DISTRIBUTION OF THE HAIR ON THE DIGITS OF THE HAND IN CHINESE / 解剖学报

ABSTRACT

The frequency and patterns of hair distribution on the phalanges of the hand were examined in the Chinese people. 646 male and female students from the Dalian medical college and the Dalian No. 20 senior middle school, aged between 18 and 25, were examined. Results obtained are similar to those reported in the literature, i. e. distal phalanges never showed hair, whereas hair existed on the proximal and middle phalanges, though the incidence and arrangement of the hair on those phalanges were variable. As to the incidence of hair on the middle phalanx in the Chinese, it was much lower than that in the white race, a little lower than that in the Bengali, Tibetans of our People′s Republic, and the Japanese, and a little higher than that in the Africans. We also noted an asymmetry of hair distribution on two sides of each phalanx existed on the proximal phalanges as well as on the whole finger. Incidence of hair on male fingers was higher than that on female fingers. Hair distribution on both hands in the same idividual was fundamentally symmetrical.