CHAPTER

HISTORY OF
FINGERPRINTS

 Historical background
 Bertillon System
 Origin of Fingerprint
 Fingerprint Events in the Philippines
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CHAPTER 1:

HISTORY OF FINGERPRINTS

Objectives:
 Develop understanding of the history in Personal
Identification.

History of Fingerprints

The development of fingerprint science predates the Christian era by many

centuries. Pre-historic Indian picture writing of hand with crudely marked ridge patterns,
fingerprints impressions on clay tablets recording business transactions in ancient
Babylon, and clay seals of ancient Chinese origin bearing thumbprints, were found as
evidence of early use of fingerprint as identification of persons impressing the prints.

The formal study began as early as 1686 but has finally gained official use in
1858 by Sir William James Herschel, a British chief administrative officer in Hoogly
District of Bengal, India. Herschel used fingerprints in India to prevent the fraudulent
collection of army pay accounts and for identity on other documents.

In 1880 two major developments were achieved that ushered to a more holistic
acceptance of fingerprint use. Dr. Henry Faulds, an English doctor based in Japan.
Wrote to publication Nature on the practical use of fingerprints for the identification of
criminals. His argument was supported by his studies and successful experiments on
the permanency of one's fingerprint, After Faulds s breakthrough, Sir Francis Galton, a
noted British anthropologist, and scientist Charles Darwin's cousin devised the first
Scientific method of classifying fingerprints patterns.

It was in 1882 when the first authentic record of official use of fingerprints was
noted in the USA.

In 1891, Juan Vucetich, an Argentinian Police, used a system of fingerprint as

criminal identification based on Sir Francis Galton's studies.

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As early as the start of the 20 century, fingerprint use in criminal investigation has
gained widespread acceptance across the USA and was adopted in use by the different
branches of the United States Armed Forces. The use of fingerprint since then had
begun to take its toll. The United States has fostered the fingerprint development to its
most intricate system.

Why fingerprint identification?

Fingerprints offer an infallible means of personal identification. The science of fingerprint

Identification stands out among all other forensic sciences for many reasons, including
the following.

 Has served all governments worldwide in providing accurate identification of

criminals. No two fingerprints have ever been found alike in many billions of
human and automated computer comparisons Fingerprints are the very basis for
criminal history foundation at every police agency.
 Established the first forensic professional organization, the International
Association for Identification (IAI), in 1915.
 Established the first professional certification program for forensic scientists, the
Al's Certified Latent Print Examiner program (in 1977), issuing certification to
those meeting stringent criteria and revoking certification for serious errors such
as erroneous identifications
 Remains the most commonly used forensic evidence worldwide - in most
jurisdictions fingerprint examination cases match or outnumber all other forensic
examination casework combined
 Continues to expand as the premier method for identifying persons with tens of
thousands of persons added to fingerprint repositories daily in America alone -
far outpacing similar databases in growth.
 Outperforms DNA and all other human identification systems to identify more
murderers, rapists, and other serious offenders (fingerprints solve ten times more
unknown suspect cases than DNA in most jurisdictions).

Other visible human characteristics change - fingerprints do not. In earlier

civilizations, branding and even maiming were used to mark the criminal for what he
was. The thief was deprived of the hand which committed the theft. The Romans
employed the tattoo needle to identify and prevent the desertion of mercenary soldiers.

Before the mid-1800s, law enforcement officers with extraordinary visual

memories, so-called "Camera eyes," identified previously arrested offenders by sight.
Photography lessened the burden on the memory but was, not the answer to the
criminal identification problem because personal appearances change.

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METHODS OF IDENTIFICATION BEFORE THE SCIENCE OF FINGERPRINTS WAS

IN USED

1. Tattoo Marks
2. Scar Marks
3. Anthropometry - The first scientific method of identification done by measuring
various bony structures of the human body devised by Alphonse Bertillon.

Alphonse Bertillon - Father of Scientific ldentification

Around 1870 a French anthropologist devised a system to measure and records

the dimensions of certain bony parts of the body. These measurements were reduced to
a formula which, theoretically, would apply only to one person and would not change
during his/her adult e. This Bertillon System, named after its inventor, Alphonse
Bertillon, was generally accepted for thirty years.

In 1888, Bertillon was made Chief of the newly created Department of identity in Paris,
where he used anthropometry as the main means of identification. He later introduced
fingerprints But relegated them to a secondary role in the category of special marks.

Bertillon was involved in the first recorded case of a conviction using fingerprints in
Paris in 1902 but still maintained that anthropometry was the superior system.

In 1903, Bertillon System never recovered, when a man named Will West was
sentenced to the U.s Penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kansas. There was already a
prisoner at the penitentiary at the time whose Bertillon measurements were, nearly
exact, and his name was William West.

Upon investigation, there were indeed two men. They looked exactly alike but were
allegedly not related. Their names were Will and William West respectively. Their

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Bertillon measurements were close to identify them as the same person. However, a
fingerprint comparison quickly identified them as two different people. The west men, it
was later discovered were identical twin brothers.

