Karev-1986-American Journal of Physical Anthropology
Karev-1986-American Journal of Physical Anthropology
Dermatoglyphic patterns have become a n turies. In the area we now call northeast
increasingly important object in medical ge- Bulgaria, the Thracians were comparatively
netics since Cummins (1926) revealed some few and the Slavs and Proto-Bulgarians were
of their peculiarities in developmental de- more numerous than in the other parts of the
fects and especially since he described (Cum- country. Marriage among Proto-Bulgarians
mins, 1939) the dermatoglyphics of mongol- and Slavs became a common practice among
ism. On the other hand, taking population both commoners and the ruling aristocracy
dermatoglyphic differences into considera- (Angelov, 19711, and the process of amalgam-
tion, it is important for the dermatoglyphic ation of these two groups was rather inten-
findings in pathological cases to be discussed sive in this region. Northeast Bulgaria
and interpreted in the light of the normal played a central role in all kinds of adminis-
dermatoglyphics of the population to which trative, economic, and military activities dur-
the patient belongs. Therefore, anthropolo- ing the course of the ethnogenesis of the Bul-
gists and physicians should be equally inter- garian people and the consolidation of the
ested in the normal dermatoglyphics of all Bulgarian state. Two settlements in this re-
peoples. gion, Pliska and Preslav, were consecutively
the first and second capitals of the First Bul-
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND garian Empire. The importance of northeast
The Bulgarian people are descended from Bulgaria in the state affairs and cultural
three ancient populations-Thracians, Slavs,
and Proto-Bulgarians-by their mutual as- Received October 12,1981; revised May 10,1983;accepted May
similation during the eighth and ninth cen- 20,1985.
development of the country increased even The study was organized in conformity with
more with the adoption of Christianity in the theory of representative sampling (Tso-
A.D. 864, as well as with the development of nev, 1958). Its parameters were calculated
the Bulgarian-Slavonic alphabet and writing. from the results of a microstudy including a
Dermatoglyphic investigations of Bulgari- small part of the chosen contingent (120
ans were until recently very scanty. Abel males and 120 females). The sample size was
(1940) and Markov (1947) investigated small calculated to be 1,060 males and 1,059 fe-
samples of Bulgarians, but at present their males, i.e., 2,119 persons; the optimal size of
studies are of historical interest only. Kaleva each subset was found to be 30 persons (15 of
(1971) studied the digital dermatoglyphics of each sex). By dividing 2,119 by 30, the num-
9,600 Bulgarians, but we can by no means ber of needed subsets was determined to be
agree with her statement that the results 71. All of the 28,475 high school students
represent the normal dermatoglyphics of that attended the high schools of northeast
Bulgarians. First of all, Kaleva used the fin- Bulgaria during the school year 197611977
gerprint collections of the Police Identifica- were divided into 446 subsets and of these,
tion Offices in the Plovdiv and the 71 were randomly selected to be examined.
Blagoevgrad districts. It is well known that The names of the 16 settlements where they
the prints of criminals are not suitable ma- resided are underlined on the map (Fig. 1).
terial for population dermatoglyphic inves-
tigations (Alter, 1967; Weninger, 1976). METHODS
Moreover, such a serious pitfall as the use of Fingerprinting and fingerprint classification
a criminal fingerprint collection inevitably Fingerprints were obtained from all the
leads to a series of additional discrepancies. persons in the sample by means of a n inking
The number of investigated persons from dif- procedure described by O’Hara (1956). The
ferent regions of the country is very unbal- fingers of the right hand were rolled left-
anced, since it entirely depends on the wards and the left hand fingers rightwards,
accidental migrations of the criminals from so that every finger was rolled in a medial
these regions to the two selected districts. Asdirection to avoid involuntary muscular re-
a result, the number of inhabitants of the sistance. Care was also taken to receive com-
Plovdiv district in Kaleva’s sample is five plete and detailed prints, including the epi-
times bigger than the total sum of examined dermal design of the whole distal phalanx of
persons coming from all six districts of north-every finger from nail edge to nail edge.
