TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION H. 813 



social members, bat it would protect these against themselves, while, by keeping 

 the sexes apart, it would have an immediate and marked effect upon the produc- 

 tion by propagation of the criminal classes. This system — at once Christian, 

 humane, and economical— has been tried with success in America. Lifelong 

 detention has not been found by any means necessary in all cases. Offenders 

 captured young and taught morally and intellectually so far as may be possible, 

 and also some trade, and made to feel that they really can earn an honest liveli- 

 hood, will benefit most. Many such may be given a chance outside under sur- 

 veillance, or may be turned free with safety to society ; their anti-social instincts 

 being sufficiently blunted as to be overcome even under the feeble will-power of 

 their unfortunate owners. 



3. The Anthropometric Method of Identifying Criminals. 

 By J. G. Garson, M.n. 



In daily life cases of difficulty not imfrequently occur in the identification 

 of persons living or dead, or after accident, such as a railway collision, and in 

 police-courts it is especially common, for evil-doers make a point, as far as pos- 

 sible, of concealing their identity. In 1879 M. Bertillon submitted to the 

 Prefecture of Police of Paris a plan for the identification of criminals, founded 

 upon the measurement of certain bony parts of the body not liable to alteration 

 with age or accident. The plan had been adopted, and has been in use with signal 

 success in Paris since 1882. Before the introduction of Bertillon's system, photo- 

 graphs and vague descriptions, much the same as those still used by the English 

 police, were the only means for identifying persons previously convicted of crime. 

 As time went on, the number of photographs of criminals increased so rapidly 

 that in a few years they exceeded 100,000, and it was found that the system was 

 almost if not altogether unworkable. By Bertillon's system these photographs 

 and descriptions of criminals are divided primarily into three groups, according to 

 whether their stature is tall, medium, or short. By the length of the head, these 

 groups are still further subdivided into persons with long, medium, and short 

 heads. A third measurement, the breadth of the head, divides the number in each 

 group still more, according as the head is broad, medium, or narrow ; and by other 

 measurements groups are reduced to a number of smaller ones. The various 

 descriptions and photographs are arranged in a series of drawers with subdivisions 

 corresponding to the different measurements and their subdivisions. When a 

 person is brought to the police-station, the first thing done is to ascertain if he 

 is an old offender, and has been measured before, by taking his principal measure- 

 ments and afterwards referring to the cabinet containing the descriptions and 

 measurements of criminals. The measurements one by one guide the officer to the 

 exact division of the cabinet where the description of the prisoner will be foimd. 

 Should the prisoner's height when previously measured have been, say, just within 

 the tall division, and now is at the upper end of the medium division, the officer, on 

 not finding him in the medium division, would search for him in the tall group, 

 just as he would look for a word in the dictionary about the spelling of which he 

 was in doubt. The measurements relied upon in Bertillon's system are: — (1) Height 

 of body ; (2) length of head ; (3) breadth of head ; (4) length of middle finger 

 (left) ; (5) length of little finger (left) ; (6) length of forearm; (7) length of foot 

 (left) ; (8) length of span ; (9) length of ear (right) ; (10) breadth of ear (right) ; 

 (11) length and exact position of scars, moles, &c. ; (12) colour of eyes and hair. 

 The instruments used by M. Bertillon were exhibited, and the method of u.'^ing 

 them was shown. The whole operation of measuring a prisoner and taking his 

 description occupies one officer and an assistant only seven minutes. The success 

 with which the system has been attended may be judged of from the following 

 facts : criminals who have tested the certainty with which they can now be re- 

 cognised seldom give aliases : the number of identifications of previous offenders 

 has greatly increased, and many known criminals have found it convenient to 

 change the scene of their actions to places where the system is not in force. In 

 the many thousands of cases tested there had not been one of mistaken identity. 



