Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1921-04-30

NEW AORK CITY, April 25.-No mali
N cious ape today could get away with
series of secret murders such as star
tied the Rue Morgue." Not unless he wore
rubber gloves. For there would be the I'M
mistakable evidence of his finger prints,
finger prints, and which, likely as not, could
be quickly trace1 to the newly-established
"rogue's gallery" of some nearby ZOO
This assur ,nce is given by DR.. Raymond
l.. Ditmars, curator of reptiles of the Bronx
geological park, who has recently made
thorough study of monkey hands. DR.. Dit
mars was first interested in the subject by
the American museum of natural history of
this city, which wanted some hand prints OF
monkeys to use in it's elaborate study of the
evolution of man. The Gallon society OF
Washington, which is also devoted to the
study of mans evolution, was likewise anX-
ious for a similar supply.
'My only part in the project was to get
the prints" explained DR.. Ditmars, "but as
the work progressed I b came so much IN
terested that I bought several books on
palmistry containing great numbers of prints
Of human hands"
The curator Immediately found that while
the general hand prints of monkeys ana
those of human beings are similar, the mon
kew hand possessing the life line, heart line,
head line and fate line which are to be noted
il the human hand, a close examination
shows striking differences in every instance
between the human hand and the monkey
hand.
"The human hand in all cases." says he,
"has the tips of the fingers and the tip OF
the thumb marked with lines arranged III
whorls. The monkey hand, on the contrary.
invariably has the tips of the fingers marked
in straight lines, never N whorls
"On the monkey hand the whorl-marklngs
are always on the mounts, the soft Jumps OF
flesh at the base Of the fingers In the nu-
man hand these mounts are always marked
with straight lines never with whorls.
mo matter how humaA the monkeys
hand may appear at first glance, a print ex-
animation always shows this difference, al
though in the orang outang, for instance the
resem bIance is otherwise startling.
"The whorls on the tips of the fingers and
especially on the thumb are the means
whereby experts establish identity. In mon
keys the whorl on the mounts could be used
for the same purpose. apparently there are
no two monkeys with the same markings on
the mounts of their hands, just as there are
no two human beings with whorl markings
that are exactl the same on the tips of their
thumbs or fingers"
Monkey Character
In obtaining the finger prints, DR.. DIT
mars had to confine his efforts to the most
tractable monkeys, the larger and more saw
age animals tubbornly holding out against
this process of Identification. But ne sue
ceeded in getting specimens OF Inc IAnSCdlls'
tame bla-', ape, a South American mon
key, pigtail Ceylonese monkey, bonneted
Macaque, a Javan Macaque and an orang
outang. The principal difficulty lay in keep
ing the animal quiet so that they would not
Jump at the psychological moment.
81 used sheet of dull surface paper with
a fine grain for making he print" explained
D.. Ditmars. 1.-THE monkeys hant was COW
cred with paste made of oil and graphite
After the hand was covered with the SUP
stance it was pressed against the paper ana
al excellent print obtained.
cit was not, however, as easy as it sounds"
said the curator reflectively. "At first most
of the monkeys Immediately licked off the
paste. We tn put some colog'" in the
paste and this seemed to interest them i'm
mensely Their curiosity was so much
aroused that they went through with the
operation without finching.
lone fellow persisted in licking his paw,
however, and his actions were so ridiculous
that decided to make motion picture film
of the monkey being finger printed to show
at dinner of the New York geological So
ciety.
"Feeling that the monkeys deserved a