DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATES

PAGE

I.— Fig. 1. Chinese coin with the symbol of the nail-mark of the Empress Wen-teh 25

Fig. 2. Order on a camp sutler by Mr. Gilbert Thompson, who used his finger print for the same purpose as the scroll-work in cheques, viz. to ensure the detection of erasures 27

II.— Fig. 3. Form of card used at my anthropometric laboratory for finger prints. It shows the places where they are severally impressed, whether dabbed or rolled (p. 40), and the hole by which they are secured in their box 145

Fig. 4. Small printing roller, used in the pocket apparatus, actual size. It may be covered either with india-rubber tubing or with roller composition 40

III.— Fig. 5. Diagram of the chief peculiarities of ridges, called here minutiæ (the scale is about eight times the natural size) 54

Fig. 6. The systems of ridges and the creases in the palm, indicated respectively by continuous and by dotted lines. Nos. 2, 3, 4, and 5 show variations in the boundaries of the systems of ridges, and places where smaller systems are sometimes interpolated 54

IV.— Fig. 7. The effects of scars and cuts on the ridges: a is the result of a deep ulcer; b the finger of a tailor (temporarily) scarred by the needle; c the result of a deep cut 59

Fig. 8. Formation of the interspace: filled in (3) by a loop; in (4) by a scroll. The triangular plot or plots are indicated. In (1) there is no interspace, but a succession of arches are formed, gradually flattening into straight lines 67

V.— Fig. 9. Specimens of rolled thumb prints, of the natural size, in which the patterns have been outlined, p. 69, and on which lines have been drawn for orientation and charting 68

VI.— Fig. 10. Specimens of the outlines of the patterns on the ten digits of eight different persons, not selected but taken as they came. Its object is to give a general idea of the degree of their variety. The supply of ridges from the inner (or thumb side) are coloured blue, those from the outer are red (the scale is of the natural size) 70

VII.— Fig. 11. Standard patterns of Arches, together with some transitional forms, all with their names below 75

Fig. 12. As above, with respect to Loops 75

VIII.— Fig. 13. As above, with respect to Whorls 75

Fig. 14. Cores to Loops, which may consist either of single lines, here called rods, or of a recurved line or staple, while the ridges that immediately envelops them is called an envelope 76

Fig. 15. Cores to Whorls 77

IX.— Fig. 15. Transitional patterns, enlarged three times, between Arches and either Loops or Whorls 79

X.— Fig. 16. Transitional patterns, as above, but between Loops and Whorls 79

XI.— Fig. 17. Diagram showing the nine genera formed by the corresponding combinations of the two letters by which they are expressed, each being i, j, or o as the case may be. The first two diagrams are Arches, and not strictly patterns at all, but may with some justice be symbolised by jj 80

Fig. 18. Ambiguities in minutiæ, showing that certain details in them are not to be trusted, while others are 92

XII.— Fig. 19. The illustrations to Purkenje’s Commentatio. They are photo-lithographed from the original, which is not clearly printed 86

XIII.— Fig. 20. Enlarged impressions of the same two fingers of V. H. Hd., first when a child of 2½, and subsequently when a boy of 15 years of age. The lower pair are interesting from containing the unique case of failure of exact coincidence yet observed. It is marked A. The numerals indicate the correspondences 92

XIV.— Fig. 21. Contains portions on an enlarged scale of eight couplets of finger prints, the first print in each couplet having been taken many years before the second, as shown by the attached dates. The points of correspondence in each couplet are indicated by similar numerals 93

XV.— Fig. 22. The fore-finger of Sir W. J. Herschel as printed on two occasions, many years apart (enlarged scale). The numerals are here inserted on a plan that has the merit of clearness, but some of the lineations are thereby sacrificed 95

Fig. 23. Shows the periods of life over which the evidence of identity extends in Figs 20-22. [By an oversight, not perceived until too late for remedy, the bottom line begins at æt. 62 instead of 67] 97