We know that ridges of our fingertips from certain patterns. In fact, the Chinese have used finger prints for hundreds of years in various forms and for various purposes.
But the use of fingerprints in detecting criminals is a recent development. Dr. Henry Faulds of England was the first man to suggest that finger prints be used to identify criminals, in 1880. Sir Francis Galton, a noted English scientist, scientifically established the fact that no two finger prints were alike in 1892. He was the first man to set up a collection of fingerprint records.
The British Government ordered a Commission to study the idea of using a finger print system in the identification of criminals. One of the members of this Commission, Sir Edward Henry devised a system of classifying and filing finger prints. This allowed rapid matching of filing finger prints and provided speed in crime detection.
All finger impression are divided according to Sir Henry’s system, into the following types of patterns:
Loops, central pocket loops, double loops, arches, tented arches, whorls and accidentals. By counting the ridges between the fixed points in the pattern, it is possible to classify each of 10 fingers into definite group. The 10 fingers are then considered as a unit to obtain the complete classification. With this system, finger prints are filed in a sequence as a record. An office can contain millions of prints, and yet identification can be established in a few minute!
Today, all aliens have to be fingerprinted, and many industries vital to the national defence require finger printing of their employees.
