Evening star., 1950-11-24
Death S Fngerprints Aid
Scotland lard in Work,
Tiny Line Moy Represent
First SYMPTOMS in Disease
By Thorus r. Henry

By Tholus R. Henry
Scotland Yard is finding deaths
fingerprints.
They are reportd through the Brit
ish Association Il the Advancement
Of Science by F. R.Cherrill, chief Of the
fingerprint section the famous English
police organization.
The fingerprints useful in criminal
Investigations and tor identifications.
Inspector Cherrin rports, are impress
Sions Of the ridges rnning horizontally
over the ends Of ths fingers. They are
different for every intvidual and do not
change throughout LII.
Found in A Ages.
But. the inspector sss, In many prints
there appear fine wite lines running
across these ridges at aute angles. These
might be considered q the imprints Of
tiny scars, except tina no such scars
can be found. They ae quite distinct
from the marks that ,ould be caused
by wrinkling or crackig Of the skin.
They are not permanet features, al
though they may pertst for years
They are found In persos Of all ages.
The marks referred to sually are con-
fined, Inspector Cherrill &plains, to the
middle. ring and little f1ners, and some
times appear only on on finger. Al
though the case is not yetproved, there
are strong indications that the lines
appear in conjunction nth various
usually fatal diseases. They actually may
represent the first SYMPTOMS. They
thus far have been associated with
radium poisoning. polionyelitis and
tuberculosis of the spine.
These lines continue to develop, the
inspector believes, even after the death
Of the victim. They ire more likely to
be found on prints of the left than
Of the right hand. his, the Scotland
Yard expert suggests is because the
tissues of the left had tend to break
down faster in the aveage human being.
The titanium airplale now is a clear
possibility. At the Air FORCES engineer
ing laboratory at WrigE Field research
projects now are in process with the ul-
innate goal Of making etire planes from
the worlds fourth most .bundant metal,
strong as steel and nerly as light as
aluminium. whose potntialities have
been recognized only i the past few
years.
Already. the Air Fcce announces.
titanium alloys have cen developed
which have tensile stregth as high as
100000 pounds a squarI inch. Special
parts. such as de-icing ducts, fittings
and Prevails, already artin production,
while such major compoents as wings
and fuselage sections arein the expert
mental stage. In both caes it is plan
ned to replace all rust.esistant steel
alloy materials with titaium alloys.
Saving in Weiht.
The most immediate inerest Is In the
substitution of titanium in all struc-
lures subject to extremeheat, such as
portions Immediately srrounding Jet
engines, tail pipes ant after burner
installations. If this com be done for
a heavy bombardment plane, it is
estimated. there would a ton saving
IN weight, with consequent notable
increase in range.
At the same time. worl Is In progress
on cheaper and more dicient extrac-
ton Of the metal. It is alculated that
eventually the price ca be brought
down to about 81 a pound
This is one material, it's pointed out.
OF which there is no sffetage. Present
North American reserves ire calculated
as containing about 110,o0, 900 pounds
Of the metal. The presep price is pro-
hibitive for large-scale ase-approxi-
mately $40 pound. Inots weighing
about 125 pounds are bng produced.
These can be rolled into sfets "a inches
wide and feet long.