[Illustration: COMPOSITE: INCLUDES PATTERNS IN WHICH TWO OR MORE OF THE
OTHER TYPES ARE COMBINED.]
Many similar instances could be given of how thieves have been caught
by handling bottles and glasses. On one occasion a burglar entered a
house in the West End of London, and before leaving helped himself
to a glass of wine. On the tumbler used he left two finger imprints,
and these were subsequently found, upon search in the records at New
Scotland Yard, to be identical with two impressions of a notorious
criminal, who was in due course arrested and sentenced to four years’
imprisonment.
A somewhat gruesome relic is a cash-box which bears the blurred thumb
mark of a man who was convicted of murder. The box was found in the
bedroom of a man and his wife who were murdered at Deptford, London, in
1905. The cash-box was taken to New Scotland Yard, and the impression
photographed and enlarged. Two brothers, suspected of the crime, were
arrested, and the thumb print of one was found to be identical with
that on the lid of the box. Our photograph of a gate recalls a curious
case that recently occupied the attention of a London magistrate. In
this instance a thief successfully climbed the gate, which was ten feet
high. In his attempt to reach the ground on the inner side he placed
his feet on the center cross-bar, at the same time holding the spikes
with his right hand. In this position he fell, and the ring he wore on
his little finger caught on the spike indicated by the arrowhead. This
caused him to remain suspended in the air until his weight tore the
finger from his hand. The ring with the finger was found on the spike,
and in due course was received at New Scotland Yard. An impression was
taken of the finger, and search among the records revealed a duplicate
print, which led to the man’s arrest.
If a criminal handles a piece of candle or removes a pane of glass and
leaves these behind, it is a hundred to one he has left a valuable
clue for the police. The candle shown on the following page bears the
imprint of a man’s thumb, and was found in a house which a burglar had
entered. By handling the candle, the thief virtually signed the warrant
for his own arrest.
The system was first used by the police in the Province of Bengal,
India, at the instigation of Sir William Herschel. Its value was at
once apparent. The work of the courts was considerably lightened,
as the natives recognized that a system of identification had been
discovered which was indisputable. Then from the police it was
introduced into various branches of the public service, and here again
its value was quickly demonstrated. When native pensioners died, for
instance, friends and relatives personated them, and so continued to
draw their allowances. By recording the identity of pensioners by
finger prints, this evil was quickly stamped out.
[Illustration: IMPRESSIONS MADE BY THE FINGERS AND PALMS
PALMARY IMPRESSIONS OF WHOLE HAND, SHOWING HOW IT IS COVERED WITH
RIDGES AND PATTERNS.]
[Illustration:
RIGHT HAND LEFT HAND
THUMB
FIRST FINGER
SECOND FINGER
THIRD FINGER
FOURTH FINGER
FINGER IMPRESSIONS OF AN ORANG-OUTANG (ANTHROPOID APE) TAKEN AT THE
LONDON ZOO. THEY WERE MADE BY SCOTLAND YARD.]
The wonderful lineations, in the form of ridges and patterns, which
adorn the palmar surface of the human hand, had, of course, been
known for many years. Mr. Francis Galton, the famous traveler and
scientist, was perhaps the first to give serious attention to the
subject of finger prints. He discovered many interesting facts about
them. Then, in 1823, Prof. Purkinje, of Breslau, read a paper before
the University of Breslau on the subject. Up to this date, however, no
practical use could be made of the impressions for the want of a system
of classification. Prof. Purkinje certainly suggested one, but little
notice appears to have been taken of it.
Naturally, to be of any value to the police or to any government
department, it is absolutely essential to classify the prints in such
a way that they could be readily referred to and identity established
without undue delay. It was virtually left to Sir William Herschel,
of the Indian Civil Service, to invent a really practical system of
classification, so it may be claimed that the finger-print method
of identification, as at present adopted, is the discovery of an
Englishman. Then it is only fair to add that Sir Edward R. Henry, the
Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police of London, has also devoted
much time and study to the subject. His book, “Classification and Uses
of Finger Prints,” has passed through many editions, and has been
translated into several foreign languages.
