While the total number of bones of the hands in the Munsee material
aggregate nearly 700, there are very few complete sets. It is
nevertheless possible to ascertain that in general the hand of the
Munsee was of moderate to medium development, and remarkedly normal in
conformation. Among the females, some of the bones are quite small. The
only anomaly worthy of mention is the presence of rudimentary hamuli on
both unciforms in one of the male subjects (no. 285,308).
The proportional length of the hand can be judged from the measurements
of the first metacarpal, and from the relation of this length to that
of the humerus on the same side. The following table gives these
dimensions. It is seen that the length of the first metacarpal in the
male exceeds somewhat that of the female, and also that the length of
the right bone exceeds slightly that of the left. The metacarpo-humeral
index is somewhat higher on the right in the males, indicating a
somewhat greater length of the hand on the right side in that sex. In
the females the small number of specimens makes the result in this
respect uncertain.