History of Fingerprints

In 14th century Persia, various official government papers had fingerprints and one doctor observed that no two fingerprints were exactly alike.

In 1686, Marcello Malpighi, a professor of anatomy at the University of Bologna, noted in his treatise; ridges, spirals and loops in fingerprints.

The English had first began using fingerprints in July 1858 when Sir William James Herschel had first used fingerprints on native contracts.


Fingerprint types

Latent prints
Although the word latent means hidden or invisible, in modern usage for forensic science the latent means any chance of accidental impression left by friction ridge skin on a surface, regardless of whether it is visible or invisible at the time of deposition.
Latent prints may exhibit only a small portion of the surface of the finger and may be smudged, distorted, overlapping, or any combination, depending on how they were deposited.
Patent prints
These are friction ridge impressions obvious to the human eye and are caused by a transfer of foreign material on the finger, onto a surface.Finger deposits can include materials such as ink, dirt, or blood onto a surface.
Plastic prints
A plastic print is a friction ridge impression from a finger or palm deposited in a material that retains the shape of the ridge detail.


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