Pueblo chieftain., 1921-04-28
BY Frederic j. Haskin.

New York City. April 25.-No malic-
ious ape today could get away win
series of secret murders such as
startled the Rue Morgue." Not un-
less he wore rubber gloves For there
would be the unmistakablc evidence OF
his finger prints, which arc very dif.
ferent from the human prints. ana
which. likely as not could be quickly
to saehs hs q ew some uealsy noo
This assurance is given by DR.. Ray,
mond l.. Ditmars. curator of reptiles OF
the Bronx Geological Park. who has
recently made y thoro study of monkey
hands. Pr. Ditmars was frst interest
ed 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. Tho
Galton Society. Of Washington: which
is also devoted TO the study of mans
evolution, was likewise anxious for a
similar supply
My only part In the project was to
get the prints explained DIR. Ditmars.
"hut as the work progressed I be-
several books on palmistry containing
great numbers of prints of human
hands"
The curator Immediately found that
while the general hand prints of
monkeys and those of human beings
ing the lite line. heart line. head line
and fate line which are TO bo noted
IN the human hand, a close examina-
tfon shows striking differences in
hand and the monkey hand
Tho human hand in all cases.
says he, has the tips OF the fingers
and the tip of the thumb marked with
lines arranged in whorls. Tho monkey
hand, on the contrary. invariably has
ne nf Gt,O ri rod In
straight lines. never in whorls.
"On the monkey hand the whorl-
markings are always on the mounts
the soft Jumps OF flesh at the base of
the fingers. In the human hand these
mounts are always marked with
straight lines. never with whorls.
No matter how human the monkeys
hand may appear at first glance.
print examination always shows this
difference, aitho in the orang outang
Tor instance. the resemblance is other
wise startling.
The whorls on tho tips of the fnE-
crs and especially on tho thumb are
the n1ans whereby experts establish
identity. In monkeys the whorls on
the mounts could be used for the same
purpose. Apparently, there are no two
monkeys with the same markings on
tho mounts OF their hands just as
there arc no two human beings with
whorl markings that arc exactly the
same on the tips OF their thumbs or
fingers.
Monkey Character
In obtaining the finger prints. Dr.
Ditmars had TO confine his efforts to
the most tractablc monkeys, tho larger
and more savage animals stubbornly
Identification. But he Succeeded in get
ting specimens of the rfngtails. a tame
black ape. South American monkey,
nj til ns-I@ h@~
nctcd Macaaue, a Jayan Macaaue and
an oranC outang. Tho principal diff
hculty lay in keeping the animals
quiet so that they would not jump at
the psychological moment.
used sheet of dull surface paper
with fine grain for making tho
print" explained DR.. Ditmars. The
monkeys hand was covered with
paste made of oil and graphite. After
the hand was covered with the sub
stance II was prcsscd against the pa
per and an excellent print obtained.
1T was not. however. as easy as II
sounds said tho curator rcfcctivciy.
Al first most of the monkeys i'm
mediatcly licked off the paste. VIC then
put some cologne in the paste and This
Their curiosity was so much aroused
that they went thru with the opera
ton without finching.
Ono fellow persisted In licking his
paw. however ana MS actons were so
ridiculous that I decided to make a
motion picture f,im OF the monkeys be
ing finger printed to show at a dinner
Of tho New York Geological Society
Feeling that the monkeys deserved
treat after being nngerprinted I
brought in bunch of bananas and
made movie of tho greedy animals
which | called Dinner in the Rogues'
Gallery One monkey DISTINGUISHED
himself by thrusting an entire banana
crosswixc into his mouth. one end into
one pouch of the check and the other
skilfully Inserted in the other pouch.
He then put one finger in his mouth
and broke tho banana In the middle"
The finger printing of the monkeys
is only one of the many interesting cx-
pcrimebts that DIR. Ditmars Is con-
stantly carrying on at the New York
Geological Park. Usually these activi-
tics. started for the curator's personal
entertainment, turn out to be Of len