174 Life and Letters of Francis Galton 



Another point dealt with by Galton in this memoir is the relative ad- 

 vantage gained in indexing by the first two fingers of the left hand, the first 

 three fingers of the left hand, the first three fingers of both hands or by all 

 ten digits ; he finds the numbers of different patterns occurring are respectively 

 16, 27, 65 and 83. The ten-digit indexing is now in general use, and of course 

 provides a greater field for identification, if the indexing be somewhat more 

 cumbersome. 



B. Finger Prints, 1893. 



We now reach Galton's fundamental book on finger-prints, namely Finger 

 Prints* (Macmillan, 1893). Chapter I (pp. 1-21), entitled Introduction, 

 gives a brief account of the subject referring to Purkenje and the pioneer 

 work of Sir William Herschel; it further provides a synopsis of the contents 

 of the entire bookf. 



Chapter II (pp. 22-29) deals with Previous Use of Finger- Prints. It 

 recounts the use of nail-marks or finger-marks among barbarous or semi- 

 civilised people rather as a superstitious sign of personal touch than of personal 



Chinese Coin, Tang Dynasty, about 618 ad., with nail mark of the Empress Wen ten, 

 figured in relief. 



Fig. 28. 



identity. It notes also the frequent appearance of finger-impressions upon 

 ancient pottery. Here, as in the case of a Greek impression found by Sir 

 Charles Walston on a steatite seal at the Argive HeraeumJ, it is somewhat 



* It is an interesting example of the futility of some reviewers, that the critic who wrote 

 the notice of Galton's Finger Prints in the Athenaeum of Dec. 24, 1892, expressed the wish that 

 he might devote his brilliant powers to "subjects of greater promise of practical utility"; and 

 again : "Whether the practical results to be derived from his researches will repay the pains 

 he has bestowed upon them we must take leave to doubt. It will be long before a British 

 jury will consent to convict a man upon the evidence of his finger-prints ; and however perfect 

 in theory the identification may be, it will not be easy to submit it in a form that will amount 

 to legal evidence." 



t At the end of this chapter Galton thanks Mr Howard Collins for his very material aid. 

 The correspondence between Galton and Collins during the progress of the work was consider- 

 able, and of some scientific value. In 1911 I issued a request in the Times and other journals 

 for letters or copies of letters written by Galton. The response was very disappointing. During 

 the last nine years the Galton Laboratory has had frequently to purchase letters of Galton 

 sold by their recipients or the assigns of the latter to booksellers or autograph dealers. Among 

 such purchases the Laboratory obtained from a Birmingham bookseller, whose catalogue the 

 Director luckily chanced to see, Galton's numerous letters to Collins on the subject of finger- 

 prints. 



} The Illustrated London News, Feb. 7, 1925, p. 231. 



