146 



HARRIS HAWTHORNE WILDER. 



the three original triradii, but it displays a tendency to become 

 drawn out along one axis and form an extensive spiral or S-formed 

 figure. 



As is well known, the exact and detailed configuration of the 

 five apical patterns, the "finger-prints" of identification bureaus, 

 was employed by the late Sir Francis Gal ton (1892, 1893, 1895, 



FIG. 6. Diagram of a human sole, with the margins numbered to correspond 

 to the palms in Figs, i and 2, and marked with the main lines. From an article by 

 the author in Pop. Sci. Monthly for September, 1903. By permission. 



etc.) as the basis for his system of personal identification, and, 

 within the last twenty years, has become scientifically developed 

 by certain police investigators, notably Sir Edward Richard 

 Henry. At the present time the "finger-print system" has been 

 introduced into all civilized countries, and its scope is steadily 

 increasing. As the friction-skin configuration offers an abso- 



