and untenable.
[Illustration: Fig 1.--Arrangement of Hair on the Forearm.]
In the ape the hairs of the forearm are much longer and thicker than
those of man, and both on the front and back all point _from the wrist
to the elbow_.
In the lemur all the hairs point _from the elbow to the wrist_.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account