Scientific study of finger- and toeprints
Dermatoglyphics (from Ancient Greek "derma", "skin", and "glyph", "carving") is the scientific study of fingerprints, lines, mounts and shapes of hands, as distinct from the superficially similar pseudoscience of palmistry.
Dermatoglyphics also refers to the making of naturally occurring ridges on certain body parts, namely palms, fingers, soles, and toes. These are areas where hair usually does not grow, and these ridges allow for increased leverage when picking up objects or walking barefoot.
In a 2009 report, the scientific basis underlying dermatoglyphics was questioned by the National Academy of Sciences, for the discipline's reliance on subjective comparisons instead of conclusions drawn from the scientific method.
History.
1823 marks the beginning of the scientific study of papillary ridges of the hands and feet, with the work of Jan Evangelista Purkyně.
By 1858, Sir William Herschel, 2nd Baronet, while in India, became the first European to realize the value of fingerprints for identification.
Sir Francis Galton conducted extensive research on the importance of skin-ridge patterns, demonstrating their permanence and advancing the science of fingerprint identification with his 1892 book "Fingerprints".
In 1893, Sir Edward Henry published the book "The classification and uses of fingerprints", which marked the beginning of the modern era of fingerprint identification and is the basis for other classification systems.
In 1929, Harold Cummins and Charles Midlo M.D., together with others, published the influential book "Fingerprints, Palms and Soles", a bible in the field of dermatoglyphics.
In 1945, Lionel Penrose, inspired by the works of Cummins and Midlo, conducted his own dermatoglyphic investigations as a part of his research into Down syndrome and other congenital medical disorders.
In 1976, Schaumann and Alter published the book "Dermatoglyphics in Medical Disorders", which summarizes the findings of dermatoglyphic patterns under disease conditions.
In 1982, Seltzer, et al., conducted a study on patients with breast cancer, and concluded that the presence of six or more whorls on a woman's fingertips indicated her being at high risk for breast cancer.
Although the study of dermatoglyphics has some adjunctive value in the diagnosis of genetic syndromes (see examples below), there is insufficient evidence to indicate that there is any value in the examination of dermal ridge patterns for the diagnosis of disease or for identifying disease susceptibility.
Dermatoglyphics and genetic conditions.
Dermatoglyphics, when correlated with genetic abnormalities, aids in the diagnosis of congenital malformations at birth or soon after.
Dermatoglyphics and Medical conditions.
The relationship between different dermatoglyphic traits and various medical diseases have been widely evaluated.
References.
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Further reading.
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