Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 1905

SIR FRANCIS GALTON (1822-1911) Finger prints. Macmillan 1892 xvi, 216 pp., illus., 16 plates (1 double col.). 22.3 cm.

For more information on this author or work, see number: 1902

The value of the fine ridges in the epidermis of the palmar surfaces of the fingers as a means of identification was known to the Chinese and others long before Galton proposed their use for such purposes. But it was Galton whose detailed studies of fingerprints led to the adoption of his classification which is still the basis for the system used throughout the world. Here a small anatomical detail is put to practical use.

Cited references: Cushing G81; Garrison-Morton 186; Osler 1598; Waller 19650

Gift of John Martin, M.D.