Forensic Science: Fingerprints ( 2 Min Read )
Some interesting information on fingerprints, the secondary DNA
Ancient Chinese were the first to use fingerprint for personal identification. They used thumbprint in place of a signature on legal conveyances and criminal confessions. Johannes Purkinje, a Czech physiologist was the first person to devise a system of classifying fingerprints. He published a thesis, in which he described different print patterns and gave them names.
Before fingerprints, people measured bodies for identification. This system was called Bertillonage, named after its creator Alphonse Bertillon. The system took 11 measurements, height, sitting, standing, length of the arms etc. As fingerprints became popular, Bertillon’s system fell out of use.
Dactyloscopy is the name given to the examination of fingerprints. It comes from the Greek words ‘ daktylos’ meaning finger and ‘skopein’ meaning to examine.
Fingerprints are impressions made by the ridges on the ends of the fingers and thumbs. These ridges provide friction, or traction, when we grasp objects so that those objects don’t slip through our fingers. Scientists also believe that they may enhance our sense of touch. The skin’s sebaceous glands produce natural oils which, together with salts produced by the sweat glands, leave a fingerprint residue when we touch objects.
At three months gestation human beings acquire fingerprints, that are unique for every human being, even identical twins. The do not change with age, growth, superficial burns, cuts and scrapes as the original pattern is maintained when the new skin grows. Interestingly just like fingerprints, no two glove prints are same. Investigators can find the type and maybe even the size of the glove worn. Koalas is the only animal that have fingerprints virtually indistinguishable from those of human beings.
There are 3 types of fingerprints- latent, visible & plastic. Latent prints are invisible to the human eye and are obtained from hard surfaces such as glass or wood. Visible prints are those that result from fingers stained with blood, ink, paint or similar. Plastic print is an impression made on soft surfaces like soap or cheese.
Sir William Herschel is generally recognized as being the first person to use fingerprints as a means of identification. He was a magistrate and government administrator in colonial India. He began using fingerprints in 1858, to identify illiterate prisoners, workers and as a too to seal contracts.
Mark Twain was the first author to utilize fingerprint evidence to solve a fictional crime, in his books “Life on the Mississippi’ and ‘The Tragedy of Pudd’n Head Wilson. BTW, it is usually impossible to obtain fingerprints from textiles and carpets as textile fibers absorb the oils and moisture present on the fingers and are very porous.
J Edgar Hoover is responsible for starting the first national fingerprint register. He was the Director of FBI and for almost 48 years, from 1924 until his death in 1972, is credited for establishing one of the best forensic laboratories in the world. The FBI’s fingerprint database is the largest in the world.
World War II saw a boom in fingerprint collection. By 1943, the collection included over 70 million prints from soldiers, agents, military suppliers etc. To manage this explosion of information, the agency moved to a big warehouse, hired and trained thousands of women to sort prints 10 hours a day, six days a week.
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