Finger Prints

FINGER PRINTS

 

 

FINGER PRINTS

 

 

BY

FRANCIS GALTON, F.R.S., ETC.

 

London
MACMILLAN AND CO.
AND NEW YORK
1892

All rights reserved

 

 

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CONTENTS

  PAGE CHAPTER I Introduction 1 Distinction between creases and ridges 1 Origin of the inquiry 2 Summaries of the subsequent chapters 3-21 Viz. of ii., 3; iii., 4; iv., 5;  v., 5; vi., 8;  vii., 10;  viii., 12; ix., 13;   x., 14;   xi., 16; xii., 17; xiii., 19;   CHAPTER II Previous Use of Finger Prints 22 Superstition of personal contact 22 Rude hand-prints 23 Seals to documents 23 Chinese finger marks 24 The tipsahi of Bengal 24 Nail-marks on Assyrian bricks 25 Nail-mark on Chinese coins 25 Ridges and cheiromancy—China, Japan, and by negroes 26 Modern usage—Bewick, Fauld, Tabor, and G. Thompson 26 Their official use by Sir W. J. Herschel 27   CHAPTER III Methods of Printing 30 Impression on polished glass or razor 30 The two contrasted methods of printing

tag="{http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml}a">31 General remarks on printing from reliefs—ink; low relief of ridges; layer of ink; drying due to oxidisation 32-34 Apparatus at my own laboratory—slab; roller; benzole (or equivalent); funnel; ink; cards 35-38 Method of its manipulation 38-40 Pocket apparatus 40 Rollers and their manufacture 40 Other parts of the apparatus 41 Folders—long serviceable if air be excluded 42 Lithography 43 Water colours and dyes 44 Sir W. Herschel’s official instructions 45 Printing as from engraved plates—Prof. Ray Lankester; Dr. L. Robinson 45 Methods of Dr. Forgeot 46 Smoke prints—mica; adhesive paper, by licking with tongue 47-48 Plumbago; whitening 49 Casts—sealing-wax; dentist’s wax; gutta-percha; undried varnish; collodion 49-51 Photographs 51 Prints on glass and mica for lantern 51 Enlargements—photographic, by camera lucida, pantagraph 52-53   CHAPTER IV The Ridges and their Uses 54 General character of the ridges 54 Systems on the palm—principal ones; small interpolated systems 54-55 Cheiromantic creases—their directions; do not strictly correspond with those of ridges 56-57 Ridges on the soles of the feet 57 Pores 57 Development:—embryology; subsequent growth; disintegration by age, by injuries 58-59 Evolution 60 Apparent use as regards pressure—theoretic; experiment with compass points 60-61 Apparent use as regards rubbing—thrill thereby occasioned 62-63   CHAPTER V Patterns: their Outlines and Cores 64 My earlier failures in classifying prints; their causes

class="pginternal" tag="{http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml}a">64-66 The triangular plots 67 Outlines of patterns—eight sets of ten digits given as examples 69-70 Supplies of ridges to pattern 71 Letters that read alike when reversed 71 Magnifying glasses, spectacles, etc. 72 Rolled impressions, their importance 73 Standard patterns, cores, and their nomenclature 74-77 Direction of twist, nomenclature 78 Arches, loops, whorls 78 Transitional cases 79 The nine genera 80 Measurements—by ridge-intervals; by aid of bearings like compass 82-84 Purkenje—his Commentatio and a translation of it in part 84-88   CHAPTER VI Persistence 89 Evidence available 89 About thirty-five points of reference in each print 90 Photo-enlargement; orientation; tracing axes of ridges 90-91 Ambiguities in minutiæ 91 V. H. Hd. as child and boy, a solitary change in one of the minutiæ 92 Eight couplets from other persons 93 One from Sir W. G. 95 Summary of 389 comparisons 96 Ball of a thumb 96 Results as to persistence 97   CHAPTER VII Evidential Value 100 Method of rough comparison 100 Chance against guessing a pattern 101 Number of independent elements in a print—squares respectively of one, six, and five ridge-intervals in side 101-103 Interpolation, three methods of 103-105 Local accidents inside square 107 Uncertainties outside it

