Of vestiges, gloves offer a very curious instance. There are on the backs of most of them, at the present day, three lines of raised embroidery or fancy stitching, which run almost parallel with one another, though they converge slightly as they approach the wrist. When these are worked in black on the back of a white woollen glove, for instance, they are very conspicuous, and to explain their origin may well seem puzzling. (See Figure 91.) [Illustration: FIG. 91.--The back of a woollen glove showing the three vestiges known as "points."] Inquiry into the history of these most persistent ornaments is apt to produce a fine crop of speculations. One explanation that may be offered is that the lines are vestiges that date from the time when gloves were so ill-fitting that they had to be laced up the back with the help of a string which was passed through eyelet holes. On hearing this one might be tempted to ask why there should be three ornaments and not one. Another guess which can be more easily shown to be wrong is that we are dealing with the remains of ventilation holes. We say "more easily" because an examination of the facts will show that openings through which air was intended to enter were made in the palm of the glove. [Illustration: FIG. 92.--A modern kid glove showing the fourchettes or pieces between the fingers, which form three pointed V's.] [Illustration: FIG. 93.--Queen Elizabeth's coronation glove showing the stitching carried down on to the back. (From a photograph by the courtesy of Messrs. Fownes Brothers and Co.)] A third suggestion which may occur, is that the ornamentation is a survival from the time when great men, particularly prelates, had various devices and even jewels fixed to the back of their gloves. Once more, however, we meet with the difficulty in the shape of the point that there are always three of the marks. In making a careful investigation into the true origin of the vestiges we can, on the one side, endeavour to see whether there is anything in the form of the hand which can have given rise to the number three, that is so constant; and on the other, whether the glove-makers have any particular name for the marks which may throw some light upon them. In connection with the first line of research, it will be seen on spreading out the fingers that there are, if we ignore the thumb which has its insertion lower down in the hand, three "V"-shaped openings between them, and we find on taking up our second clue that the ornaments are called "points." Now there is a point at the bottom of a "V," and this is well seen in looking at a glove where the pieces or fourchettes which form the insides of the fingers meet (see Figure 92); but if this is evident in a modern glove, it is very much more so in old gloves. (See Figure 93.)