Abstract
<h3>To the Editor.—</h3> Intrigued by the description of Aristotle's anomaly inThe Journal(1982;248:89), I set out to confirm his observation. My initial assumption was that the index and middle fingers should be crossed. I did this both ways and inserted the pencil between the shafts of the fingers and between the tips of the fingers (except that I could not get a pencil between the tip of my index and middle finger when the index finger was on top). I did not feel two pencils. I then crossed my thumb and index finger in both directions and inserted a pencil in various positions and again felt only one pencil. The following three possibilities come to mind: 1. Aristotle's observation may not have been accurate. In fact, one might question whether a pencil was available to him, since the Encyclopaedia Britanica reports they were first invented in 1565. 2. I
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