tag="{http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml}a">109 Compound results 110 Effect of failure in one, two, or more prints 111 Final conclusions—Jezebel 112-113   CHAPTER VIII Peculiarities of the Digits 114 Frequency per cent of arches, loops, and whorls generally, and on the several digits 114-115 Characteristic groups of digits 116-118 Relationships between the digits 119 Centesimal scale of relationship 124-126 Digits of same and of different names 130   CHAPTER IX Methods of Indexing 131 Use of an index 131 Method of few conspicuous differences in many fingers 131 Specimen index 133 Order in which the digits are noted 134 Examples of indexing 135 Effect of regarding slopes 135 Number of index-heads required for 100 sets in each of twelve different methods 136-138 i and o in forefingers only 138 List of commonest index-headings 140 Number of headings to 100 sets, according to the digits that are noted 142 Transitional cases; sub-classifications 143-144 Symbols for patterns 144 Storing cards 145 Number of entries under each head when only the first three fingers are noted 146   CHAPTER X Personal Identification 147 Printers and photographers 147 Use of means of identification to honest persons; in regard to criminals 148-149 Major Ferris, Mr. Tabor, N. Borneo 149-153 Best digits for registration purposes 153 Registration of criminals—M. Bertillon

align="right">154 Details of Bertillonage; success attributed to it; a theoretic error 155-158 Verification on a small scale 158-162 Experiences in the United States 163 Body marks; teeth 165-166 Value of finger prints for search in a register 166 Identification by comparison 167 Remarks by M. Herbette 168   CHAPTER XI Heredity 170 Different opinions 170 Larger meaning of heredity 170 Connection between filial and fraternal relationships 171 Fraternity, a faulty word but the best available 171 A and B brothers 172 Test case of calculated randoms 173 Fraternities by double A. L. W. events 175 The C. standard patterns 177 Limitation of couplets in large fraternities 178 Test of accurate classification 179 Fraternities by double C. events 181 Centesimal scale applied 184 Twins 185 Children of like-patterned parents 187 Simple filial relationship 190 Influences of father and mother 190   CHAPTER XII Races and Classes 192 Data for races 192 Racial differences are statistical only 193 Calculations by Mr. F. H. Collins 193 Hebrew peculiarities 194 Negro peculiarities, questionable 196 Data for different classes in temperament, faculty, etc., and results

tag="{http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml}a">197 M. Féré 197   CHAPTER XIII Genera 198 Type, meaning of 198 Law of frequency of error 198 Discussion of three elements in the loops on either thumb 200-207 Proportions of typical loops 209 The patterns are transmitted under conditions of panmixia, yet do not blend 209 Their genera are not due to selection; inference 210 Sports; variations 211

 

 

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DESCRIPTION OF THE TABLES

  PAGE   Summary of evidence in favour of finger marks being persistent 96   Interpolation of ridges 104 I. Percentage frequency of Arches, Loops, and Whorls on the different digits, as observed in the 5000 digits of 500 different persons 115 II. Distribution of the A. L. W. patterns on the corresponding digits of the two hands 116 III. Percentage frequency of Arches on the digits of the two hands 117 IV. Percentage frequency of Loops on the digits of the two hands 118 V. Percentage frequency of Whorls on the digits of the two hands 118 VIa. Percentage of cases in which the same class of pattern occurs in the same digits of the two hands 120 VIb. Percentage of cases in which the same class of pattern occurs in various couplets of different digits 120 VII. Couplets of fingers of different names in the same and in the opposite hands 121 VIII. Measures of relationship between the digits on a centesimal scale 129 IX. Index to 100 sets of finger prints 133 X. Number of different index-heads in 100 sets, according to the number of digits noted 136 XI. Number of entries under the same heads in 100 sets 139 XII. Index-headings under which more than 1 per cent of the sets were registered in 500 sets 140 XIII. Percentage of entries falling under a single head in 100, 300, and 500 sets 141 XIV. Number of different index-headings in 100 sets, according to the number of fingers in each set, and to the method of indexing 142 XV. Number of entries in 500 sets, each of the fore, middle, and ring-fingers only

