Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1922-09-22

Of animals M a means Of Identifying
them are now a subject Of expert
ment. Since the finger print Of n
human being has been proved a
distinctive mnrk OF Identification,
speculation has arisen az 10 whether
a nose print Of a COW or dog would
not be equally reliable.
Nose prints OF several hundred cows
have been made at the University OF
Minnesota, with encouraging results
Fred Sgndberg, detective OF Police
Headquarters in this city, made some
prints Of cows az the Soldiers Home
the other day and is planning similar
tests with dogs.
Mr.. Sandberg, who is a finger print
expert, explains that he made his ex-
pertinent largely through curiosity He
was interested in seeing how the nose
prints would look and whether any
standard patterns would recur in
different animals. There is a fine herd
of Holstein cows at the Sold ers
Home in this city, and he went there
carrying tube of finger print ink, a
plate of glass, some paper. and piece
of cloth.
The ink first was spread over the
glass. The cows wet muzzle was
dried with the cloth. and the linked
glass, was quickly rubbed over tho
muzzle. Then the glass was handel
to an assistant and sheet Of paper
pressed dexterously against the ink
muzzle. Nose printing a COW proved
to be an operation requiring AT once
patience and speed, especially speed
The first time that Sandberg trie,
the process the cow rolled out he
long tongue and licked off the ink be
fore the paper could be applieds Afte
that the detective worked fast and OBJ
tanned a number Of clear prints
The prints are about three by tw
inches. and look somewhat like iittl
pictures Of animal skins. They hav
the shape Of fiattened skin. curvin
> in at both sides where the nostrils fol
the Enuzzle. The resemblance is fur
Their carried out by the marking
. which in these particular cows ar
/, mottled and spotty Ike leopard ski
Some OF the prints have clear spso
down the middle, while in others ther
Is no symmetry in the pattern.
= Family Noses Are Similar.
It, was found AZ the University
:, Minnesota that slight sirnilari'
3 exists between the prints Of cows b.
, longing TO the same family. Certai
4 lines seem to be hereditary. a IA.
n which might be of Importance in
o controversy over the breed Of a COZ
!. While the work is still in a DR.
A liminary stage, experiments have fl
dicated that each print has individ
"A atty The cows and calves at the ur
), versity were made the subjects Of
4 series OF tests 70 determine wheth
,r the pattern OF a muzzle CHANGES wi
d time or with the process Of grow,
r apparently II does not change. IT
20 pattern becomes larger but retail
% It's peculiar formation.
,e The nose print method Of ident!r
e. Ing an animal may have practic
Of value. In the opinion Of local breed,
al 1t is barely possible that nose prir
= ing may supplement branding {
le Identifying range cattle. Freuuen,
ye these animals stray away or a
stolen, and the brands are not dine,
i'd TO change. II a ranch owner kept
". set Of nose prints of his stock.
in might more certainly prove own.
a. ship in case of dispute.
s. The nose print idea, however
in suggested chiefly for valuable De
en- greed animals. Suppose you go to
farm 70 select a pure bred COW
er purchase. Out of a herd of fine bla
o. Galloways you choose a desira
ne animal. A few weeks later the c
I'm is shipped TO your farm. Could y
as prove that the cow you receive is.
It Is not, the one that you pointed {
to the owner? Probably not in
case of this breed, for each COW
. black. The owner might have no
n tention to ship the wrong COW, but
4 a large herd a mistake could cas-
Il occur.
II This could happen in the case O