254 Life and Letters of Francis Galton 



age is reached? If the State has only a limited amount of money to spend 

 on its children, let it investigate first when it is of most use in improving 

 the bi'eed — whether in infancy, at school age, or during the rapid development 

 of youth. 



The reader may think I have given too much space to an ephemeral news- 

 paper article. It is not because of the suggestions it contains, but rather 

 because it exhibits the cautious statements and the moderate proposals to 

 which Galton gave expression even on a topic about which, as those who 

 knew him well can testify, he felt with almost religious fervour. 



During this year (1903) Galton had turned to finger-prints again, and 

 was very busy trying to find a measurable character common to all patterns. 

 He endeavoured to obtain this by what he termed the "interspace" — a 

 diameter drawn across the core (of loops or whorls) so as to be perpendicular 

 to both its upper and lower borders. The interspace was to be measured in a 

 mean ridge interval of the core as unit, this mean ridge interval being obtained 

 as the average of ten ridges taken along the interspace. The arches were a 

 serious difficulty, for Galton concluded that they had no interspace, and they 

 tended to lump up at one end of his frequency distributions. Galton's views 

 are given in the accompanying letters ; they were never published, although 

 for the remainder of his life he occasionally returned to finger-print studies. 

 As they may be suggestive to other workers, I reproduce them. 



Grand Hotel, Naples. March 2, 1903. 



Dear Karl Pearson, Your card of the 26 th came all right yesterday, but the previous 

 one which you mention, in reply to my letter enclosing Bicknell's, had and has miscarried. 

 Hence my eagerness for tidings. You say that subscriptions are falling off — here however you 

 will find one and probably two new subscriptions. I have written to M r H. to say that I am 

 forwarding his letter to you for reply and that I am ordering his book. ..to be forwarded to 

 you also. Please answer to him his quere about the way of remitting his subscription. I know 

 nothing of hirn. 



It is to be regretted that biologists do not welcome Biometrika, but the welcome cannot 

 yet be expected. Would it be possible to give a summary of work done, that must prove useful 

 to biology and which without biometric methods could not have been done 1 We seem to need 

 something of that kind more and more ; something so free from technical language that news- 

 papers could copy it, and their readers could understand and like it. Of course it could only 

 contain cream and be in no way exhaustive, but it ought to be so far mentally digestible by the 



average biological intelligence as to leave some conviction upon it of the utility of biometry 



As regards the finger-prints I am in a little doubt, being not sure how far my collection 

 of Bengal Criminals may be thought suitable, or even whether they are strictly non-selected. 

 From the comparative absence of transitional patterns I fear that many of these may have been 

 sorted out of the collection, which is one of a few hundred duplicates of some of the main 

 collection of about 6000. They were used to enable M r Henry (now Assistant-Commissioner 

 at Scotland Yard) to show off the rapidity with which the original of any selected duplicate 

 might be traced. It is possible that his clerks may have avoided troublesome transitional cases 

 sometimes, but M 1 ' Henry seems not to be cognizant of this. At all events I should prefer to 

 work on my own collection, but that, alas, is classified, so I should have to go through the 

 whole of it, 2600 odd in number, if I touched it at all. This would be a very tedious job, for 

 I must not draw outlines on the patterns themselves, — which is easy but might spoil them, — 

 but must trace them, which is very troublesome even with the best tracing paper and the best 

 light. Would you however look at the enclosed table and tell me how it strikes you 1 Perhaps 

 you might even get some one to work out the correlation index. 



