TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION H. 805 



The bayu is a double-edged sword ; the centre of the blade on each side is 

 grooved and ornamented with an incised pattern. 



ThepaKayun is a long, narrow curved blade, which is never ornamented with a 

 design. The handle is invariably made of wood, and is quite characteristic in 

 shape ; the grip of the handle is supplied by a cylinder of brass expanding at the 

 insertion of the blade into a circular lip, which serves as a finger-guard. 



The parang pedany is largely used in agriculture. The blade is long, very 

 strongly curved, and very broad at the end, tapering rapidly to the point of 

 insertion into the handle. The handle is of wood, and of a distinctive shape. 



The latok is characterised by the open angle which the shoulder of the blade 

 and the handle form with the rest of the blade. The cutting part of the blade is 

 not curved, the back is slightly shorter than the edge, and there is a short curved 

 slope. The back is very thick, so that the blade is wedge-shaped in section ; the 

 shoulder is square or polygonal in section. The weapon is held in both hands by 

 the handle and shoulder, and forms a very efficient chopping implement. 



The hulco is similar in shape to the latok, but is a much slighter weapon, and 

 the handle is carved in deep relief with a phyllomorphic pattern, whereas the 

 handle of the latok is not ornamented with carving. 



The pandect is the war-parang of the Land-Dyaks : it is remarkable in having 

 no handle, the elongated and angled shoulder serving the purpose. A hole passes 

 through the middle of the shoulder, and in this is inserted a short cross-piece of 

 iron. The termination of the blade is cut with a V-shaped notch, forming a 

 re-entering angle ; occasionally the limbs of this angle are produced into hooks and 

 projections. The sheath is decorated with tinfoil, on which is hammered 

 geometrical and phyllomorphic designs. 



WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18. 



The following Papers were read : — 



I . Personal Identification : A Descriiytion of Dr. Alphonse Bertillon's System 



of Identifying Fugitive Offenders, called hy him ^ Le Portrait Parle J 

 By William M. Douglas, Sujoerintendent of Police, Glasgow. 



Identification is the basis of all police work, and it is necessary to have a 

 system or systems which will meet the twofold purpose of individualising persons 

 at large as well as persons in custody. Dr. Alphonse Bertillon, chief of the Judicial 

 Identification Service in Paris, has elaborated a system which is divided into 

 three parts, viz., anthropometric signalment, descriptive signabnent, and signal- 

 ment by peculiar marks. The descriptive signalment is the one by which a 

 criminal may be recognised among the multitude of human beings ; the anthropo- 

 metric intervenes to establish his identity and reconstitute his previous criminal 

 history if he is a recidivist ; and the peculiar marks serve to place beyond doubt 

 the results obtained by the other two. The groundwork of Bertillon's descriptive 

 system is the selection for description of characteristics which have the most 

 fi.tity in the individual and the most variability in different people, and the 

 application to the descriptive terms of the method of limits of approximation. The 

 descriptive information is divided into three sections : I. Chromatic characters ; 



II. Morphological characters, having special headings on card ; III. Morphological 

 characters without special headings. The first embraces the colour of the eyes, 

 shades of beard and hair and complexion ; the second, the forehead, nose, ear, and 

 build ; and the third, the lips, chin, contour of head, nature, abundance, and 

 implantation of hair and beard, eyebrows, eyelids, wrinkles, neck, attitude, 

 general demeanour, voice, language, clothing, and social status. For the purpose 

 of describing peculiar marks the body is divided into six sections, on each of 

 which there are datum points to locate the marks, the nature, form, dimension, 



1901. 3 G 



