Palmar and finger prints are recovered in children with congenital malformed hands. The skin ridges of various hand abnormalities are compared with normal dermatoglyphics. We have found a relationship between the embryogenesis of the hand and the epidermal ridge arrangement. Dermatoglyphics are a clinically useful information for the diagnosis of amniotic disease or agenesis and for the chronology of the congenital malformation of limbs.