[7] Engravings and story by the courtesy of Scientific American.
Our Fingers.
One of the most interesting facts about our fingers is that every
member of the human race, irrespective of age or sex, carries in
person certain delicate markings by which identity can be readily
established. If the inner surface of the hand be examined, a number
of very fine ridges will be seen running in definite directions, and
arranged in patterns, there being four primary types--arches, loops,
whorls, and composites. It has been demonstrated that these patterns
persist in all their details throughout the whole period of human life.
The impressions of the fingers of a new-born infant are distinctly
traceable on the fingers of the same person in old age. The fact that
these patterns on the bulbs of the fingers are characteristic of and
differentiate one individual from another, makes it an ideal means of
fixing identity. Even men who look so much alike that it is virtually
impossible to tell one from the other so far as facial characteristics
are concerned, can be identified by their finger impressions.
Innumerable illustrations can be given of how the perpetrators of
crime have been identified and convicted by their finger prints.
Impressions left by criminals on such articles as plated goods, window
panes, drinking glasses, painted wood, bottles, cash boxes, candles,
etc., have often successfully supplied the clue which has led to the
apprehension of the thief or thieves. One of our illustrations is that
of a champagne bottle which was found empty on the dining-room table
of a house which had been entered by a burglar in Birmingham, England.
There was a distinct impression of a thumb mark on the bottle. An
officer of the Birmingham City Police took the bottle to New Scotland
Yard, London, and within a few minutes a duplicate print was found in
the records. The burglar was arrested the same evening.
[Illustration: FINGER PRINTS OF DIFFERENT PEOPLE ARE DIFFERENT