| ||||||
OCR Rendition - approximate
I 1NTRODUCTION 13 division of the scale ; so the results, if noted at all, are subject to grave doubt. Applying this scale, it appears that digits on opposite hands, which bear the same name, are more nearly related together than digits bearing different names, in about the proportion of three to two. It seems also, that of all the digits, none are so nearly related as the middle finger to the two adjacent ones. ; In. the ninth chapter, various methods of indexing are discussed and proposed, by which a set of finger prints may be so described by a few letters, that it can be easily searched for and found in any large collection, just as the name of a person is found ,in a directory. The procedure adopted, is to apply the Arch-Loop-Whorl classification to all ten digits, describing each digit in the order in which it is taken, by the letter a, 1, or w, as the case may be, and arranging the results in alphabetical sequence. The downward direction of the slopes of loops on the fore-fingers is also taken into account, whether it be towards the Inner or the Outer side, thus replacing L on the fore-finger by either ' i or o. Many alternative methods are examined, including both the recognition and the non-recognition of all sloped patterns. Also the gain in differentiation, when all the ten digits are catalogued, instead of only a few of them. There is so much correlation between the different fingers, and so much peculiarity in each., that theoretical notions of the value of different methods of classification are of little worth ; it is only by actual trial that the best can be determined.
|