Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1893-04-21
identifying by the Fingers.
Francisco Chronicle.

The markings Of the human hand have
much more serious interest than that
which palmists give them. They provide
an infalibe way Of identifying persons.
Age and physical changes never alter the
lines of hand so that they are not
recognizable by experts. The expression
of the face changes more than the lines
of the hand. Thus if prints were taken
of the hands of persons who once lound
themselves in charge OF Inspector Byrne'
there would never be any doubt about
them again. The ingeuio distorture'
of the face which criminals practice
when photographed would avail item
nothing. In any case, the hand has
more individuality than the face.
Some of these facts are male clear By
Mr.. Francis Galton in his recently pub
lished book, "Finger Prints" He
shows. with the help Of illustrations, the
value Of dnger-tip' as means OF identl'
fcation. This system has been employed
and found effective in various countries,
but not in England. lis more convenient
than and is said to be as useful az the
French system of anthropomorphlc
measurement.
Mr.. Galton has not exactly initiated
but he has worke out in scientific detail
an important method Of identification by
the print Of the fnger tips. tits founded
unon the fact, which ne authenticate'
and formulates in this very interesting
volume. that the finger prints OF every
man woman and child differ from those
made by the fingers Of all other human
beings. Moreover, the print made II
childhood never materially alters during
life Get the class from which iurymen
are drawn to accept this proposition asa
fact. establish a general system Of regis
tration founded thereon, and at once
huge mass Of ctiminality would he
checked, the alias Of the burglar aud the
pickpocket would be no longer good
defense, and pscu lonymons criminalltY
Except in literature) wonll bee ONE =
thing of the past. BIT will the average
;urvmau bend his intelligence to the
teachings Of the scientist?
A distinction must be made between
the markings and "pattera'" with which
this book deals, aud toe "lines' on the
hand upon which the professors OF
palmistry found their sooth'ayIng'
These latter marks are, Of course,
merely crease' in the skin indicating the
line, OF II ost frequent hexure, and they
indicate nothing more than this. To
nroress to read the past history or the
future fate of the owner OF the lines from
their form and direction is, scientific
allv. about as great an imposture as to
nrofess to read a mans fate from ten
leaves or coffee grounds.
The idea of using finger prints in a
svstcmatic way as q means of identifca-
tion was not regularly employed till 1893,
the pioneer of the work being Sir
William Hersche, then chief admins
traitor of the Hooghly district, in Ben
gal. The signatures, or alleged sigma
lures. of the natives were found by Sir
William to be, as a rule, so destitute OF
authenticity that he substituted for them,
and with marked success, signature by
finger prints. 1t seems curious that
"Bertillonage," the method employed in
France for identifying criminals by an
elaborate system of measurements of the
body, should not have incluie1 identi-
fication by fnger prints, the only bodily
marks which remain unchanged from
the cradle to the grave. New York