Finger prints

The Project Gutenberg eBook of Finger prints

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Title: Finger prints

Author: Francis Galton

Release date: August 5, 2011 [eBook #36979]
Most recently updated: January 8, 2021

Language: English

Credits: Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FINGER PRINTS ***

FINGER PRINTS

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

London
MACMILLAN AND CO.
AND NEW YORK
1892

	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	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	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	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	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	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

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	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

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

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:

About This Book

The Project Gutenberg eBook of Finger prints

CONTENTS

DESCRIPTION OF THE TABLES

DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATES

CHAPTER I