Origin of Fingerprints

Chinese

 are the ones noted to be the first user of Fingerprint

 use fingerprints as symbolism in the early part of their rituals until they utilize it in
the signing of a contract on the part of the illiterate.
 In China fingerprint is called " Hua Chi"

Emperor Te' in Shi (246-210 BC)

first Chinese ruler who devised a seal carved from white jade; on one side of it
was the name of the owner, and on the other side the thumb mark of the destitute.

Personalities in the Study of Fingerprints

1686 MARCELLO MALPIGHI

(GRANDFATHER OF DACTYLOSCOPY)

In 1686, Marcello Malpighi, a professor of anatomy at the

University of Bologna, noted in his treatise, ridges, Spirals, and loops
in fingerprints. He made no mention of their value as a tool for
individual identification. A layer of skin was named after him;
"Malpighi” layer, which Is approximately 1.8 mm thick.

An Italian Anatomist, who published his work "De Externo Tactus organo"
depicting the construction of the layers of the human skin. He described the ridges
found on the palmar surface of the hand which course in diverse and designs and the
pores which served as the mouth of the sweat glands.

He was noted for the discovery of the inner and outer structure of the skin

Dermis - Inner layer

Epidermis - outer layer

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1788 J.C.A. MAYER

A German doctor and anatomist published a book which was

an atlas of anatomical illustrations of Fingerprint. His remarks contain
a statement that pronounced one of the fundamental principles of
Fingerprint Science although the arrangement of the skin, ridges is
never duplicated in two persons; nevertheless, the Similarities are
closer among some individuals.

His book included detailed drawings of patterns and friction skin. He wrote:

"Although the arrangement of skin ridges is never duplicated in two persons,

nevertheless the similarities are closer among some individuals. In others, the
differences are marked, yet despite their peculiarities of the arrangement, all have a
certain likeness.”

He was the first to state that the prints of two different persons are never alike.

1858 SIR WILLIAM JAMES HERSCHEL

(FATHER OF CHIROSCOPY)

The English first began using fingerprints in July 1858, when

Sir William James Herschel, Chief Magistrate of the Googly district
in Jungipoor, India, first used fingerprints on native contracts. On a
whim, and with no thought toward personal identification, Herschel
had Rajyadhar Konai, a local businessman, impress his handprint
on a contract.

The idea was mere, to "frighten him out of all thought of repudiating his
signature”. The native was suitably impressed, and Herschel made a habit of requiring
palm prints, and later, simply the prince of the right index and middle fingers on every
contract made with the locals. Personal contact with the document, they believed, made
the contract more binding than if they simply signed it. Thus, the first wide-Scale,
modern-day use of fingerprints was started, not upon scientific evidence, but on
superstitious beliefs.

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1880 DR. HENRY FAULDS

During the 1970’2, Dr. Henry Faulds, from Beith, North

Ayrshire, was the Surgeon-Superintendent of Tsunami Hospital in
Tokyo, Japan, and took up the study of skin-furrows after noticing
finger marks on specimens of 'prehistoric' pottery.

A learned and industrious man, Dr. Faulds not only recognized

the importance of fingerprints as a means of identification but devised
a method of classification as well.

In 1880, he advocated the use of fingerprints in the detection of crimes. His

article On The Skin - Furrows of the Hand" points out his observation that chance prints
left at the scene of the crime would provide for identification of offenders when
apprehended. He discussed fingerprints as a means of personal identification, and the
use of printers ink as a method for obtaining such fingerprints.

He is also credited with the first fingerprint identification of a greasy fingerprint left
on an alcohol bottle.

1882 GILBERT THOMPSON

In 1882, Gilbert Thompson of the U.S. Geological Survey in New

Mexico used his thumbprint on a document to prevent Forgery. This is
the first known use of fingerprints in the United States.

1883 ARTHUR KOLLMANN

In the late 1800 s, Kollmann of Hamburg Germany was the first researcher to
address the formation of friction ridges on the fetus and the random physical stresses
and tensions which may have played a part in their growth.

1888 FRANCIS GALTON

Sir Francis Galton, a British anthropologist and a cousin of

Charles Darwin, began his observations of fingerprints as a means of
identification in the 1880s. He devised a practical system of filing based
on the ridge patterns.

In 1892, he published his book 'Fingerprints', establishing the

individuality and permanence of fingerprints. It included the first classification system for
fingerprints. Galton's primary interest in fingerprints was as an aid in determining
heredity and racial background.

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While he soon discovered that fingerprints offered no firm clues to an individual's

intelligence or genetic history, he was able to scientifically prove what Herschel and
Faults already suspected:

"That fingerprints do not change throughout an individual's lifetime, and that no two
fingerprints are the same".

According to his calculations, the odds of two individual fingerprints being the
same were 1 in 64 billion. Galton identified the characteristics by which fingerprints can
be identified. These same characteristics (minutiae) are still in use today and are often
referred to as Galton's details.

