The Biological Significance of Mongolism

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Abstract
Professor Penrose turned his attention to the subject of mongolism at a very early stage in his professional career and retained an undiminished interest in all facets of the problem for more than 40 years. His first publication in this sphere was in 1931 (1) and was entitled ‘The creases on the minimal digit in mongolism’. The observations he made in this publication are typical of some of his later ones. It reflected a mind alert to useful detail, in this case the fact that in some mongols there is only one flexion crease on the fifth digit instead of two. This peculiarity rarely occurs in the normal population and therefore provides an additional diagnostic criterion for mongolism. Particularly at a time when chromosomal examination could not be undertaken, this direct simple observation helped in the clinical delineation of a condition which is not always easily recognized.