Volume X 
MAY, 1915 
No. 4 
ASSOCIATION OF FINGEK-PKIN 
By H. WAITE, M.A, B.Sc. 
1. Introduction. Certain papers have been published in recent years giving 
the results of research on the variability and correlation of the hand, notably 
(1) "A First Study of the Variability and Correlation of the Hand," by 
Miss M. A. Whiteley, B.Sc, and Karl Pearson, F.R.S., Proceedings of the Royal 
Society, Vol. 65, pp. 126 — 151, and (2) "A Second Study of the Variability 
and Correlation of the Hand," by M. A. Lewenz, B.A., and M. A. Whiteley, B.Sc, 
Biometrika, Vol. l, pp. 345 — 360. In the former the writers urge " the import- 
ance of putting on record all the quantitative measures we can possibly ascertain 
of variability and correlation " of characters of the human body. Although Fiuger- 
Prints, the characters dealt with in the present paper, cannot strictly claim to 
be quantitative it is hoped by the writer that the results may prove of some 
interest and use in the solution of the great Problem of Evolution in Man, 
especially when compared with the results obtained from the study of other 
measurements of the hand. 
The principal motive underlying most of the work which has been done in the 
past on the subject of Finger-Prints has arisen from the development of means of 
identification and it was based on the fact that the general pattern and character- 
istics of the finger-prints of any individual are persistent throughout life. As far 
as I am aware, however, no paper has yet been published attempting to measure 
the association between the various types of finger-prints in an individual or com- 
paring these with the relations which have been found to exist between other 
measurements of the hand. These are the objects of the present paper. 
2. Primary Classification of Finger-Prints. As primary classification 
Purkenje proposed nine types, Galton* three — each being divided into twenty- 
four sub-classes, — and Henryf four, these also being sub-divided into a number of 
classes. For the purposes of this paper I have adopted the method of dividing all 
the prints into four primary classes ; I have also adopted Henry's definitions and 
* Fingerprint Directories, by Francis Galton, F.R.S. Macmillan, 1895. 
t Classification and Uses of Finger Prints, by Sir E. R. Henry, C.V.O., C.S.I. Wyman and Sons, 
Third edition, 1905. 
Biometrika x 54 
