The new quantitative evaluation of palmar dermatoglyphics is a radical modification of the metric method already proposed by the A. (1961). The change makes it extremely simple to apply, and it is not at all liable to varying interpretations from one scientist to another. This modification consists in plotting the circumference passing through the three nonaligned points represented by the triradii a, b, d (c has been intentionally excluded, for it is often absent or merely rudimentary). The end of each main line may thus be expressed by the angle at the centre measured (in an anti-clockwise direction for right hands and vice versa for left hands) from the triradius a to the point of intersection between the main line under study and the circumference plotted as described.

The coefficient r of correlation has been calculated in parent-parent, father-child, mother-child and sib-sib pairs, for the ends of line A and for those of line D expressed as above, and also for a number of other metric features resulting from the construction of the circumference. Very small nonsignificant values of r have been found in the case of the parent-parent pairs; in the other cases, on the contrary, the r values were as a rule statistically significant, showing the heritability of the features in question.