Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-11-29
Studies of Palms and Brains
Indicate Greater Advance
ment on Right.
EARLY SPECIALIZATION
HELD CONDITIONS CAUSE
Similar Physical Traits Also Dis
covered in Some Higher
Il Species of Apes.
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.

BY THOMAS r. HENRY.
One side of the body usually is more
'human" than the other.
Generally the left side has Jagged a
trif1e behind in mans ascent of the
evolutionary ladder from distant ape
like ancestor, it is shown by two studies
just reported to the American Associa-
ton of Physical AnthropologiSts.
In any individual, however, 1t may be
the right side which remains a few
degrees closer to the primitive, accord
ing to the accounts of these researches,
just issued in the journal of the asSo-
citation, edited here by Dr. Ales Hrdlicka,
curator of physical anthropology at the
National Museum.
The first study deals with palm
prints, and was made by H. H. Newman
of the University of Chicago. The lines
of the hand it shows, have their hid
den meaning, although it is far from
that credited to them by the gypsy
palmist. They tell nothing of the future
Of the individual, but may reveal
great deal Of the past of the race.
Studies Prints of Twins.
Newman studied the palm prints of
100 pairs of twins. Looked at super
ficially, the lines of the right and left
palms seem to be identical, only re-
NCLoCG. SlOSCI CAdLulldL1Ol1, NCNAidU
reports, shows slight but significant diff
ferences, especially in the protuberance
at the base of the thumb, which long
ago was the heel of the forefoot of
mans quadruped ancestor.
I'm general" he says, the left hands
on the average and in most individual
cases express their hereditary pattern
and mainline characters in a more
primitive form. Thus thenar patterns
(the lines on the elevation below the
base of the thumb, which are COM
moner in primitive than in more Spe-
Cialized races, occur much more fire.
quently in left hands The rule has
extremely few exceptions, and these are
nearly always correlated with other
types Of aSymmetry reversal.
1T seems clear from studies of print
tive races and of anthropoid apes that
the ancestral, or primitive, condition
Of the palmar main lines is one in
which all or most of the lines tend to
run somewhat parallel to each other and
to the main axis of the hand. In a
large majority Of the cases Of twins
the left hand in one or several ways
shows the more primitive confguration.
In the few exceptions where the right
hand shows the more primitive condi-
ton there are other clear indications
Of reversal in other features Of the
body"
Report Brain Research.
Newman also concludes tentatively
that the more human" condition of
the right palm is closely related to the
much greater dexterity with which most
persons can use their right hands. If
an infant shows the more specialized
lines on the left palm, however, it prob
ably would indicate that the advanced
and the tagging sides of the body have
1tA -, H. s.nrl f,-s%l t4nk
he Will be left-handed, and that efforts
to train him to use his right hand
would be wasted.
The other study, reported by Harold
A. Cohn and James w. Paper of the
Cornell Medical School, deals with the
size Of the visual area" in the brain.
The two investigators studied 100
brains, including those Of the late
Helen H. Gardner and Dr.. Daniel S.
Lamb Of Washington.
The visual area is small space con-
siSting of several differentiated layers of
nerve cells partly buried in one of the
deep folds OF the cerebral cortex at the
back of the brain. Here terminate
many of the nerve fbers from the rods
and cones of the eyes and here take
place the mental process of seeing"
Generally the left side of the corteX, the
seat Of intelligence, looks like dupli-
cate of the right. Each side controls
most of the activities of the opposite
side of the body, but right and left
visual areas are connected, due to cross
ing of the nerve tracts, not specifically
with the right and left eyes but with
the right and left sides of both eyes.
Concentrated on Right Hand.
The majority of cases, however, they
found show greater development Of
the right visuo-sensory cortex. Cases
where this was not true were charac-
terized by other evidence Of reversal.
In some far-distant time, it is ex-
planned, emerging man began concen-
trating on his right hand for work re-
Quirlng skill. This required greater
concentration of the right sides of each
eye and consequently more and intenser
impulses were passing to the visual area
on the right side of the cortex. Conse-
quently this developed through exercise,
or as biological variation which be-
came fixed because of its usefulness.
1T is generally believed" the report
states, that the left hemisphere pre-
serves the more ancient cerebral pat
tern and that alterations of this pattern
occur most commonly on the right side
in the brain of modern man."
Other studies, the authors point out,
have shown that the back end of the
left cerebral hemisphere often presents
IEdlQlSS Slili4idl " lAlOSE AOull ~ III
brains of apes, but such features are
rarely found in the right hemispA1re,
excepting in that of left-handed per-
son. This, it is stated, points to a def
mite specialization Of the two hemi-
spheres
Even among the higher apes, 1t is
shown, this specialization has been
seen, though to far less degree than
In humans, leading to the speculation
that the shift to specialization Of one
side of the body may have started be-
fore man evolved. Orang-outans seem
to have definitely right-handed brains
and a right-handed gorilla brain has
been examined. Furthermore. it is
pointed out, measurements by Dr.
Hrdlicka here have shown that there
are frequently differences in the dimen-
sions of the skull on the right and left
sides, indicating a diffel ence in the size
of the brain areas underneath.
There are differences in the right and
left face, ears, eyes, teeth, hands, feet
-.