1 00:00:00,560 --> 00:00:03,760 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:03,800 --> 00:00:13,760 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot Com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,840 --> 00:00:16,760 Speaker 1: I'm Fair Dowdy and I'm Delina Chok reboarding, and today 4 00:00:16,760 --> 00:00:19,239 Speaker 1: we're going to start the podcast by telling you a 5 00:00:19,480 --> 00:00:24,040 Speaker 1: story about two men with the last name West. So 6 00:00:24,560 --> 00:00:27,720 Speaker 1: in nineteen o three, a guy named will West was 7 00:00:27,840 --> 00:00:32,600 Speaker 1: admitted into Leavenworth Prison in Kansas, and as was customary 8 00:00:32,640 --> 00:00:35,200 Speaker 1: at the time, his measurements were taken. And that wasn't 9 00:00:35,280 --> 00:00:37,880 Speaker 1: just like weight and hide. It was things like the 10 00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:42,560 Speaker 1: length and width of his head and measurements of specific fingers. 11 00:00:42,640 --> 00:00:45,640 Speaker 1: And while all these measurements were going on, one of 12 00:00:45,720 --> 00:00:49,080 Speaker 1: the clerks at the prison had this really strong feeling 13 00:00:49,520 --> 00:00:52,239 Speaker 1: that he had measured this guy before, and so he 14 00:00:52,680 --> 00:00:56,279 Speaker 1: started to look through records and sure enough, oh, William 15 00:00:56,280 --> 00:01:00,360 Speaker 1: West had been admitted to prison and measured just two 16 00:01:00,400 --> 00:01:03,440 Speaker 1: years earlier. So it seems like, okay, it's William West again, 17 00:01:03,520 --> 00:01:06,360 Speaker 1: He's back in prison. But there was one thing majorly 18 00:01:06,480 --> 00:01:09,640 Speaker 1: wrong with this scenario, and that was that William West 19 00:01:09,959 --> 00:01:14,959 Speaker 1: was already incarcerated in Leavenworth. So who is the spinky? 20 00:01:15,000 --> 00:01:17,560 Speaker 1: So the two Wests were brought into the same room. 21 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:21,600 Speaker 1: They weren't related, but they did look strikingly similar. They 22 00:01:21,640 --> 00:01:25,040 Speaker 1: were re measured, and their numbers were also almost identical. 23 00:01:25,160 --> 00:01:28,560 Speaker 1: The only easy to document thing that was undoubtedly different 24 00:01:29,040 --> 00:01:31,920 Speaker 1: was their fingerprints. So you'll see this story told in 25 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:34,640 Speaker 1: different ways, and it's likely it's just as much a 26 00:01:34,680 --> 00:01:37,320 Speaker 1: prison fable as truth. But it's always told for the 27 00:01:37,360 --> 00:01:41,640 Speaker 1: same reason to show the fallibility of identification. So what 28 00:01:41,720 --> 00:01:43,880 Speaker 1: do we mean that this, Well, for example, your name 29 00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:47,000 Speaker 1: certainly doesn't distinguish you, right, Yeah, you can change your name. 30 00:01:47,040 --> 00:01:50,640 Speaker 1: There can be another William West or another Dablina out there, 31 00:01:50,760 --> 00:01:54,120 Speaker 1: and who's to say you're the person you say you are, right? 32 00:01:54,200 --> 00:01:56,680 Speaker 1: But your face doesn't set you apart either. Neither does 33 00:01:56,720 --> 00:01:59,840 Speaker 1: the measurement of your left pinky or your cheek. So, 34 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:03,160 Speaker 1: in an era before DNA evidence, the moral of the 35 00:02:03,200 --> 00:02:07,680 Speaker 1: West story was that only fingerprints are unique. However, as 36 00:02:07,800 --> 00:02:11,880 Speaker 1: the facial and the physical measurements of the two prisoners suggests, 37 00:02:11,919 --> 00:02:16,240 Speaker 1: fingerprints weren't always the standard means of identification. They certainly 38 00:02:16,240 --> 00:02:18,400 Speaker 1: weren't in the position we think of them now. For 39 00:02:18,440 --> 00:02:21,800 Speaker 1: about ten to twenty years, a system of identification and 40 00:02:21,880 --> 00:02:26,320 Speaker 1: filing called britonage, So the system seems pretty primitive. Now 41 00:02:26,320 --> 00:02:28,400 Speaker 1: we're going to talk about