
Dactylography and The Origin of Finger-Printing
Cambridge University Press
Published on 3. December 2015
Book
Paperback/Softback
186 pages
978-1-108-08125-2 (ISBN)
Description
The Scottish doctor Henry Faulds (1843-1930) and the English judge Sir William James Herschel (1833-1917) both recognised the potential of fingerprints as a means of identification. While working in Japan, Faulds had developed his methods after noticing impressions on ancient pottery. Herschel, during his service as a magistrate in India, had introduced a system of using fingerprints as a way of preventing fraud. In the course of a lengthy controversy, Faulds sought to be acknowledged for the significance of his discoveries. Although there is no doubt that Faulds was first to publish on the subject, it was Herschel's work, begun in the 1850s, which was later developed by Galton and Henry as the tool of forensic science we know today. Reissued here together, these two works, first published in 1912 and 1916 respectively, are Faulds' overview of the subject and Herschel's account of his work in India.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
4 Plates, black and white; 12 Line drawings, unspecified
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 140 mm
Thickness: 10 mm
Weight
242 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-108-08125-2 (9781108081252)
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Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Doctor, missionary, and scientist Henry Faulds was born on June 1, 1843, and died on March 24, 1930. He is famous for creating fingerprinting. The family that Faulds was born into was not very wealthy. He was born in Beith, North Ayrshire. He had to quit school when he was 13 and go work as a clerk in Glasgow to help support his family. When he was 21, he chose to go to Glasgow University and study math, logic, and the classics at the Faculty of Arts. He later went to Anderson's College to study medicine and finished with a license to practice as a doctor. When Faulds graduated, he went to work for the Church of Scotland as a medical missionary. He was sent to British India in 1871 and worked at a hospital for the poor in Darjeeling for two years. The United Presbyterian Church of Scotland sent him a letter of appointment on July 23, 1873, telling him to start a medical mission in Japan. In September of that year, he married Isabella Wilson, and in December, the couple left for Japan. In 1874, Faulds opened the first mission in Japan that spoke English. It had a hospital and a place for Japanese medical students to learn. He helped Japanese doctors learn about Joseph Lister's ways of keeping wounds clean.
Content
Part I: 1. Introduction: early hints and recent progress; 2. Sweat-pores, ridges, and furrows; 3. Finger-print patterns; 4. Some biological questions in dactylography; 5. Technique of printing and scrutinizing finger-patterns; 6. Persistence of finger-print patterns; 7. Syllabic classification of finger-prints; 8. Practical results and future prospects; Glossary; Bibliography; Index: Part II: The origin of finger-printing.