If you look at the tips of your fingers and toes, you will see patterns of circles and swirls on the ridges of your skin. No other person in the world living or dead, has exactly the same fingerprints as you have. Even though your body grows and changes in many different ways, the exact patterns of circles and swirls of your fingers and toes will remain unchanged.
This interesting fact was known to the Chinese some 2,000 years ago. And so, the Chinese emperors used to sign important documents by affixing their thumb prints on them. In 1892, an English scientist named Sir Francis Galton was the first prove this fact. Sir Edward Henry developed a system for identifying criminals on the basis of this discovery. Since then the police, all over the world, has been making its use for tracking down the criminals.
Sir Edward Henry divided all fingerprints into ‘types’ of patterns: loops, central pocket loops, double loops, arches, whorls and accidentals. By counting the ridges between two prints in the pattern, each of the ten fingers could be classified into a certain group. Then you take all the groups together as a unit and you have a complete system of classifying fingerprints. Police department keep millions of prints in their office files. With their help, criminals can be identified quickly. The chances that two people might have the same ridge pattern on even one finger, are one in twenty-four million.
You can get a clearer picture of what your prints look like by pressing your finger tips or toe tips on an inked pad and then on a white paper, your prints will be produced in exact detail.
Fingerprints and foot prints provide foolproof identification of missing persons, amnesia victims and criminals to the police.
