Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 47.djvu/874

 Watkins, James L. Production and Price of Cotton for One Hundred Years. U. S. Department of Agriculture. Pp. 20.

White, Frances Emily. The American Medical Woman. Pp. 16.

White, Francis A. Outline Studies in the History of the United States. American Book Company. 30 cents.

Willis, Bailey. The Northern Appalachians. American Book Company. Pp. 32. 20 cents.

 

An Instance of Webbed Fingers in Man.—(Communicated by and ) The subject of this sketch, now about twenty-five years of age, was born near Smyrna, Iowa. He now resides in eastern Oregon, and is attending one of the State schools, where, though slow, he is proving himself fairly efficient in some lines of work. little finger of each hand are provided with only two movable joints or phalanges. On the fourth finger we find an enlargement at the point where the lower or distal end of the first joint should be. This rigidity, therefore, seems to have been brought about by a growing together or anchylosis of the first and second joints. The first joint or first phalanx of the little finger, however, although equal in length to two normal joints, is perfectly smooth and cylindrical. As if to compensate for this stiffness, the terminal joints of these two fingers can be bent to make a perfect right angle with the longitudinal axis of the finger. The toes are also webbed, but not so strikingly as the fingers. All of the following measurements have been made from a line passing through the distal end of the metacarpal bones; in other words,



Of large, powerful frame, he is a welcome adjunct on the football field, though ordinarily awkward in his movements. According to his statement, he has never suffered any special inconvenience from the abnormal condition of his hands, and feels disinclined to undergo a surgical operation for their betterment. When but a few days old, the webs were cut, but the operation was badly performed, and apparently their growth was not checked. The scars resulting from the operation may yet be seen. An interesting fact to be noted is, that the fourth finger and from the point where the bones of each finger unite with those of the hand. A centimetre is practically equivalent to two fifths of an inch.