El Nuevo mexicano., 1919-10-30
The Finger Print
Can Tell No Lies


In 4 New Jersey murder trial . fin
ger print expert submitted 20 the Jury
two prints or the left thumbs OF the
accused man, one f0pndain blood on the
shirt OF the victim. the other taken
after the arrest Of the defendant The
expert, A. A. Gribben, made an inter
esting witness. In the course OF an
analysis and Interpretation Of the fin
ger prints, made for the benefit Of the
court, the said, as quoted IN part from
the Finger Print Magazine tC~hicagoli
eThe system now In general use Il
that devised BY Sir r. R. Henry. IT,
infallihility is SO generally recognized
that the government Of the United
States has adopted 1t AS q means q
Identification for the millions OF our
sailors and soldiers who now have
their finger printg recorded, These
are classified and kept on file at Wash
lington 40 that when other means fail
they may easily and surely be identi-
fled by this system
ut has no connection with the Der
btillon system OF Identification which
depends upon MEASUREMENTS taken
from certain members and portions OF
the human body. relying especially
upon the length Of certain bones. The
finger print expert has only facts TO
consider; he reports simply what he
finds. The lines of Identification are
either there or they I absent. II
two prints are Identical in every par
ticular they were made by the same
person. II they are different they
were not made by the same person
"No matter how many finger prints
experts may be engaged in the labor
OF comparing two prints their verdict
must be the same.
s'Onr system Of Identification Is de-
pendent upon the ridges or hairlike
lines that appear upon the under rur
face OF the first joint Of flngesr and
thumbs, and the forms or patterns
that the combined ridges assume. we
nave names for those patterns, sucf.
as; Outer and meeting whorlsl arches,
tented arches, central pocket loops,
lateral pocket loops, twinned loops
and a~ccidentals. We have also a
method Of classification by which nu-
merical values are given to combine
ton OF the patterns appearing upon
the fingers and thumbs of both hands
rBy looking at the under surface of
your finger tips YOU can, no doubt, zee
these little lines, and that they 90
twist and turn so as to make q pattern
CT design These little ridges, as their
name indicates, are raised above the
surrounding flesh. and when covered
with a natural oily secretion, blood,
ink or other liquid or semiliquid SUB
stance, these ridges will be reproduced
upon the object or surface with When
they are brought into contact THESE
patterns in combination with the char
acteristics to be found In every print
as in two prints made by different
neBsons, never duplicate,
II will nov take up the two prints
before us, and will point out for your
benefit the characterigtics that are
Identical,
This pattern Is OF the ulnar loop
type, having 20 rides intervening be
tween the core and the delta. The
print il or the left thumb.
AT this point the witness went into
d detailed description Of the points q
similarity in the two prints. The lea
hires marked III the accompanying
cslts. respectively 1s. n, Al and AZ, are
the scars from cuts. Regarding the
c.catrix numbered 1S. the expert called
attention to the fact that in both prints
Il intersected the same number Of
ridges. The others, also, in both
appear identical.
eForty.two is a ~pecularity,n said Mr..
Grihhen, Il wish the court would pay
special attention to. This isa cicatFlx
when viewed invertediy is an ex-
aet graphis reproduction Of the nu
merical figure "a. This characteristic,
If considered alone, is absolute proof
~ the identity which exists between
these two prints"