Henry Classification System
Encyclopedia
The Henry Classification System is a long-standing method by which fingerprint
s are sorted by physiological characteristics for one-to-many searching. Developed by Sir Edward Henry
in the late 19th century for criminal investigations in British India, it was the basis of modern day AFIS classification methods up until the 1990s. In recent years, the Henry Classification System has generally been replaced by ridge flow classification approaches.
discovered that fingerprints remain stable over time and are unique across individuals; as Chief Magistrate of the Hooghly district in Jungipoor, India, in 1877 he was the first to institute the use of fingerprints and handprints as a means of identification, signing legal documents, and authenticating transactions. The fingerprint records collected at this time were used for one-to-one verification only; as a means in which records would be logically filed and searched had not yet been invented.
In 1880, Dr. Henry Faulds
wrote to Sir Charles Darwin
, explaining a system for classifying fingerprints, asking for his assistance in their development. Darwin was unable to assist Dr. Faulds, but agreed to forward the letter to his cousin, Sir Francis Galton
. Dr. Henry Faulds and Sir Francis Galton did not engage in much correspondence, but in the following decade, they
devised very similar fingerprint classification systems. It is unclear whom to credit for the classification system. However, we do know that Dr. Henry Faulds was the first European to publish the notion of scientific use of fingerprints in the identification of criminals. In 1892, Sir Francis Galton published his highly influential book, Finger Prints in which he described his classification system that include three main fingerprint patterns - loops, whorls and arches.
At the time, the alternative to fingerprints was Bertillonage, also known as Anthropometry
. Developed by Alphonse Bertillon
in 1879, Bertillonage consists of a meticulous method of measuring body parts for the use of identifying criminals. In 1892, the British Indian police force adopted Anthropometry. Two years later, Sir Edward Henry, Inspector General of the Bengal Police in India became interested in the use of fingerprints for the use of criminal identification.
Influenced by Galton's Finger Prints, the men corresponded regularly in 1894; and in January 1896, Sir Henry ordered the Bengali Police to collect prisoners’ fingerprints in addition to their anthropometric measurements. Expanding on Galton's classification system, Sir Henry developed the Henry Classification System between the years 1896 and 1925. He was primarily assisted by Azizul Haque
who developed a mathematical formula to supplement Henry's idea of sorting in 1024 pigeon holes based on fingerprint patterns, and Hem Chandra Bose, another Henry's assistant also helped refine the system, and both, on the recommendation of Henry received recognition years later by the British Government for their contribution. The
Henry Classification System was to find worldwide acceptance in 1899.
In 1897 a commission was established to compare Anthropometry to the Henry Classification System. As the results were overwhelmingly in favor of fingerprints, fingerprinting was introduced to British India by the Governor General, and in 1900, replaced Anthropometry. Also in 1900, Henry was sent to Natal, South Africa to assist in the reorganization of the local police force and establish a fingerprint bureau. His efforts in South Africa were highly
successful; and in 1901 Sir Henry returned to Britain and was appointed Assistant Commissioner of Scotland Yard, head of the Criminal Investigation Department. In the same year, the first UK fingerprint bureau was established at Scotland Yard. (Harling 1996) (Met) (Early)
The Henry Classification System assigns each finger a number according to the order in which
is it located in the hand, beginning with the right thumb as number 1 and ending with the left
pinky as number 10. The system also assigns a numerical value to fingers that contain a whorl
pattern; fingers 1 and 2 each have a value of 16, fingers 3 and 4 have a value of 8, and so on,
with the final two fingers having a value of 1. Fingers with a non-whorl pattern, such as an arch or loop pattern, have a value of zero. (Harling 1996). The value of 1 is added to each sum of the whorls with the maxium
obtainable being 32. Thus, the primary classification is a fraction between
1/1 to 32/32 where 1/1 would indicate no whorl patterns and 32/32 would
mean that all fingers had whorl patterns. (Roberts 2008)
). When AFIS technology was first introduced, it was primarily envisioned to be used as a tool to expedite the manual searching of fingerprint records, eventually reducing matching time requirements from months to hours. At that time, most forensic hardcopy fingerprint files were sorted according to the Henry Classification System and the first AFIS solutions attempted to emulate the Henry process.
