AbstractThe nerve supply of the joints of the wrist and hand was studied in dissections and in serial sections of fetal hands stained with silver.The radiocarpal joint was supplied mainly by branches of the anterior and posterior interosseous nerves.The inter‐carpal and mid‐carpal joints were supplied anteriorly by the anterior interosseous, median, and ulnar nerves, and by the deep branch of the ulnar nerve. Most of these joints were supplied posteriorly by the posterior interosseous nerve.Anteriorly the carpometacarpal joints were supplied by the ulnar nerve and its deep branch. Posteriorly they received fibers from the nerves running distally on the back of the hand. The deep branch of the ulnar nerve supplied all inter‐metacarpal joints.The metacarpophalangeal and interphalangeal joints were supplied mainly by the palmar digital nerves. The metacarpophalangeal joints also received fibers from the dorsal digital nerves and from the deep branch of the ulnar nerve. The interphalangeal joint of the thumb, the proximal interphalangeal joint of the index finger, and both interphalangeal joints of the little finger received fibers from the dorsal digital nerves.The articular branch of the superficial branch of the radial nerve, first described by Winckler, was distributed to some of the inter‐carpal and carpometacarpal joints on the lateral side of the wrist.