FINGER-PEINT SYSTEM LAUFER. 649 



clay seals secured by me at Si-ngan fu are likely to furnish an im- 

 })ortant contribution to the early history of the finger-print system. 



The seal was considered in ancient China as a magical object 

 suitable to combat or to dispel evil spmts, and the figures of tigers, 

 tortoises, and monsters by which the metal seals were surmounted 

 had the function of acting as charms. We read in Pao-p'o-tse ^ that 

 in olden times people traveling in mountainous regions carried in 

 theii' girdles a white seal 4 inches wide, covered with the design of 

 the Yellow Spirit and 120 characters. This seal was impressed into 

 clay at the place where they stopped for the night, each of the 

 party made 100 steps into the four directions of the compass, with 

 the effect that tigers and wolves did not dare approach. Jade 

 boxes, and even the doors of the palaces, were sealed by means of 

 clay seals to shut out the influence of devils. Numerous are the 

 stories regarding Buddhist and Taoist priests performing miracles 

 with the assistance of a magical seal. 



On plate 4 six such clay seals from the collection of the Field 

 Museum are illustrated. The most interesting of these is that shown 

 in figure 2, consistmg of a hard, gray baked clay, and displaying a 

 thumb impression with the ridges in firm, clear, and perfect outlines, 

 its greatest length and width being 2.5 cm. It is out of the question 

 that this imprint is due to a mere accident caused by the handlmg of 

 the clay piece, for in that case we should see only famt and imperfect 

 traces of the finger marks, quite insufficient for the purpose of identi- 

 fication. Tliis unpression, however, is deep and sunk into the 

 surface of the clay seal and beyond any doubt was effected with 

 intentional energy and determination. Besides this technical proof 

 there is the inward evidence of the presence of a seal bearing the 

 name of the owner in an archaic form of characters on the opposite 

 side. This seal, 1 cm. wide and 1.2 cm. long, countersunk 4 mm. 

 below the surface, is exactly opposite the thumb mark, a fact 

 clearly pointing to the intimate affiliation between the two. In 

 reasoning the case out logically, there is no other significance possible 

 than that the thumb print belongs to the owner of the seal who has 

 his name on the obverse and his identification mark on the reverse, 

 the latter evidently serving for the purpose of establishing the identity 

 (jf the seal. This case, therefore, is somewhat analogous to the 

 modern practice of affixing on title deeds the thumb prmt to the 

 signature, the one being verified by the other. This unique speci- 

 men is the oldest document so far on record relating to the history of 

 the finger-print system. I do not wish to enter here into a discus- 

 sion of the exact period from which it comes down, whether the Chou 



' Surname of the celebrated Taoist writer Ko Hung who died around 330 A. D., at the age of 81. 



