276 



♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



[April 3, 1885. 



corporeal presence of the individual touching whom the 

 inquiry is on foot is an indispensable preliminary. " If 

 the body be not found, the coroner cannot sit," says Black- 

 stone. " An inspection of the body is the essence of the 

 inquiry," observes Dr. Taylor, in " Principles of Medical 

 Jurisprudence." 



Upon occasion, in the Courts of Civil Procedure also, 

 the question of identity becomes the essential feature of 

 the investigation. It is the real issue submitted to the 

 adjudicators. In such instances, says Dr. Beck, " the 

 whole evidence turns on the question of identity." 



Stature, temperament, marks upon the person, colour of 

 the hair, colour of the eyes, general resemblance. These 

 have heretofore been the ordinary elements of the physio- 

 logical sort upon which a conclusion has been based. 



When and where photographic portraiture was first 

 introduced to the notice of the Courts, does not clearly 

 appear. Certainly, it has not been received with un- 

 deviating reliance, for the photographic presentment in 

 many instances differs very materially to the eye from the 

 personal reality, ^yitne>ses, upon their oath, have some- 

 times been requested to pronounce upon resemblances 

 from which, under ordinary conditions, they would have 

 shrunk in bewildered uncertainty. 



Yet, when considered from tbe standpoint (1) of their 

 perfect accuracy of delineation; (2) of their minutely-true 

 reproduction of the proportionate areas occupied by the 

 several features ; and (.3) of the apparent permanence, in 

 adult life, of those proportionate areas, there would cer- 

 tainly ap]iear to be no inscrutable reason why photographs 

 might not be subjected to tests of a severely scientific 

 nature. 



There are three or four indispensable conditions to be 

 accepted by scientists, preliminary to such a consummation. 



I. A due recognition of the permanence of the essential 

 particulars of a given face. 



II. Of the greater or less divergence of all other faces 

 whatsoever from the permanent particulars of the face in 

 q\iestion. 



III. The requisite reliability of a unit of admeasure- 

 ment that shall be, similary, (1) permanent in a given face ; 

 ("2) discrepant, more or less, in all other faces. 



IV. The accredited presence of a sutiiciently undeviating 

 horizontal plane to afford an available zero or datum line. 



Now, in order to sustain the proposition that a given 

 adult face is permanent in its chief particulars, it needs but 

 the obvious reflections — (1) That when a man stops grow- 

 ing, the bones of his face stop growing at the same time as 

 all the rest ; (2) that when the bones of the face cease 

 growing, the several features thenceforward retain in per- 

 manence their original locu^ in quo. 



It should go without saying that the requisite unit of 

 the admeasurement must necessarily be sought for in the 

 face itself ; for by this expedient the varying magnitudes of 

 photographic portraits are effectually legislated for. Hence 

 the adaptability of the coloured circle of the eye for the 

 desired purpose. It is (1) well-defined at its exterior cir- 

 cumference ; it is (2) a permanent quantity in a given indi- 

 vidual ; (3) its dimensions so materially differ in different 

 persons that of itself it Vjecomes an important factor of 

 diversity between photographs that are inherently di-crepant. 



Granted, then, the requisite permanence of the facial 

 perpendicular, and the requisite permanence of the unit of 

 the admeasurement (the diameter of the iris at its exterior 

 rim), it remains but to consider the limitless amplification 

 of the facial diversity. 



It has been long an accepted hypothesis that the dimen- 

 sions of an ideally perfect face should consLst of certain du- 

 plicate and triplica'e repetitions of its own elements ; yet, 



nevertheless, that all actual faces are, to a greater or less 

 extent, departures from the given ideal. In strict con- 

 formity with this hypothesis, it may be pointed out that 

 the endlessly numerous permutations which are everywhere 

 consequent upon the presence of even a few factors of 

 diversity, is a matter quite amenable to arithmetic proof. 

 This principle of permutation finds its always-familiar 

 illustrations in the " ringing of changes " upon an octave of 

 bells, in the casting of dice, and in the myriads of differing 

 verbal forms that a few vocal articulations have afforded to 

 all the nations of the earth. 



In conclusion. The general and special data which have 

 been here set forth, appeal in the first instance to the 

 common apprehension of all persons of intelligence ; and, 

 secondarily, to the tests and investigations of experts. As 

 the result of such tests and investigations, it is now con- 

 fidently maintained that the data and conditions enume- 

 rated are trustworthy and open to proof. The photographic 

 portraits of various public personages, taken after intervals 

 of twenty or more years, and suitably enlarged, have been 

 found to correspond very minutely in admeasurement, 

 whilst, in the meanwhile, great external change has been 

 going forward in their countenances. On the other hand, a 

 comparison of the portraits of any two distinct individuals, 

 tested under the same rigid conditions, fully justifies the 

 statement that, in such cases, varied and palpable dis- 

 crepancies will inevitably become manifest. 



The physiological facts having been accepted, the formu- 

 laries of procedure may suitably engage attention. To 

 those to whom the topic is new, an explicit statement of 

 details might prove the more convenient; but summarily and 

 technically those particulars may be dealt with as follows : 

 1. Upon a photograph of enlarged magnitude let a right 

 line be drawn from centre to centre of each pupil. 2. From 

 the given centres, describe arcs intersecting each other, 

 above and below the right line, of a radius as the distance 

 between the centres. 3. From the points where the arcs 

 cut each other, produce the perpendicular. This will, 

 necessarily, be the true facial perpendicular, whatever may 

 be the pose of the sitter, -i. Lay off a parallel on either 

 side of the perpendicular, at the distance of the given 

 centres. 5. Lay ofl' a series of parallels, above and below 

 the line of the pupils, and let their measured distance 

 apart be that of precisely the diameter of the iris. 6. Let 

 each parallel extend over the right-hand margin of the 

 portrait, and be numbered consecutively. The given line 

 of the pupils being a nought, or zero, let the other numbers 

 proceed from it, upward and downward. 7. Reproduce 

 these details upon the second portrait, and thereupon 

 proceed to make the necessary comparison of particulars. 



With the aid of the appliance known as the Identiscope, 

 the required comparison can be effected under conditions 

 the most favourable for careful inspection. Reproduced 

 upon lantern-slides, conjoined by the agency of the zero- 

 point*", the compared portraits may be projected in com- 

 bination, upon a scale of magnitude that would cause the 

 most minute discrepancies to stand revealed in any reputed 

 instances of spurious or doubtful identity. 



The Foethcomixg E:shibitiox of PnoTOGB.iPHS by Amatecbs. — 

 There is every prospect of this exhibition proving successful, as we 

 understand that by far the greater proportion of the allotments in 

 the spacious galleries where it is to be held have already been 

 ap])lied for by intending exhibitors. We have had an opporttmity 

 of inspecting the handsome and valuable medals offered as prizes 

 by the London Stereoscopic Company, and should advise those 

 amateurs who intend competing for them to send in particulars of 

 their proposed exhibits without delay, as but little space is now 

 available, and no pictures can be received for competition after the 

 14th iust. All information respecting details can ba obtained on 

 application at 108-110, Eegent-street, W. 