east Bulgaria, and for reasons that are not Finger patterns have been traditionally
difficult to understand, men in the sample in classified into four major types: whorls, ulnar
question are 4.7 times more numerous than loops, radial loops, and arches, ever since Sir
are women. Francis Galton (1892) introduced the analy-
For the last 6 years we have studied the sis of fingerprints for the purpose of personal
digital and palmar dermatoglyphics and the identification. Later many attempts were
palmar flexion creases of citizens of north- made, more or less successfully, to develop
east Bulgaria. Our immediate goals were to this system by subdividing its types into sub-
obtain complete and detailed dermatoglyphic types, taking into consideration the size,
data about this part of the Bulgarian people structure, and orientation of the patterns
as a component of their physical anthropol- (Lestrange, 1953; Okros, 1965; Penrose,
ogy and to provide a proper basis for compar- 1968). Undoubtedly, the more the classifica-
ative interpretation of dermatoglyphic tion system is worked out in detail, the more
findings in pathological conditims. The pres- information we can receive by its applica-
ent report deals with the digital dermato- tion. Simultaneously, however, the time con-
glyphics only; a further paper on the palmar sumed and investigator error increase, too,
dermatoglyphics and palmar flexion creases and-what is more important-the possibil-
of the same population is planned. ity to compare the results with those of other
THE SAMPLE
authors decreases considerably.
In our work a n attempt was made to com-
We preferred the high school students of bine the advantages of three different classi-
this region, aged 16--19years, as a contingent fication systems. First of all, the type of print
from which to single out our sample. No per- in accordance with Galton’s system is regis-
son included in the sample had a diagnosed tered by a capital letter (W, U, R, or A).
or suspected genetic or chronic disease of any Second, its position in Penrose’s system (Pen-
kind. rose, 1968) is marked by a small letter (0,s,
DIGITAL DERMATOGLYPHICS OF NORTHEAST BULGARIANS 39
or t), used as a superscript. Thus the arches values of the second row from all the six
are divided into simple arches A and tented adjoining columns, belonging to ‘‘ W ”.
ones At and the whorls are subdivided into
concentric whorls Wo and spiral ones Ws. Standard finger pattern indices
Third, a subscript from 1 to 18 indicates the The whorl/loop (Furuhata, 1928), arch/
place of the print according to Lestrange’s whorl (Dankmeijer, 1934),and arcMoop (Poll,
system (1953): Al, A;, W&, and W& are ra- 1937a,b) indices were investigated. The in-
dial variants; A2, A: , WO,, and WS7 are dex of the pattern intensity (Cumrnins and
symmetrical patterns, and As, Ak , Wp5, and Goldstein, 1932) was also calculated. A spe-
W& are ulnarly oriented patterns. As to cial variant of Poll’s delta-index (Kirchmair
loops, R7 and U8 are typical radial and ulnar and Poll, 1936) is the idio-delta-index (Ad-
loops, R9 and Ulo are loops with a tendency ams, 19641, demonstrating the average num-
towards a concentric whorl, and Rll and UI2 ber of triradii for each of the ten fingers
are loops with a tendency towards a spiral separately. It was calculated and graphically
whorl. These modifications are shown in Fig- presented by the method proposed by Poll
ure 2, and the results obtained by their ap- (1938) and described later by Adarns (1964)
plication should be organized in the forms of as deltadiagram. Geipel’s radioulnar index
Tables 5 and 6. When such data have to be (Geipel, 1956) was also calculated.
