Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive.) FINGER PRINTS FINGER PRINTS [Illustration: FINGER PRINTS OF THE AUTHOR] BY FRANCIS GALTON, F.R.S., ETC. London MACMILLAN AND CO. AND NEW YORK 1892 _All rights reserved_ CONTENTS CHAPTER I PAGE INTRODUCTION 1 Distinction between creases and ridges 1 Origin of the inquiry 2 Summaries of the subsequent chapters 3-21 Viz. of ii., 3; iii., 4; iv., 5; v., 5; vi., 8; vii., 10; viii., 12; ix., 13; x., 14; xi., 16; xii., 17; xiii., 19; CHAPTER II PREVIOUS USE OF FINGER PRINTS 22 Superstition of personal contact 22 Rude hand-prints 23 Seals to documents 23 Chinese finger marks 24 The _tipsahi_ of Bengal 24 Nail-marks on Assyrian bricks 25 Nail-mark on Chinese coins 25 Ridges and cheiromancy--China, Japan, and by negroes 26 Modern usage--Bewick, Fauld, Tabor, and G. Thompson 26 Their official use by Sir W. J. Herschel 27 CHAPTER III METHODS OF PRINTING 30 Impression on polished glass or razor 30 The two contrasted methods of printing 31 General remarks on printing from reliefs--ink; low relief of ridges; layer of ink; drying due to oxidisation 32-34 Apparatus at my own laboratory--slab; roller; benzole (or equivalent); funnel; ink; cards 35-38 Method of its manipulation 38-40 Pocket apparatus 40 Rollers and their manufacture 40 Other parts of the apparatus 41 Folders--long serviceable if air be excluded 42 Lithography 43 Water colours and dyes 44 Sir W. Herschel's official instructions 45