306 Life and Tjettern of Francix (raffon 



selector of which he gives ample drawings could deal with 500 cards at a 

 time. Of his ' selector ' Galton writes : 



"Its objoct is to fiiui which set, out of a stAiulanl cdllootioii of many sets of monsun's, 

 reaenible!* any ono given set within any degree of uiilikencss. No one measure in any of the 

 sets selected by the instrument can differ from the corresponding measure in the given set b\ 

 more than » specific vahie. The apparatus is very simple; it applies to sets of measures of 

 every d(>scription, and ought to act on a large scale as well as it does on a small one, witii 

 great rapidity, and be able to test several hundred sets bj- each movement. It relieves tlie eyi- 

 and brain from the intolerable strain of tediously compiring a set of many measures with ejicli 

 of a large numlier of successive sets, in doing which a mental allowance has to Ix" ma<le for :i 

 pliM or »;ii«M« deviation of a specified amount in every entry. It is not my business to l<«)k 

 after priwinei-s, and I <lo not fully know what nee<l may i-eally exist for new nietluxls of ([uickly 

 identifying sus[KX;ted persons. If there be any rejd need, I should think that this apparatus, 

 which is contrived for other purpose.-*, might after obvious modifications supply it.' 



Galton then returns to the measiiremtMits of the profile and Indicates thos. 

 he would propose to take. These nieiusurements he then sugj^'ests should be 

 used with a "mechanical selector." He considers that measurements on the 

 profile would be nearly as trustworthy as those on the limbs for approximate 

 identifications, and he states that their values are less highly correlated than 

 those on the limbs'. 



This j)aper shows that Galton at this time had not fully made up his mind 

 as to the best characters by which to measure or inde.x individuality. He 

 considered that personal characteristics existed in much more minute par- 

 ticular than in tlie profile: 



"The markings of the iris of the eye are of the above kind. They have never l«'en lule 

 quately studied except by the makers of artificial eyes, who reco;,Tiise thousands of varieties of 

 them. These markings well de-serve being photographed from life on an enlarged scale." 



Besides the handwriting, Galton refers to the bifurcations and interlace- 

 ments of the superficial veins, and the shape and convolutions of the ex- 

 ternal ear, and then turns for the first time, I believe, in published work to 

 the small furrows and intervening ridges on the palmar surfttces of hands 

 and feet. To this matter I shall return when dealing with Galton's work 

 on finger-prints. In the concluding paragraph of his lecture Galton tells us 

 that he wa.s induced to make these researches into individuality and personal 

 Identification in order to discover independent features which might be suit- 

 able for inquiries into heredity. 



"It has long been my hope, though utt^'rly without direct experimental corrolwration thu^ 

 far, that if a considerable numl>er of variable and independent features could be catalogued, ii 

 might be possible to trace kinship with consideral)le certainty. It does not at all follow l)ecause 

 a man inherits his main features from some one ancestor, that he may not also inherit a large 

 number of minor and commonly overlooked features from many ancestors. Therefore it is not 

 improbalde and worth taking pains to inquire whether each person may not carry visibly about 

 hia body undeniable evidence of his parentage and near kinships." (p. 202.) 



' It .se<'m8 unnecessary to specify Galton's profile measurements here, for opinions will difTer 

 as to the suitability of his axes and choice of points. In the Oalton Laboratory, by means of 

 special apparatus we mark the auricular point and 'Frankfurt horizontJil plane' on the 

 silhouette. The nasion to the auricular point is then taken as a fundamentjil axis and as the 

 standani length. We have obtained on this basis mean silhouettes for men and women. I should 

 be inclined to measure certain deviations of the individual profile from the mean profile, when 

 the nasio-auricular lines of l)oth coincide in direction and magnitude, as the indexing characters. 