compared with results generated by simpler The complex patterns, although each in-
classifications, it is easily accomplished. If, cludes three triradii in its structure, are con-
for instance, the frequency of whorls on the sidered as a broad class of whorls (Penrose,
right second finger in males has to be com- 1968) or accidental whorls (Alter, 1967). In
pared with that of another population, whose general, one may consider these patterns as
whorls on the same finger are presented as a whorls, but it is our opinion that one must
composite, it would be sufficient to add the not neglect the third triradii of the complex
40 G.B. KAREV
TABLE 1. Absolute numbers and percentages (WOf A p%)' o f the four major pattern types and
significance of the sex differences
Pattern type
Ulnar Radial
Sex Whorls loops loops Arches Total
Male 3,727 5,969 528 426 10,650
34.9950.90 56.05+0.94 4.96k0.41 4.001-0.37 100.00
Female 3,328 6,340 440 542 10,650
31.25k0.88 59.53k0.93 4.13+0.38 5.091-0.42 100.00
Significance of the P < 0.01 P < 0.01 P < 0.01 P < 0.01
sex difference
'P% = Percentage of the pattern type. A p% = maximal error of this percentage, calculated by the formula A p% = u
(PQ/Nf', where u = 1.96, P is the percentage of the pattern type, Q = 1 - P and N = 10,650 is the number of the
examined fingers for the given sex.
42 G.B. KAREV
findings confirm the general tendency of de- tern frequencies are beyond question, at least
creasing percentages as one moves from a certain influence of the sex chromosomes
north to south. That pattern has its highest on the phenotypic realization of genetic de-
frequency in the Rumanians (Turai and terminants of the patterns during embryogen-
Leonida, 19711, followed in descending order esis should be assumed.
by Bulgarians (present study), Turks (Atasu, The bilateral differences between the per-
1976), and Greeks (Weninger, 1974). Of centages of finger pattern types are shown,
course, because of the differences in pattern each sex and each hand separately, in Table
frequencies between the various samples 2. Both sexes show analogous bilateral differ-
within populations, some deviations from this ences in their whorls and arches: The whorls
trend can be observed. Thus, Greeks from the are more frequent in the right hands and the
region of Thessaloniki (Brehme and Pentzos- arches in the left.
Daponte, 1975) show a higher percentage of The distribution of the patterns between
arches than do Bulgarians. the major types is given, each finger sepa-
It is evident from Table 1 that the whorls rately, in Tables 3 and 4. It is evident from
and radial loops are more frequent in males, the last column of Table 3 that the general
whereas the ulnar loops and arches have formula for the females repeats the arrange-
higher frequencies in females. All of these ment of the pattern types found in all but
differences are highly significant (P < 0.01). second fingers. In males (Table 4) radial loops
Some of them have been observed in many also show lower percentages than do arches
other populations. Thus, in 11 of the 13 white in all fingers except the second fingers of
populations reviewed by Chamla (1962,19631, both hands. The prevalence of the radial loops
arches showed higher proportions in females over the arches on the second fingers is, how-
and in 12 populations whorls were more fre- ever, so considerable here that in the general
quent in males. Plat0 et al. (1975) reported formula for males the radial loops also take
more arches and fewer radial loops in fe- third position, followed by arches in fourth
males than in males (P < 0.01)as well as place.
fewer whorls on the right hands in females If all the whorls are treated together, as
than on the right hands in males in a sample the four-type system does, their frequencies
of US.whites. All of these three differences decrease from the first towards the fifth fin-
were found in our sample as well; the propor- ger. A deviation from this tendency is ob-
tion of the left-hand whorls is also higher in served on the fourth finger, on which the
males than in females, but this difference is highest percentage of this type is found. A
not significant. high proportion of whorls is also observed on
The problem arises concerning the possible the second finger of the left hand. When the
biological significance of the sex differences six-type system (Penrose, 1968) was applied
in the pattern types. In our opinion, since towards the same material and the whorls
very little evidence exists that would suggest were subclassified into concentric and spiral
sex-linked inheritance and since, on the other ones, the concentric whorls retained both of
hand, considerable sex differences in the pat- these deviations; what is more, the men-
TABLE 2. Percentage frequencies of the four major pattern types, each hand separately,
and significance of the bilateral differences
TABLE 3. Percentage distribution (P%o i A p%)' ofthe finger patterns, each finger separately, in 1,065 Bulgarian
females
Finger
Pattern type Dattern
Whorls Ulnar loops Radial loops Arches iormula
Digit (w) (u) (R) (A)
_____^_
U-W-A-R
Right
1 41.12 f 2.95 55.21 f 2.98 0.57 f 0.45 3.10 f 1.04 U-W-A-R
2 37.74 It 2.91 37.37 k 2.90 15.12 & 2.15 9.77 1.78 W-U-R-A
3 19.35 f 2.37 74.08 f 2.63 1.50 k 0.73 5.07 f 1.32 U-W-A-R
4 47.42 f 2.99 49.67 f 3.00 0.47 f 0.40 2.44 f 0.93 U-WAR
5 14.36 f 2.10 84.04 k 2.19 0.09 f 0.18 1.51 f 0.73 U-W-A-R
Left
1 36.35 f 2.89 58.39 f 2.96 0.94 f 0.58 4.32 f 1.22 U-W-A-R
2 36.99 f 2.90 32.68 k 2.81 18.69 f 2.34 11.64 & 1.93 W-U-R-A
3 21.69 f 2.47 66.30 f 2.83 3.00 f 1.02 9.01 f 1.72 U-W-A-R
4 43.28 +_ 2.97 53.06 f 2.99 0.94 f 0.58 2.72 f 0.98 U-W-A-R
5 14.19 f 2.09 84.50 f 2.17 0.00 f 0.00 1.31 f 0.68 U-W-A-R
'See footnote 1 of Table 1.