href="@public@vhost@g@gutenberg@html@files@36979@[email protected]#Page_146" class="pginternal" tag="{http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml}a">146 XVI. Number of cases of various anthropometric data that severally fell in the three classes of large, medium, and small, when certain
limiting values were adopted 159 XVII. Distribution of 500 sets of measures, each set consisting of five elements, into classes 160 XVIII. Number of the above sets that fell under the same headings 161 XIX. Further analysis of the two headings that contained the most numerous entries 162 XX. Observed random couplets 174 XXI. Calculated random couplets 174 XXII. Observed fraternal couplets 175 XXIII. Fraternal couplets—random, observed, and utmost feasible 176 XXIV. Three fingers of right hand in 150 fraternal couplets 181 XXV. Three fingers of right hand in 150 fraternal couplets—random and observed 182 XXVI. Three fingers of right hand in 150 fraternal couplets—resemblance measured on centesimal scale 182 XXVII. Twins 186 XXVIII. Children of like-patterned parents 188 XXIX. Paternal and maternal influence 190 XXX. Different races, percentage frequency of arches in fore-finger 194 XXXI. Distribution of number of ridges in AH, and of other measures in loops 203 XXXII. Ordinates to their schemes of distribution 204 XXXIII. Comparison of the above with calculated values 205 XXXIV. Proportions of a typical loop on the right and left thumbs respectively 209

 

 

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DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATES

  PAGE I.— Fig. 1. Chinese coin with the symbol of the nail-mark of the Empress Wen-teh 25   Fig. 2. Order on a camp sutler by Mr. Gilbert Thompson, who used his finger print for the same purpose as the scroll-work in cheques, viz. to ensure the detection of erasures 27 II.— Fig. 3. Form of card used at my anthropometric laboratory for finger prints. It shows the places where they are severally impressed, whether dabbed or rolled (p. 40), and the hole by which they are secured in their box 145   Fig. 4. Small printing roller, used in the pocket apparatus, actual size. It may be covered either with india-rubber tubing or with roller composition 40 III.— Fig. 5. Diagram of the chief peculiarities of ridges, called here minutiæ (the scale is about eight times the natural size) 54   Fig. 6. The systems of ridges and the creases in the palm, indicated