Up until the mid 1990s, it was not unusual for a state or city to continue to maintain its physical file of Henry-sorted fingerprint cards just in case a disaster occurred in the AFIS. As processing speeds, network throughput capacities, and system reliability increased, it was no longer necessary for automated fingerprint matching to mirror what had been the manual processes.
AFIS began to classify fingerprints according to the distance between the core and delta, minutiae locations, and pattern type; the later being based on the Henry Classification System. Presently, there are some forensic AFIS solutions (e.g. state and local) that still employ a Henry Classification System based manual fingerprint filing. However, other than for legacy systems, the Henry Classification System is not essential for automated systems. (Carlton)
Fingerprint
A fingerprint in its narrow sense is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. In a wider use of the term, fingerprints are the traces of an impression from the friction ridges of any part of a human hand. A print from the foot can also leave an impression of friction ridges...
s are sorted by physiological characteristics for one-to-many searching. Developed by Sir Edward Henry
Edward Henry
Sir Edward Richard Henry, 1st Baronet GCVO KCB CSI KPM was the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis from 1903 to 1918....
in the late 19th century for criminal investigations in British India, it was the basis of modern day AFIS classification methods up until the 1990s. In recent years, the Henry Classification System has generally been replaced by ridge flow classification approaches.
History and development
Although fingerprint characteristics were studied as far back as the mid-1600s, the use of fingerprints as a means of identification did not occur until the mid-19th century. In roughly 1859, Sir John HerschelJohn Herschel
Sir John Frederick William Herschel, 1st Baronet KH, FRS ,was an English mathematician, astronomer, chemist, and experimental photographer/inventor, who in some years also did valuable botanical work...
discovered that fingerprints remain stable over time and are unique across individuals; as Chief Magistrate of the Hooghly district in Jungipoor, India, in 1877 he was the first to institute the use of fingerprints and handprints as a means of identification, signing legal documents, and authenticating transactions. The fingerprint records collected at this time were used for one-to-one verification only; as a means in which records would be logically filed and searched had not yet been invented.
In 1880, Dr. Henry Faulds
Henry Faulds
Dr Henry Faulds was a Scottish scientist who is noted for the development of fingerprinting.-Early life:Faulds was born in the Scottish town of Beith, North Ayrshire into a family of modest means...
wrote to Sir Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
, explaining a system for classifying fingerprints, asking for his assistance in their development. Darwin was unable to assist Dr. Faulds, but agreed to forward the letter to his cousin, Sir Francis Galton
Francis Galton
Sir Francis Galton /ˈfrɑːnsɪs ˈgɔːltn̩/ FRS , cousin of Douglas Strutt Galton, half-cousin of Charles Darwin, was an English Victorian polymath: anthropologist, eugenicist, tropical explorer, geographer, inventor, meteorologist, proto-geneticist, psychometrician, and statistician...
. Dr. Henry Faulds and Sir Francis Galton did not engage in much correspondence, but in the following decade, they
devised very similar fingerprint classification systems. It is unclear whom to credit for the classification system. However, we do know that Dr. Henry Faulds was the first European to publish the notion of scientific use of fingerprints in the identification of criminals. In 1892, Sir Francis Galton published his highly influential book, Finger Prints in which he described his classification system that include three main fingerprint patterns - loops, whorls and arches.
At the time, the alternative to fingerprints was Bertillonage, also known as Anthropometry
Anthropometry
Anthropometry refers to the measurement of the human individual...
. Developed by Alphonse Bertillon
Alphonse Bertillon
Alphonse Bertillon was a French police officer and biometrics researcher who created anthropometry, an identification system based on physical measurements. Anthropometry was the first scientific system used by police to identify criminals. Before that time, criminals could only be identified...
in 1879, Bertillonage consists of a meticulous method of measuring body parts for the use of identifying criminals. In 1892, the British Indian police force adopted Anthropometry. Two years later, Sir Edward Henry, Inspector General of the Bengal Police in India became interested in the use of fingerprints for the use of criminal identification.