TABLE 4. Percentage distribution (P%uf A p%)' of the finger patterns, each finger separately, in 1,065 Bulgarian
males
Finger
Pattern type pattern
Whorls Ulnar loops Radial loops Arches formula
Digit CN) nr) (R) (A) U-W-R-A
Right
1 50.42 f 3.00 47.80 k 3.00 0.47 f 0.40 1.31 k 0.68 W-U-A-R
2 39.81 f 2.94 29.58 k 2.74 21.87 f 2.48 8.74 f 1.69 W-U-R-A
3 24.23 f 2.57 67.98 f 2.80 2.91 f 1.00 4.88 f 1.29 U-W-A-R
4 55.40 f 2.98 41.88 k 2.96 1.31 & 0.68 1.41 f 0.70 W-U-A-R
5 21.97 & 2.49 76.24 k 2.55 0.28 f 0.32 1.51 f 0.73 U-W-A-R
Left
1 35.96 k 2.88 60.66 f 2.93 0.38 f 0.37 3.00 k 1.02 U-W-A-R
2 38.87 f 2.93 32.77 f 2.82 19.62 f 2.38 8.74 f 1.69 W-U-R-A
3 24.79 f 2.59 66.95 f 2.82 1.97 f 0.83 6.29 f 1.46 U-W-A-R
4 43.11 f 2.97 53.99 2.99 0.65 f 0.48 2.25 f 0.89 U-W-A-R
5 15.40 + 2.17 82.64 i2.27 0.09 f 0.17 1.87 f 0.81 U-W-A-R
'See footnote 1 of Table 1.
tioned high frequency of the whorls on the The results obtained by means of our mod-
second finger of the left hand in this case ification of Lestrange's system are presented
appeared in the right hand as well. However, in detail in Tables 5 and 6. It is only logical
it was different with the spiral whorls, whose that this system is able to give us the most
tendency towards diminution in sequence detailed information and to reveal some pe-
from the first towards the fifth finger was culiarities that it is impossible to learn by
much better manifested. In other words, the means of the simpler systems. The frequen-
tendency in question seems to be due mainly cies of the whorls as a whole on the left first
to the spiral whorls, whereas the deviations and second fingers in females are practically
from this trend seem to be mostly an attrib- equal-36.35% and 36.99%. After comparing
ute of the concentric whorls. The arches the values of the different kinds of whorls as
treated as a whole are dispersed all over ten analyzed by the proposed modification, it be-
fingers. However, when they are divided into comes evident that these equal percentages
simple arches and tented ones, it becomes cover up some interesting details. Only the
evident that uniform dispersal is relevant for symmetrical whorls Wy4 and W77 really pos-
the simple arches only, whereas the tented sess similar frequencies in these two fingers.
