THE HUMAN HAND ; A SCHOOL LESSON 29 



No two fingers show precisely the same pattern, but the 

 same finger preserves its pattern hardly changed through- 

 out the whole of adult life. Hence a print of the finger- 

 tip is one of the best signatures that can be devised, for 

 it is always the same, and it cannot be imitated. In 

 Bengal deeds have sometimes been signed by thumb- 

 marks to prevent forgery. It has been proposed to use 

 the finger-prints of pensioners to prevent personation by 

 others, finger-prints of soldiers as a means of identifying 

 deserters on re-enlistment, finger-prints of criminals as a 

 proof of previous convictions, and finger-prints of ordinary 

 citizens as a certain means of identification in case of loss 

 of papers or death by accident. 1 



Study the palm of your own hand in a good light, and 



W 



FIG. 6. Patterns of finger-tips. 



if necessary with the help of a reading glass. Put a spot 

 of ink on every pat tern -cent re that you can find. You will 

 probably make out one to each finger-tip, one in or near 

 the fork between adjacent fingers, wherever such a fork 

 exists, a partial concentric system at the base of the 

 thumb, and another, sometimes with a distinct centre 

 of its own, about half-way between the base of the little 

 finger and the wrist. In many quadrupeds there are horny 

 pads, which protect the palm and the sole, and these pads 

 may occupy just the same positions as the spirals and 

 circles in man. In the fore foot of the cat, for instance, 

 the pads on the finger-tips (if we may speak of the fingers 

 of a cat) are quite plain ; three of the four pads in the 

 forks between the fingers have run together into one big 



1 See Gallon's Finger Prints (London, 1902). 



