"Puericulture" Emmanuel Radnitzky (known as Man Ray) (1890-1976) Art Institute, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Puericulture and Pediatrics once were given equivalent importance. Puericulture refers to the art and science of rearing healthy children. With time, emphasis on diseased children led to a neglect of Puericulture, which represents a premier form of preventive medicine.

 

Also note that patterns of palmar and digital or finger creases often are abnormal in persons with alterations during their prenatal development. One well known example is Down syndrome (formerly "Mongolism" and currently renamed as Trisomy 21 syndrome). In this syndrome, as illustrated here, instead of two separate transverse palmar flexion creases, there is a "single transverse palmar crease" formerly called "Simian Crease" (clearly a derogatory medical parlance term).

 

This work of art is noteworthy - first, because the artist linked hand and palmar morphology to Pediatrics and second, because the model does not depict other signs commonly seen in Trisomy 21 (e.g., short and curved 5th digit or clinodactyly), which underscores that unusual palmar flexion creases are also observed in "average" persons.