Andreas Vesalius, De humani corporis fabrica libri septem, Basel: ex. off. J. Oporini, 1543, p. 115, woodcut, leaf height 43 cm, N*.1.2(A).

The first figure to the left shows the inner surface of the bones of the hand, the second, the outer surface. The same keys are used to indicate the same bones in both figures. 1 to 8 show the bones of the carpus, I to IIII the metacarpal bones, ABC the 3 bones in the thumb, and DEF the 3 bones of the index finger. The bones of the remaining fingers are not labelled, since they are the same as those of the index finger. N is an ossicle which Vesalius explains as a bone by which the little finger is supported. Modern anatomists have noted that N is a rare anomaly now called the ‘Os vesalianum carpi’. Though Vesalius cannot have seen this bone too many times, it is included here since he saw there was a purpose for it, just as he explained that the upper epiphysis of the metacarpal bone (Q) supported the index finger. Following Galen, Vesalius used function to determine the structure of the human body.