[Illustration: HOW THIEVES HAVE BEEN CAUGHT THROUGH FINGER PRINTS
A CHAMPAGNE BOTTLE HAVING THUMB IMPRINT, WHICH LED TO ARREST OF A
BURGLAR.]
[Illustration: CANDLE BEARING THUMB MARK OF A BURGLAR.]
[Illustration: CASH-BOX IN BEDROOM OF MURDERED MAN AND WIFE. THE THUMB
IMPRESSION (POINTED AT BY ARROW) LED TO ARREST OF THE MURDERER.]
Impressions are divided up into four distinct types or patterns. First,
we have arches in which the ridges run from one side to the other,
making no backward turn. In loops, however, some of the ridges do make
a backward turn, but are devoid of twists. In whorls some of the ridges
make a turn through at least one complete circuit. Under composites are
included patterns in which two or more of the former types are combined
in the same imprint. Although similarity in type is of frequent
occurrence, completely coincident ridge characteristics have never been
found in any two impressions. It is not necessary here to enter into
a detailed account as to how the classification of these wonderful
lineations of the human hand is effected. It is based on a number
value, attained by an examination, by means of a magnifying glass, of
the “deltas” and “cores,” which break up a collection into as many as
1024 separate primary groups, each of which can again, by a system
of sub-classification, be further split up into quite a number of
sub-groups. When the British police discover finger prints on articles
at the scene of crime, the latter are at once conveyed to New Scotland
Yard. If the impressions are very faint, a little powder, known to
chemists as “grey powder” (mercury and chalk), is sprinkled over the
marking and then gently brushed off with a camel-hair brush. This
brings out the imprint much more clearly. If one places his dry thumb
upon a piece of white paper no visible impression is left. If powder,
however, is sprinkled over the spot and then brushed off, a distinct
impression is seen. In the case of candles and articles of this nature,
a drop of printer’s ink is lightly smeared over an impression, in order
the more clearly to define the ridges and patterns.
[Illustration: A SPIKE THAT CAUGHT A CRIMINAL
ON THE SPIKE OF THE GATE (INDICATED BY AN ARROW) A CRIMINAL LEFT HIS
FINGER AND RING, WHICH LED TO HIS CONVICTION.]
At the headquarters of the British police at New Scotland Yard they
possess special cameras and a dark room for photographing these thumb
marks. The dark room is 21 feet long and 7 feet wide. When finger
prints are required for production in court they are first enlarged
five diameters with an enlarging camera. The negatives are afterward
placed in an electric light enlarging lantern, with which it is
possible to obtain photographic enlargements of a thumb mark 36 inches
square. The lantern is arranged on a specially made table 12 feet long,
the lantern running between tram lines, so that when moved it is square
with the easel.
Criminals have naturally come to dread the value of their thumb marks
as a means of identifying their movements. Some will try to obliterate
the markings by pricking their fingers, but so far this has not
availed them. To successfully accomplish this it would be necessary
to obliterate the whole of the palmary impressions on the tip of each
finger of each hand.
Then the system, too, is far in advance of any other, both in
reliability and simplicity of working. Compared to anthropometry, for
instance, invented by M. Bertillon, in which measurements of certain
portions of the body are relied upon as a medium of identification, the
finger-print system is certainly preferable. In the first place, the
instruments are costly and are liable to get out of order; while the
measurements can only be taken by a fairly educated person, and then
only after a special course of instruction. In the finger-print system
the accessories needed are a piece of paper and ink, while any person,
whether educated or not, after half an hour’s practice, can take
legible finger prints. Then the classification of the latter is much
simpler and readier of access than the former.
At the time of writing there are some 164,000 finger-print records in
the pigeon-holes at New Scotland Yard, and the number now being added
to it is at the rate of about 250 weekly. The system, too, is not only
in use in Great Britain, but in all the provinces of India, including
Burma, and in most of the British colonies and dependencies. It is
being rapidly extended, not only throughout Europe, but also through
North and South America.
[Illustration: RECORDS OF FINGER PRINTS ARE KEPT AT HEADQUARTERS