Murray cites the instance of a woman of thirty-eight, well
developed, healthy, and the mother of normal children, who had a
double hand. The left arm was abnormal, the flexion of the elbow
imperfect, and the forearm terminated in a double hand with only
rudimentary thumbs. In working as a charwoman she leaned on the
back of the flexed carpus. The double hand could grasp firmly,
though the maximum power was not so great as that of the right
hand. Sensation was equally acute in all three of the hands. The
middle and ring fingers of the supernumerary hand were webbed as
far as the proximal joints, and the movements of this hand were
stiff and imperfect. No single finger of the two hands could be
extended while the other seven were flexed. Giraldes saw an
infant in 1864 with somewhat the same deformity, but in which the
disposition of the muscles and tendons permitted the ordinary
movements.
Absence of Digits.--Maygrier describes a woman of twenty-four who
instead of having a hand on each arm had only one finger, and
each foot had but two toes. She was delivered of two female
children in 1827 and one in 1829, each having exactly the same
deformities. Her mother was perfectly formed, but the father had
but one toe on his foot and one finger on his left hand.
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