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The Antiquity of the “Finger-Print” Method

Abstract

SIR WILLIAM HERSCHEL, in his letter to NATURE (NOV. 22, p. 77), expresses his unbelief in the statement in the Nineteenth Century (No. 211, p. 365), which ascribes to the Chinese the original invention of the “finger-print” method of personal identification. While I do not know upon what Mr. Spearman has founded this statement, I have collected from a few sources some facts which seem to justify the claim made on behalf of the Chinese.

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MINAKATA, K. The Antiquity of the “Finger-Print” Method. Nature 51, 199–200 (1894). https://doi.org/10.1038/051199a0

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