respectively by continuous and by dotted lines. Nos. 2, 3, 4, and 5 show variations in the boundaries of the systems of ridges, and places where smaller systems are sometimes interpolated 54 IV.— Fig. 7. The effects of scars and cuts on the ridges: a is the result of a deep ulcer; b the finger of a tailor (temporarily) scarred by the needle; c the result of a deep cut 59   Fig. 8. Formation of the interspace: filled in (3) by a loop; in (4) by a scroll. The triangular plot or plots are indicated. In (1) there is no interspace, but a succession of arches are formed, gradually flattening into straight lines 67 V.— Fig. 9. Specimens of rolled thumb prints, of the natural size, in which the patterns have been outlined, p. 69, and on which lines have been drawn for orientation and charting 68 VI.— Fig. 10. Specimens of the outlines of the patterns on the ten digits of eight different persons, not selected but taken as they came. Its object is to give a general idea of the degree of their variety. The supply of ridges from the inner (or thumb side) are coloured blue, those from the outer are red (the scale is of the natural size) 70 VII.— Fig. 11. Standard patterns of Arches, together with some transitional forms, all with their names below 75   Fig. 12. As above, with respect to Loops 75 VIII.— Fig. 13. As above, with respect to Whorls 75   Fig. 14. Cores to Loops, which may consist either of single lines, here called rods, or of a recurved line or staple, while the ridges that immediately envelops them is called an envelope 76   Fig. 15. Cores to Whorls 77 IX.— Fig. 15. Transitional patterns, enlarged three times, between Arches and either Loops or Whorls 79 X.— Fig. 16. Transitional patterns, as above, but between Loops and Whorls 79 XI.— Fig. 17. Diagram showing the nine genera formed by the corresponding combinations of the two letters by which they are expressed, each being i, j, or o as the case may be. The first two diagrams are Arches, and not strictly patterns at all, but may with some justice be symbolised by jj 80   Fig. 18. Ambiguities in minutiæ, showing that certain details in them are not to be trusted, while others are 92 XII.— Fig. 19. The illustrations to Purkenje’s Commentatio. They are photo-lithographed from the original, which is not clearly printed 86 XIII.— Fig. 20. Enlarged impressions of the same two fingers of V. H. Hd., first when a child of 2½, and subsequently when a boy of 15 years of age. The lower pair are interesting from containing the unique case of failure of exact coincidence yet observed. It is marked A. The numerals indicate the correspondences 92 XIV.— Fig. 21. Contains portions on an enlarged scale of eight couplets of finger prints, the first print in each couplet having been taken many years before the second, as shown by the attached dates. The points of correspondence in each couplet are indicated by similar numerals 93 XV.— Fig. 22. The fore-finger of Sir W. J. Herschel as printed on two occasions, many years apart (enlarged scale). The numerals are here inserted on a plan that has the merit of clearness, but some of the lineations are thereby sacrificed 95   Fig. 23. Shows the periods of life over which the evidence of identity extends in Figs 20-22. [By an oversight, not perceived until too late for remedy, the bottom line begins at æt. 62 instead of 67] 97

 

 

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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

The palms of the hands and the soles of the feet are covered with two totally distinct classes of marks. The most conspicuous are the creases or folds of the skin which interest the followers of palmistry, but which are no more significant to others than the creases in old clothes; they show the lines of most frequent flexure, and nothing more. The least conspicuous marks, but the most numerous by far, are the so-called papillary ridges; they form the subject of the present book. If they had been only twice as large as they are, they would have attracted general attention and been commented on from the earliest times. Had Dean Swift known and thought of them, when writing about the Brobdingnags, whom he constructs on a scale twelve times as great as our own, he would certainly have made Gulliver express horror at the ribbed fingers of the giants who handled him. The ridges on their palms would have been as broad as the thongs of our coach-whips.

Let no one despise the ridges on account of their smallness, for they are in some respects the most important of all anthropological data. We shall see that they form patterns, considerable in size and of a curious variety of shape, whose boundaries can be firmly outlined, and which are little worlds in themselves. They have the unique merit of retaining all their peculiarities unchanged throughout life, and afford in consequence an incomparably surer criterion of identity than any other bodily feature. They may be made to throw welcome light on some of the most interesting biological questions of the day, such as heredity, symmetry, correlation, and the nature of genera and species. A representation of their lineations is easily secured in a self-recorded form, by inking the fingers in the way that will be explained, and pressing them on paper. There is no prejudice to be overcome in procuring these most trustworthy sign-manuals, no vanity to be pacified, no untruths to be guarded against.

My attention was first drawn to the ridges in 1888 when preparing a lecture on Personal Identification for the Royal Institution, which had for its principal object an account of the anthropometric method of Bertillon, then newly introduced into the prison administration of France. Wishing to treat the subject generally, and having a vague knowledge of the value sometimes assigned to finger marks, I made inquiries, and was surprised to find, both how much had been done, and how much there remained to do, before establishing their theoretical value and practical utility.

Enough was then seen to show that the subject was of real importance, and I resolved to investigate it; all the more so, as the modern processes of photographic printing would enable the evidence of such results as might be arrived at, to be presented to the reader on an enlarged and easily legible form, and in a trustworthy shape. Those that are put forward in the following pages, admit of considerable extension and improvement, and it is only the fact that an account of them seems useful, which causes me to delay no further before submitting what has thus far been attained, to the criticism of others.

I have already published the following memoirs upon this subject: