Fig. 41 represents the method adopted by Caussé (Annales d'Hygiene Publique et de Médecine Légale, 2d series, vol. i., 1854) for the purpose of identifying the footprints of incriminated persons. The line A B is drawn between the internal part of the curve of the heel and the prominent point at the metatarso-phalangeal articulation. This line is divided by others equidistant at right angles from the first, leaving a number of divisions which serve as guides for measurement and for tracing the internal border of the footprints. It will be seen by Fig. 41 the variations that may take place under different circumstances, and this may be considered in every way to be a safe and certain guide, unless the bottom of the foot is so smeared with blood as to prevent the recognition of its

contour.

It is often of the utmost importance that a mold should be taken of the footprints, and when one is found that is the most satisfactory, the method of Hougilon may be resorted to. This consists in heating the impressed ground to 220° F., or more, which may be done by holding over it a shallow pan containing burning charcoal, or more quickly and simply by the use of a painter's benzine lamp, and then dusting the heated impression with ground paraffine. When the soil is cool the paraffine may be removed for a mold of plaster of Paris, or electro-metallurgical reproduction.

RIGHT- AND LEFT-HANDEDNESS.

A consideration to be regarded is the question of right- or left-handedness; the movements of the suspected individual should therefore be closely watched. The degree and situation of a possible asymmetry should be determined, and his boot-heels inspected-in fact, it is always wise to closely examine the clothing of a prisoner with reference to its condition, fit, and newness. A trap into which the prisoner unwarily falls may be arranged by asking him suddenly to hold up his right or left hand, and he will usually not consider the result. A case is referred to in which Sir Astley Cooper was called as a witness where the prisoner was pressed to admit that he was left-handed, but denied the accusation. "When called upon, however, to plead to the indictment, he unconsciously held up his left hand."

GENERAL SUGGESTIONS AS TO EXAMINATIONS.

The conduct of the examination of a suspected person should be thorough and painstaking. The memory of past occurrences should be investigated and the consistency of answers noted. His body should be carefully gone over, and, if possible, an outline figure should be provided upon which the location of body-marks are noted, with measurements and explanatory text. Not only is every external part to be inspected, but evidences of mutilation or disease alteration should be looked for, and the presence of artificial pigments, powder grains, tattooing, the scars of venereal and other sores recognized. The teeth must be separately looked at, and their appearance, condition, and the fact recorded whether and how they are filled.

If possible, a photograph is to be secured, and it is best to have two, one of the full face and the other of the profile. The photographer should carefully avoid any sources of distortion; lighting the face uniformly, and avoiding the forward projection of the upper or lower half. If there be any bodily peculiarities, or extensive tattooing, a photographic representation should be made. As a rule, old photographs, carelessly taken, are not of much use, and are often unreliable for positive identification. I have seen three pictures of one New York criminal taken at different times, but all during a criminal career of adult life, which are utterly dissimilar. At the Prefecture in Paris, although photographs accompany the identification cards, very little value is placed upon their help except as an auxiliary aid.

In these days of progress, criminal registry is becoming so general that some notice should be made of the admirable work of Bertillon.

M. Alphonse Bertillon has invented an admirable system, which has been adopted by the French Government and has found its way to this country, being in vogue in Boston and Chicago, and may serve to fix the identity of criminals coming from these places, although it is not practiced as systematically as in France. In ten years he has made measurements of no less than 100,000 criminals, preserving the results and classifying them so that it is possible to accurately hit upon the required description of any suspected person, and I have myself seen habitual criminals or recedivists positively identified at the Prefecture after a few minutes' search.

It is Bertillon's method to tabulate the measurements, together with a description of certain physical appearances, and a front and profile photograph, which are recorded upon a card which is filed away with others within easy reach.

There are four chief measurements: (1) the head length; (2) the head breadth; (3) the middle-finger length; and (4) the foot length-the measurements of these parts being found to be more constant than others.

These four are still further subdivided into "small," "medium," and "large," so that there are in all eighty-one principal headings which may include the case of the particular prisoner. There are still further subdivisions of these primary headings, the same triplex classification being carried out. The height of the trunk is made the basis of one division, while the ear measurements are recorded so that its length and breadth are taken, the height, the span, and cubit forming others. The color of the eye is determined, and is classified under seven headings, and finally the records are grouped and subdivided, and upon each body-marks and special appearances are detailed.

Bertillon's classification of appearances presented by the ear includes the variations presented in Fig. 60. He also refers to the configuration of the nose and the characteristics of the forehead, and these are portrayed in Figs. 42-59. According to this investigator the ear undergoes very little change. Contorted and swollen ears often indicate the existence of previous insanity.

It can be seen that numerous classifications are possible, and it is comparatively easy to nearly approximate the exact description of any particular person.

The possibilities of this admirable system are unlimited, and doubtless when insurance companies subject their applicants to some general form

Noses Classified according to Bridge and Base. (Bertillon.) By permission of S. S. McClure Co.

of measurement at the time of taking policies, there will be no likelihood of conspiracies for the purpose of illegally obtaining premiums.

Drs. Smart and Greenleaf, of the Medical Department of the United States Army, have adopted a system which has its advantages, although it is less reliable than the Bertillon system.

Fig. 60.-Some Classifications of the Form of the Ear. (Bertillon.)

According to Smart and Greenleaf, desertions from the United States army are believed to greatly exceed deserters who are apt to repeat their offense. It is believed to be possible to detect such "repeaters" if the body-marks of all recruits are recorded, if all deserters are recorded, and if all recruits are compared with previous deserters. In like manner men discharged for cause should be excluded from reëntry. The originators of this plan do not believe in the value of Bertillon's method before courts-martial, because of possible inaccuracies and allowable errors, but only as a confirmatory proof when following coincident indelible marks, when height, age, and hair fairly correspond. In other words, Bertillon's collateral evidence is practically primary evidence. Smart and Greenleaf use for each man an outline-figure card, giving anterior and posterior surfaces, divided by dotted lines into regions, which are filed alphabetically at the Surgeon-General's office at Washington. As a man goes out for cause, or deserts, his card is filed separately, and the cards of recruits are compared with the last file.

"To make this comparison, a register in two volumes is opened, one for light-eyed and one for dark-eyed men. Each is subdivided into a fair number of pages, according to height of entrance, and each page is ruled in columns for body regions. Tattooed and non-tattooed men of similar height and eyes are entered on opposite pages. Recruits without tattoos are not compared with deserters with tattoos; but recruits with tattoos are compared with both classes. On the register, S., T., B., M., etc., are used as abbreviations for scar, tattoo, birth-mark, mole, etc. One inch each side of recorded height allowed for variation or defective measurement. When probability of identity appears, the original card is used for comparison."