ones are entirely concentrated on the second At the same time, the radial concentric
and third fingers. whorls Wy3 are six times more frequent on
'At. 5 4 3 2 Left 5 4 3 2 'At, 5 4 3 2 Left 5 4 3 2
1 Digit
1Right 1 1Right
TABLE TABLE
tented tented
0.00 0.66
0.00 0.19 0.00
1.50 0.28
0.00 0.00
0.75 A1 6. 0.00 0.28
0.09 0.00 0.00
1.22 0.09
0.00 0.00
1.13 5.
arches; arches:
Percentage Percentage
W";0.75 6.20
1.78 3.38 0.66
7.98 3.29
1.50 2.63
6.38 Az A 4.88
4.41
1.22
W",1.03 3.57
0.75
2.63 0.85 0.84
4.79
concentric concentric
0.47
0.94
1.69 0.75 0.85
1.31 0.85
1.41 0.47
2.07 A3 0.84
0.94
1.03
1.41 0.94
0.66
0.37 0.66 0.47
1.88
distribution distribution
Arches Arches
whorls; Ai whorls;
0.09
0.00
0.00 0.38
0.00 0.00 0.00
0.00 0.00
0.19 0.00
0.00 0.00 0.00
0.19
0.00 0.00 0.28
0.00 0.00
of of
W", the W",
the
spiral0.09
0.28
0.00 0.47
0.00 0.00 0.00
0.00 0.00
0.38 Ah At 0.66
0.00 0.47 0.00 0.00 0.28
0.00 0.66
0.00
spiral 0.00
fingerprints fingerprints
whorls. 0.09
0.00
0.00 0.00 0.09
0.00 0.00 0.09 0.00
0.00 Ab whorls.
0.00 0.58
0.10
0.00 0.00
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
0.00
by by
77.18
46.57
30.24
62.91 42.06
54.08 79.44
71.83
35.12
U8 74.18
63.29
30.42
57.09 68.64
33.24
64.88
45.45
52.11 44.51 27.51
pattern pattern
Ulnar
4.88
4.70
2.54
1.88 6.48
1.78 3.19 0.94
1.03 1.22 U l o 4.23
6.48
2.16
1.41 6.57
2.07 4.60 2.07 1.13
1.32
type' type'
loops
in in
2.44 0.56
0.85
1.79 1.13
2.53 1.41 1.22 1.88 U l z
1.31 4.23
3.00 0.94
1.50 2.07
1.50 3.00 1.03
0.75
1.22
1,065 Lestrange
1,065
R7
0.00 15.59
2.63
0.94 0.94 0.09
0.38 12.11
1.22 0.57 Bulgarian 0.28
0.09 16.81
1.69 0.38 0.28 17.93
2.25
1.03 0.38 (1953)
Bulgarian
RgRadial 0.47
0.00
0.00 2.35
0.28 0.09
0.00 0.00 0.09 0.00
2.35 0.00
0.28
0.28 0.28
0.00 0.00
1.50 0.00
1.69
females males
loops
0.09
0.00
0.00 0.75 0.00
0.00 0.00 0.00
0.66
0.19 R11 0.09
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
1.31 0.49
0.00 0.09
2.25
according according
0.47 15.59
3.76
2.91 6.39
2.63 1.31 16.71
4.98 3.38 W73 to 0.38 13.71
3.29 11.1718.59
4.98 3.29 to
1.50 1.22 0.85
our our
3.66
0.38 2.91
1.88 2.54 0.47 2.35
5.82 2.91
3.19 Woi,W0 2.72
4.51
0.38 5.16
3.19 2.16 3.57
7.98 4.70
5.73
modification m.odification
31.27
9.7710.42
7.04 29.95
11.74 10.246.7615.49 W75
7.23 29.49
9.20 9.86
7.14 26.48
10.8012.217.5116.99
4.60
of of
Whorls the Whorls the
0.56
0.09
0.00 4.41 0.10
1.13 0.00 4.79
1.41 0.56 W s 6 0.09 0.66
0.00 5.07
0.56 0.09 2.16
1.13 6.57
1.50
classification classification
0.00 0.19
0.28 1.13
1.22 0.09 0.66
0.56 1.13
1.41 Ws7W" 0.09 0.75
0.28 1.13 0.09
1.12 0.94
1.13 1.41
1.31
system system
DIGITAL DERMATOGLYPHICS OF NORTHEAST BULGARIANS 45
the second finger than on the first. The ulnar ing values calculated by the classical for-
spiral whorls w& show a three times higher mula. Because of the low frequencies of the
frequency on the first finger than on the sec- complex whorls and tented arches, the differ-
ond and so on. ences between the two sets of values are com-
Such details, revealed when the six-type paratively small; nevertheless we consider
system is used and especially by means of that the modified formula reflects the pat-
the modified Lestrange classification, can be tern intensity more precisely.
of interest in two main respects. On the one The idio-delta-index(Adams, 1964) reflects
hand they enrich our knowledge of dermato- the average number of deltas on every finger
glyphic variability in man and thus serve separately. It was also found by a corrected
our desire to know about ourselves. On the formula, taking into consideration the pres-
other hand this level of dermatoglyphic var- ence of three deltas in each complex whorl
iability might mean that some dermato- and a delta in each tented arch. When the
glyphic traits are genetically controlled more data, presented in Table 8, were compared
specifically than is usually considered. And, with the results obtained by the usual
if such is the case, not only the major pattern method, the only difference between the two
types, but especially their rarely found sub- sets of data was found in the second fingers.
types, should be the target of future twin and That is only logical, because complex whorl
correlation studies in order to elucidate the and tented arch patterns, additionally con-
genetic bases for the dermatoglyphic vari- sidered by the corrected formula, are almost
ability. entirely concentrated on the second fingers.
The digital arrangement for the values of the
Standard finger pattern indices and index is 4th, lSt,2nd, 3rd,and 5th in descend-
deltadiagram ing order. The bilateral, interdigital, and sex
The values of Dankmeijer’s, Poll’s, Furu- differences of the idio-delta-index were cal-
hata’s, and Cummins’s indices are presented culated and their mean values were com-
in Table 7. The values of Cummins’s delta- pared. Except for the third finger of the right
index, calculated by the slightly modified for- hand and the fourth finger of the left hand,
mula and presented in the last column of in all fingers the pattern intensity is higher
Table 7, were compared with the correspond- in males than in females. The adjoining fin-
TABLE 9.Means and standard errors, each finger separately, of the total (TRC),radial (RRC),and ulnar (URC)
ridge counts
TRC RRC URC
Males Females Males Females Males Females
Digit Mean SE Mean SE Mean SE Mean SE Mean SE Mean SE
Right
1 19.45 0.18 17.17 0.18 19.28 0.18 16.97 0.19 7.64 0.26 5.90 0.23
2 12.23 0.22
~~ 11.82 0.21 8.34 0.22 9.14 0.21 8.74 0.25 7.31 0.25
3 12.31 0.19 12.10 0.18 11.72 0.18 11.71 0.17 3.92 0.21 2.95 0.20
4 16.66 0.18 16.01 0.19 16.30 0.19 15.91 0.19 8.06 0.24 6.37 0.22
5 13.49 0.16 12.48 0.16 13.44 0.16 12.45 0.16 2.30 0.14 1.39 0.11
Left
1 16.95 0.19 14.98 0.18 16.74 0.19 14.56 0.18 5.48 0.24 5.15 0.22
2 11.66 0.21 11.22 0.21 8.68 0.21 8.03 0.20 7.77 0.25 7.59 0.25
3 12.83 0.19 11.80 0.20 12.42 0.19 11.23 0.20 3.91 0.22 3.48 0.21
4 16.53 0.18 15.60 0.19 16.37 0.19 15.41 0.20 6.13 0.23 5.90 0.22
5 13.41 0.16 12.43 0.16 13.39 0.19 12.40 0.16 1.80 0.13 1.51 0.12
Total 145.52 1.43 135.61 1.45 136.68 1.37 127.81 1.38 55.75 1.50 47.55 1.39
w-. . . . . .
o I z 3 4 5 6 7 B 9 $0 1, la 14 E (B 37 (8 $9 $4 2
discuss its general appearance only, we would und Handleistenmuster von Personen aus dem Raum
say this distribution is platykurtic and posi- ThessalonikiiGriechenland. Mitt. Anthropol. Gesell.
