application of which destroys the spores in the soil. It is important that diseased plants should be burned, also that cruciferous weeds, such as shepherd’s purse, charlock, &c., should not be allowed to grow in places where plants of the same order are in cultivation.
.jpg) |
| Finger-and-Toe (Plasmodiophora Brassicae). |
| 1, Turnip attacked by the disease, reduced. 2, A cell of the tissue containing the plasmodium; the smaller cells at the sides are unaffected. 3, Infected cell, showing spore formation. 2, 3, highly magnified. |
FINGER-PRINTS. The use of finger-prints as a system of
identification (q.v.) is of very ancient origin, and was known
from the earliest days in the East when the impression of his
thumb was the monarch’s sign-manual. A relic of this practice
is still preserved in the formal confirmation of a legal document
by “delivering” it as one’s “act and deed.” The permanent
character of the finger-print was first put forward scientifically
in 1823 by J. E. Purkinje, an eminent professor of physiology,
who read a paper before the university of Breslau, adducing nine
standard types of impressions and advocating a system of classification
which attracted no great attention. Bewick, the
English draughtsman, struck with the delicate qualities of the
lineation, made engravings of the impression of two of his finger-tips
and used them as signatures for his work. Sir Francis
Galton, who laboured to introduce finger-prints, points out that
they were proposed for the identification of Chinese immigrants
when registering their arrival in the United States. In India,
Sir William Herschel desired to use finger-prints in the courts
of the Hugli district to prevent false personation and fix
the identity upon the executants of documents. The Bengal
police under the wise administration of Sir E. R. Henry, afterwards
chief commissioner of the London metropolitan police,
usefully adopted finger-prints for the detection of crime, an
example followed in many public departments in India. A
transfer of property is attested by the thumb-mark, so are
documents when registered, and advances made to opium-growers
or to labourers on account of wages, or to contracts
signed under the emigration law, or medical certificates to
vouch for the persons examined, all tending to check the frauds
and impostures constantly attempted.
The prints depend upon a peculiarity seen in the human hand and to some extent in the human foot. The skin is traversed in all directions by creases and ridges, which are ineradicable and show no change from childhood to extreme old age. The persistence of the markings of the finger-tips has been proved beyond all question, and this universally accepted quality has been the basis of the present system of identification. The impressions, when examined, show that the ridges appear in certain fixed patterns, from which an alphabet of signs or a system of notation has been arrived at for convenience of record. As the result of much experiment a fourfold scheme of classification has been evolved, and the various types employed are styled “arches,” “loops,” “whorls” and “composites.” There are seven subclasses, and all are perfectly distinguishable by an expert, who can describe each by its particular symbol in the code arranged, so that the whole “print” can be read as a distinct and separate expression. Very few, and the simplest, appliances are required for taking the print—a sheet of white paper, a tin slab, and some printer’s ink. Scars or malformations do not interfere with the result.
The unchanging character of the finger-prints has repeatedly helped in the detection of crime. We may quote the case of the thief who broke into a residence and among other things helped himself to a glass of wine, leaving two finger-prints upon the tumbler which were subsequently found to be identical with those of a notorious criminal who was arrested, pleaded guilty and was convicted. Another burglar effected entrance by removing a pane of glass from a basement window, but, unhappily for him, left his imprints, which were referred to the registry and found to agree exactly with those of a convict at large; his address was known, and when visited some of the stolen property was found in his possession. In India a murderer was identified by the brown mark of a blood-stained thumb he had left when rummaging amongst the papers of the deceased. This man was convicted of theft but not of the murder.
The keystone to the whole system is the central office where the register or index of all criminals is kept for ready reference. The operators need no special gifts or lengthy training; method and accuracy suffice, and abundant checks exist to obviate incorrect classification and reduce the liability to error.
Authorities.—F. Galton, Finger Prints (1892), Fingerprint Directories (1895); E. R. Henry, Classification and Uses of Finger Prints; A. Yvert, L’Identification par les empreintes digitales palmaires (1905); K. Windt, R. S. Kodicek, Daktyloskopie. Verwertung von Fingerabdrücken zu Identifizierungszwecken (Vienna, 1904); E. Loeard, La Dactyloscopie. Identification des récidivistes par les empreintes digitales (1904); H. Faulds, Guide to Finger-Print Identification (1905); H. Gross, Criminal Investigation (trans. J. and J. C. Adam, 1907). (A. G.)
FINGO, or Fengu (Ama-Fengu, “wanderers”), a Bantu-Negro
people, allied to the Zulu family, who have given their
name to the district of Fingoland, the S.W. portion of the
Transkei division of the Cape province. The Fingo tribes were
formed from the nations broken up by Chaka and his Zulu;
after some years of oppression by the Xosa they appealed to the
Cape government in 1835, and were permitted by Sir Benjamin
D’Urban to settle on the banks of the Great Fish river. They
have been always loyal to the British, and have steadily advanced
in social respects. They have largely adapted themselves to
western culture, wearing European clothes, supporting their
schools by voluntary contributions, editing newspapers, translating
English poetry, and setting their national songs to correct
music. The majority call themselves Christians and many of
them have intermarried with Europeans. (See Kaffirs.)
FINIAL (a variant of “final”; Lat. finis, end), an architectural
term for the termination of a pinnacle, gable end,
buttress, or canopy, consisting of a bunch of foliage, which
bears a close affinity to the crockets (q.v.) running up the gables,
turrets or spires, and in some cases may be formed by uniting
four or more crockets together. Sometimes the term is incorrectly
applied to a small pinnacle of which it is only the
termination (see Epi).
FINIGUERRA, MASO [i.e. Tommaso] (1426–1464), Florentine
goldsmith, draughtsman, and engraver, whose name is distinguished
in the history of art and craftsmanship for reasons which
are partly mythical. Vasari represents him as having been the
first inventor of the art of engraving (using that word in its
popular sense of taking impressions on paper from designs
engraved on metal plates), and Vasari’s account was universally
accepted and repeated until recent research proved it erroneous.
What we actually know from contemporary documents of
Finiguerra, his origin, his life, and his work, is as follows. He
