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OCR Rendition - approximate
138 FINGER PRINTS CHAI, unequal classes. Again, there is little chance of mistake in noting it, the impression of the thumb on the one side and those of the remaining fingers on the other, affording easy guidance to the eye and judgment. These considerations determined the method I now use exclusively, by which Table IX. was compiled, and to which the second column of Table X., headed " i and o in fore-fingers," refers. The heading of the third column, "no slope," explains itself, no account having been there taken of any slopes whatever, so i and o disappear, having become merged under 1. The table gives a very favourable impression of the differentiating power of all these methods of indexing. By the " i and o fore-finger" method, it requires as many as 7 6 different index-headings to include the finger prints of 100 different persons, 195 of 300 persons, and 285 of 500. The number of entries under each index-heading varies greatly ; reference to the index of 100 sets showing no less than six entries (Nos. -60 -6 5) under one of them, and four entries (Nos. 18-2.1 and 37-40) under each of two others. Thus, although a large portion of the 100 sets are solitary entries under their several headings, and can be found by a single reference, the remainder are grouped together like the commoner surnames in a directory. They are troublesome to distinguish, and cannot be subdivided at all except by supplementary characteristics, such as the number of ridges in some specified part of the pattern, or the character of the cores.
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