e many cases of mistaken
identification have occurred through the use of these older systems,
to date the fingerprints of no two individuals have been found to be
identical.

The background and history of the science of fingerprints constitute
an eloquent drama of human lives, of good and of evil. Nothing, I
think, has played a part more exciting than that enacted by the
fascinating loops, whorls, and arches etched on the fingers of a human
being.

[Signature: J. Edgar Hoover]

J. EDGAR HOOVER,
_Director._

_CONTENTS_

_Chapter_ _Page_

I. The Identification Division of the FBI 1

II. Types of Patterns and Their Interpretation 5

III. Questionable Patterns 71

IV. The Classification Formula and Extensions 87

V. Classification of Scarred Patterns--Amputation--Missing at
Birth 98

VI. Filing Sequence 103

VII. Searching and Referencing 109

VIII. How To Take Inked Fingerprints 114

IX. Problems in the Taking of Inked Fingerprints 118

X. Problems and Practices in Fingerprinting the Dead 131

XI. Establishment of a Local Fingerprint Identification Bureau 160

XII. Latent Impressions 173

XIII. Powdering and Lifting Latent Impressions 175

XIV. Chemical Development of Latent Impressions 177

XV. The Use of the Fingerprint Camera 184

XVI. Preparation of Fingerprint Charts for Court Testimony 190

XVII. Unidentified Latent Fingerprint File 194

CHAPTER I

_The Identification Division of the FBI_

The FBI Identification Division was established in 1924 when the
records of the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the
Leavenworth Penitentiary Bureau were consolidated in Washington, D.C.
The original collection of only 810,000 fingerprint cards has expanded
into many millions. The establishment of the FBI Identification
Division resulted from the fact that police officials of the Nation
saw the need for a centralized pooling of all fingerprint cards and
all arrest records.

Th