Influenced by Galton's Finger Prints, the men corresponded regularly in 1894; and in January 1896, Sir Henry ordered the Bengali Police to collect prisoners’ fingerprints in addition to their anthropometric measurements. Expanding on Galton's classification system, Sir Henry developed the Henry Classification System between the years 1896 and 1925. He was primarily assisted by Azizul Haque
Azizul Haque
Azizul Haque Azizul Haque Azizul Haque (also Azizul Hacque , Khan Bahadur Qazi Azizul Huq, Quazi Syed Azizul Haque was a police officer of British India who worked with Edward Henry to develop the Henry Classification System of fingerprints. Haque, reportedly, provided the mathematical basis for...
who developed a mathematical formula to supplement Henry's idea of sorting in 1024 pigeon holes based on fingerprint patterns, and Hem Chandra Bose, another Henry's assistant also helped refine the system, and both, on the recommendation of Henry received recognition years later by the British Government for their contribution. The
Henry Classification System was to find worldwide acceptance in 1899.
In 1897 a commission was established to compare Anthropometry to the Henry Classification System. As the results were overwhelmingly in favor of fingerprints, fingerprinting was introduced to British India by the Governor General, and in 1900, replaced Anthropometry. Also in 1900, Henry was sent to Natal, South Africa to assist in the reorganization of the local police force and establish a fingerprint bureau. His efforts in South Africa were highly
successful; and in 1901 Sir Henry returned to Britain and was appointed Assistant Commissioner of Scotland Yard, head of the Criminal Investigation Department. In the same year, the first UK fingerprint bureau was established at Scotland Yard. (Harling 1996) (Met) (Early)
Explanation
The Henry Classification System allows for logical categorization of ten-print fingerprint records into primary groupings based on fingerprint pattern types. This system reduces the effort necessary to search large numbers of fingerprint records by classifying fingerprint records according to gross physiological characteristics. Subsequent searches (manual or automated) utilizing granular characteristics such as minutiae are greatly simplified. The Henry Classification System is a method to classify fingerprints and exclude potential candidates. This system should NEVER be used for individualization.The Henry Classification System assigns each finger a number according to the order in which
is it located in the hand, beginning with the right thumb as number 1 and ending with the left
pinky as number 10. The system also assigns a numerical value to fingers that contain a whorl
pattern; fingers 1 and 2 each have a value of 16, fingers 3 and 4 have a value of 8, and so on,
with the final two fingers having a value of 1. Fingers with a non-whorl pattern, such as an arch or loop pattern, have a value of zero. (Harling 1996). The value of 1 is added to each sum of the whorls with the maxium
obtainable being 32. Thus, the primary classification is a fraction between
1/1 to 32/32 where 1/1 would indicate no whorl patterns and 32/32 would
mean that all fingers had whorl patterns. (Roberts 2008)
Impact on current biometric systems
The Henry Classification System has been a highly influential force in the formation of current AFIS technology (Automated Fingerprint Identification SystemAutomated Fingerprint Identification System
Automated fingerprint identification is the process of automatically matching one or many unknown fingerprints against a database of known and unknown prints...
). When AFIS technology was first introduced, it was primarily envisioned to be used as a tool to expedite the manual searching of fingerprint records, eventually reducing matching time requirements from months to hours. At that time, most forensic hardcopy fingerprint files were sorted according to the Henry Classification System and the first AFIS solutions attempted to emulate the Henry process.
Up until the mid 1990s, it was not unusual for a state or city to continue to maintain its physical file of Henry-sorted fingerprint cards just in case a disaster occurred in the AFIS. As processing speeds, network throughput capacities, and system reliability increased, it was no longer necessary for automated fingerprint matching to mirror what had been the manual processes.
AFIS began to classify fingerprints according to the distance between the core and delta, minutiae locations, and pattern type; the later being based on the Henry Classification System. Presently, there are some forensic AFIS solutions (e.g. state and local) that still employ a Henry Classification System based manual fingerprint filing. However, other than for legacy systems, the Henry Classification System is not essential for automated systems. (Carlton)
External links
- The Henry Classification System
- Javascript implementation of Henry Classification
- http://ridgesandfurrows.homestead.com
- http://www.correctionhistory.org/html/chronicl/dcjs/html/nyidbur2.html