He was able to discover the three families of fingerprint patterns Arch, Loop &
Whorl. He is also credited for being the first scientist of friction skin identification who
established the first Civil Bureau of Personal Identification in London, England.

1891 JUAN VUCETICH

An Argentine Police Official began the first fingerprint files based

on Galton pattern types. He developed his system of classifying prints
that were officially adopted in Argentina and was used in most Spanish
peaking Country.

In 1982, Inspector Eduardo Alvarez, taking direction from Vucetich

took digital impressions from a crime scene. This led vucetich in making
the first criminal fingerprint identification. He was able to identify a woman by the name
Rojas, who had murdered her two sons and cut her own throat in an attempt to place
blame on another. Her bloody print was left on a door post proving her identity. She
confessed to the murders.

1897 AZIZUL HAQUE AND HEM CHANDRA BOSE

On 12 June 1897, the Council of the Governor-General of India approved a

committee report that fingerprints should be used for the classification of criminal
records. Later that year, the Calcutta (now Kolkata) Anthropocentric Bureau became the
world's first Fingerprint Bureau. Working in the Calcutta Anthropocentric Bureau (before
it became the Fingerprint Bureau) were Azazel Hague and Hem Chandra Bose. Hague
and Bose are the two Indian fingerprint experts credited with the primary development
of the Henry System of fingerprint classification (named for their supervisor, Edward
Richard Henry). The Henry classification system is still used in all English-speaking
countries (primarily as the manual filing system for accessing paper archive files that
have not been scanned and computerized).

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1900 SIR EDWARD RICHARD HENRY

(FATHER OF FINGERPRINTS)

On 2 April 1891, Henry was appointed to the office of the

Inspector General of the Bengal Police. In 1892 the police force adopted
the anthropocentric measuring system devised by Bertillon for the
identification of criminals

Around the same time, Henry became interested in the work of Galton and others
concerning the use o fingerprints to identify Criminals. Henry and Galton exchanged
regular letters During 1894 discussing the merits of fingerprints.

In January 1896, Henry Issued an order to the Bengali Police that criminal record
forms should not only display prisoner's anthropometric measurements but also the
prisoner/s rolled fingerprint impressions.

With the assistance of Azizul Hague and Hem Chandra Bose, Edward Henry
devised his classification system between July 1896 and February 1897. The Henry
fingerprint system enabled fingerprints to be easily 1iled, searched, and traced against
thousands of others. The simple system found worldwide acceptance within a few
years.

On July 1, 1901, the first fingerprint Bureau in the UK was established at

Scotland Yard. His system of identification finally replaces the Bertillionage system of
identification in France (Anthropometry of Alphonse Bertillon).

NEHEMIAH GREW

published a report before the Royal Society of London England describing the
ridges and the pores of the hands and feet.

GOVARD BIDLOO

published a thesis" Anatomia Humanis Corporis which emphasizes the

appearance and arrangement of the ridges of the thumb due to their importance.

MARY K. HOLLAND

the first American Instructress in Dactyloscopy

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1912 DR. EDMOND LOCARD

(FATHER OF POROSCOPY)

Professor at the University of Lyons in France, Locard

established the Institution of Criminalistics in 1910.

He made a remarkable statement on contact trace evidence,

"When two objects come into contact there is an exchange or material
from each to the other".

Locard studies and investigated identification using the position and variation of
pores as unique ridge characteristics. He presented evidence of identification in one
case at Court using poroscopy, even though the impression already contained many
characteristics in agreement.

Fingerprint Event in the Philippines

1. Mr. Jones - one who first taught fingerprint in the Philippine Constabulary in the
Year 1900.
2. Bureau of Prison - records show that in 1918, CARPETAS (Commitment and
Conviction Records) already used fingerprint.
3. Lt. Asa and N. Darby - established modern and complete fingerprint files for
Philippine Commonwealth during the reoccupation of the Philippines by the
American Forces.
4. Generoso Reyes - First Filipino Fingerprint Technician employed by the
Philippine Constabulary.
5. Isabela Bernales - first female Filipino Fingerprint Technician
6. Capt. Thomas Dugan - New York Police Department and Flaviano Guerrero,
FBI Washing ton gave the first examination in fingerprinting in 1927 and Agustin
Patricia of the Philippines, top the examination.
7. People of the Philippines vs. Medina - a first conviction based on fingerprint
leading judicial decision in the Philippine Jurisprudence.
8. Plaridel Education Institution - now known as the Philippine College of
Criminology, the first government recognized school to teach the Science of
Fingerprint and other Police Sciences.
9. The First National Bureau of Identification (1924) was created by the act of
Congress. The bureau was established with the U.S. DOJ (Washington D.C.)

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TOPIC LINK FOR VIDEO

The History of Fingerprints https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMLGROOcvWQ

Where Do Fingerprints Come

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qX6hFXHDmk4
From?

Introduction and History of

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gr5BhK6floI
Fingerprints

References:
Handbook on Fingerprint by Prof. Veneranda Poschor – Depayso, MSCrim, printed by
Wiseman’s Books Trading, Quezon City, 2000
.

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