Stevenson's fingers.

Abstract

A Random Samples item of 20 August (p. 1205) reports the interesting correlation between fourth-digit length and psychiatric depression recently described by Martin, Manning, and Dowrick ([1][1]). The Random Samples item is illustrated with an 1887 portrait of Robert Louis Stevenson by John Singer Sargent (which was reversed in reproducing). This portrait clearly shows Stevenson's hands with his slender fingers, the fourth digit the longest. The choice of Stevenson as an example of a depressed individual can be questioned. Stevenson may occasionally have been “moody,” as stated, and he became transiently and understandably depressed in 1873 when he was diagnosed with tuberculosis; however, his constant literary productivity and genial spirit throughout his subsequent years make a diagnosis of depressive illness most unlikely. In his famous words, “Glad did [he] live.” Stevenson's fingers, so elegantly portrayed by Sargent, are, however, of potential interest to medical historians for another reason. Stevenson had tuberculosis ([2][2]), but some have questioned this diagnosis and have suggested that his recurrent symptom of spitting up blood from his lungs was due to bronchiectasis ([3][3]). However, bronchiectasis is commonly associated with clubbed fingers, which Sargent's portrait demonstrates Stevenson did not have; tuberculosis is not or only rarely associated with clubbed fingers. 1. [↵][4]1. S. M. Martin, 2. J. T. Manning, 3. C. F. Dowrick , Evol. Hum. Behav. 20, 203 (1999). [OpenUrl][5][CrossRef][6] 2. [↵][7]1. T. M. Daniel , Captain of Death: The Story of Tuberculosis (Univ. of Rochester Press, Rochester, NY, 1997), p. 106, 112. 3. [↵][8]1. S. Taylor , “Dead man's chest,” RLS Club News (March 1996). [1]: #ref-1 [2]: #ref-2 [3]: #ref-3 [4]: #xref-ref-1-1 View reference 1 in text [5]: {openurl}?query=rft.jtitle%253DEvol.%2BHum.%2BBehav.%26rft.volume%253D20%26rft.spage%253D203%26rft_id%253Dinfo%253Adoi%252F10.1016%252FS1090-5138%252899%252900006-9%26rft.genre%253Darticle%26rft_val_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Ajournal%26ctx_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ctx_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Actx [6]: /lookup/external-ref?access_num=10.1016/S1090-5138(99)00006-9&link_type=DOI [7]: #xref-ref-2-1 View reference 2 in text [8]: #xref-ref-3-1 View reference 3 in text