(Wien) 205t98-110.
tively skewed. This distribution is the com- Chamla, M-C (1962) La repartition geographique des
bination of those of the URC and RRC and crktes papillaires digitales dans le monde: Nouvel es-
its shape is entirely dependent on their sai de synthese. L‘Anthropologie (Paris) 66r526-541.
shapes. Since the positive skewness of the Chamla, M-C (1963) La repartition geographique des
URC distribution is extremely expressed, it cretes papillaires digitales dans le monde: Nouvel es-
sai de synthese (Suite). L’Anthropologie (Paris) 67: 1-
covers the negative skewness of the RRC. 48.
In conclusion it should be emphasized that Cummins, H (1926) Epidermal-ridge configurations in
persistent work in the field of dermatoglyph- developmental defects, with particular reference to the
ics affords the investigator not only new in- ontogenetic factors which condition ridge direction.
Am. J. Anat. 38t89-151.
formation, but also a sense of real aesthetic Cummins, H (1939) Dermatoglyphic stigmata in mongo-
pleasure. In truth it cannot be denied that a loid imbeciles. Anat. Rec. 73t407-415.
considerable proportion of scientists find the Cummins, H, and Goldstein, MS (1932)Dermatoglyphics
objects of their studies aesthetic, but it is my in Comanche Indians. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 17:229-
deep conviction that for those who have dealt 235.
with dermatoglyphics, hardly any other ob- Dankrneijer, J (1934) De Beteekenis van Vingerafdruk-
ken voor het Anthropologisch Onderzoek. Disserta-
ject of study can substitute for the beauty of tion, University of Utrecht. Utrecht: Bosch & Zoon.
dermatoglyphic patterns. Cited by Poll, 1937a,b.
Furuhata, T (1928)The difference of the index of finger
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS prints according to tace. Jpn. Med. World 7t162-165.
This paper is dedicated to my father, Ben- Galton, F (1892) Fingerprints. London: Macmillan. re-
print Ed.-New York: Da Capo Press, 1965.
cho Georgiev Karev. Geipel, G von (1956) Die Finger- und Handleisten bei
I am deeply indebted to Professor Maria Bambuti und Buschmannern. Ein statistischer Ver-
Tsoneva, M.D., D.Sc., and to Associate Pro- gleich und seine Folgerungen. Homo 7t74-86.
fessor Elizaveta Boshnakova, M.D., Ph.D., Gladkova, T (1966) Dermal Patterns of the Hand and
for their favorable attitude to my work, as Sole in Monkeys and Man. Moscow: Nauka (in
Russian).
well as to Professor Venets Tsonev for consul- Holt, SB (1955) Genetics of dermal ridges: Frequency
tations in the theory and practice of the rep- distributions of total finger ridge-count. Ann. Hum.
resentative investigations. I am very grateful Genet. 20t159-170.
to Mr. Peter Nikolov, deputy-minister of ed- Holt, SB (1961)Quantitative genetics of finger-print pat-
ucation, and to Mr. Neno Nenov, of the same terns. Br. Med. Bull. 27t247-250.
Kaleva, A (1971) Investigations of Finger Patterns in
ministry, for their kind permission to carry Bulgarian Citizens of Different Ethnical and National
out this investigation with high school stu- Background. Ph.D. dissertation. Plovdiv: VMI (in
dents. I would especially like to express my Bulgarian).
deep gratitude to my English teacher, Mrs. Kirchmair, H, and Poll, H (1936)Zur Charakteristik des
Gizela Zacharieva. I also wish to thank Mr. Rassenunterschiedes des Dactylogramms. Deltie, Stro-
botoxie und Brochie. Biol. Gen. 22:202-216.
Jordan Jordanov for technical assistance. Lestrange, M de (1953) Recherches critiques sur les
methodes de notation des dessins papillaires digitaux.
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