In the days of the ancient Chaldeans it was for those of royal birth especially that divinations relative to extra digits were cast.

Among the ancients we also occasionally see illustrations emblematic of wisdom in an individual with many fingers, or rather double hands, on each arm.
Hutchinson, in his comments on a short-limbed, polydactylous dwarf which was dissected by Ruysch, the celebrated Amsterdam anatomist, writes as follows .-- "This quaint figure is copied from Theodore Kerckring's 'Spicilegium Anatomicum,' published in Amsterdam in 1670.

The description states that the body was that of an infant found drowned in the river on October 16, 1668.

It was dissected by the renowned Ruysch.

A detailed description of the skeleton is given.