870 REPORT—1899, 
approval ot all representative bodies consulted, an Act to amend the Law of 
Evidence so as to make relevant the testimony of Finger-print Experts. 
The main difficulty hitherto experienced had been that of providing an effective 
system of classification. But this difficulty has been overcome. A thin film of 
printer’s ink is spread over a piece of flat tin, and each finger in turn is pressed on 
the film, and after being thus inked is pressed on paper where aclear, sharp im- 
pression is left. Fingers are impressed in their natural order of thumb, index, 
middle, ring, and little, those of the right hand being above, and the corresponding 
digit of the left hand below them. 
All impressions must be either arches, loops, whorls, or composites—there is a 
great preponderance of loops and whorls. In primary classification arches are 
included under loops, and composites under whorls, and therefore, for purposes of 
primary classification, an impression must be either a loop or whorl. The digits 
are taken in the following pairs: (1) right thumb and right index ; (2) right middle 
and right ring; (8) right little and left thumb ; (4) left index and left middle; (5) 
left ring and left little finger. Taking first pair and denoting loop by L and 
whorl by W, we get the following arrangements. Right thumb may be L and 
right index L; right thumb may be L and right index W; right thumb may be 
W and right index L; and right thumb may be W and right index W. So there 
are four, and not more than four, arrangements possible. Similarly, in second pair, 
there are fuur such arrangements, which, taken with those of the first pair, yield 
16 combinations; taking the third pair we get 64 combinations, and by adding 
the fourth and fifth pairs, this number rises to 256 and 1,024, Now 1,024 equals 
32 squared; in other words, a cabinet containing 32 sets of 82 pigeon-holes 
arranged vertically would provide all the locations required. A diagram shows 
how this works in practice. But the following rule is very simple. The first of 
each pair is shown as numerator, the second of each pair as denominator, yielding 
i 1 he followi ly, We re 
for the five sets of pairs some such formula as the following: +; TL ww. 
A whorl in the first pair counts 16, in the second pair 8, in the third 4, in the 
fourth 2, in the fifth 1. No numerical value is given to a loop. Substituting 
these values in the formula we get 9;; §; 9; #; 2=12. Add 1 to both nume- 
rator and denominator and invert the fraction which becomes 29, and this is the 
Primary classification number, and represents that the card containing these im- 
pressions will be found on the twentieth pigeon-hole of the eleventh vertical row. 
The Secondary classification required to break up accumulations is equally simple, 
and the search formula or legend for each card can be prepared rapidly without 
any key and brings search down to groups of very small volume. 
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 15. 
The following Report and Papers were read :— 
1. Report on the Expedition to Torres Straits and New Guinea, 
See Reports, p. 585, 
2. The Linguistic Results of the Cambridge Expedition to Torres Straits 
and New Guinea. By Sipnsy H. Ray.—See Reports, p. 598. 
3. Notes on Savage Music. By C. 8. Myrrs.—See Reports, p. 591. 