it in detail later in 42 00:02:28,440 --> 00:02:31,679 Speaker 1: the podcast, so you'll you'll understand it better. But it 43 00:02:32,120 --> 00:02:35,200 Speaker 1: does seem very quaint, very old fashioned, and a whole 44 00:02:35,240 --> 00:02:38,400 Speaker 1: lot less elegant than fingerprints. But it was a major 45 00:02:38,520 --> 00:02:44,000 Speaker 1: step out of filing chaos that dominated the criminal justice 46 00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:48,480 Speaker 1: system in the nineteenth century, and it hasn't been completely 47 00:02:48,639 --> 00:02:52,640 Speaker 1: relegated to history either. You are still familiar with certain 48 00:02:52,680 --> 00:02:54,639 Speaker 1: aspects of it, whether you know it or not. Every 49 00:02:54,639 --> 00:02:58,480 Speaker 1: time you see a celebrity mug shot in TMZ or 50 00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:01,920 Speaker 1: just in your local pay for you're looking at a 51 00:03:02,080 --> 00:03:07,640 Speaker 1: holdover from the Bertillon system. So before we get too 52 00:03:07,720 --> 00:03:09,400 Speaker 1: much into that, though, we're going to have to do 53 00:03:09,639 --> 00:03:12,880 Speaker 1: a brief discussion of the criminal justice system and its 54 00:03:12,919 --> 00:03:17,560 Speaker 1: development and its problem areas in the nineteenth century. So 55 00:03:17,800 --> 00:03:22,079 Speaker 1: as professionals replaced amateurs and investigations, and as evidence began 56 00:03:22,160 --> 00:03:26,800 Speaker 1: to sometimes trump witness testimony, and as forensic sciences like 57 00:03:26,919 --> 00:03:31,720 Speaker 1: toxicology and forensic pathology developed into distinct areas of study, 58 00:03:32,080 --> 00:03:36,160 Speaker 1: a few problems emerged. There was too much information. More 59 00:03:36,240 --> 00:03:40,320 Speaker 1: stuff meant more paperwork. So while police would likely be 60 00:03:40,320 --> 00:03:43,360 Speaker 1: better able to pinpoint a suspect or identify a repeat 61 00:03:43,400 --> 00:03:46,920 Speaker 1: criminal due to the information in their files. I mean 62 00:03:46,960 --> 00:03:49,720 Speaker 1: it was like good luck finding that information. So this 63 00:03:49,800 --> 00:03:54,000 Speaker 1: was especially problematic as new technologies were adopted before suitable 64 00:03:54,000 --> 00:03:58,680 Speaker 1: record keeping methods came along to go with them. Exhibit A. Photography. Yeah, 65 00:03:58,720 --> 00:04:02,160 Speaker 1: so the first to get types were produced in eighteen 66 00:04:02,200 --> 00:04:06,160 Speaker 1: thirty nine, and a remarkably short amount of time after that. 67 00:04:06,320 --> 00:04:10,120 Speaker 1: Just four years later, the first mug shots were taken 68 00:04:10,200 --> 00:04:14,240 Speaker 1: in Belgium, but criminal photography didn't exactly take off after that. 69 00:04:14,320 --> 00:04:17,480 Speaker 1: To GEARA, types were very privacy, they required in men's 70 00:04:17,600 --> 00:04:21,560 Speaker 1: levels of skill, and even later photographic methods still required 71 00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:24,760 Speaker 1: really long exposure. So imagine, you know, you're trying to 72 00:04:24,800 --> 00:04:28,159 Speaker 1: get this guy who you've just arrested to sit still 73 00:04:28,200 --> 00:04:31,799 Speaker 1: for twenty minutes and get your picture taken. It's sometimes 74 00:04:31,800 --> 00:04:35,240 Speaker 1: they'd have to resort to actually strapping someone into a 75 00:04:35,360 --> 00:04:41,440 Speaker 1: chair to get a non Yes, it's definitely inconvenient. But 76 00:04:42,200 --> 00:04:46,160 Speaker 1: pretty much as soon as prices and exposure time started 77 00:04:46,160 --> 00:04:49,560 Speaker 1: to drop with photography, it became a common thing in 78 00:04:49,640 --> 00:04:52,000 Speaker 1: police stations and it's easy to understand why it's a 79 00:04:52,080 --> 00:04:55,680 Speaker 1: useful tool. The head of the Paris Police Detective Division, 80 00:04:55,760 --> 00:05:00,120 Speaker 1: Gustav Mussey started to require all photos be take in 81 00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:03,159 Speaker 1: and then police stations around the world eventually started to 82 00:05:03,160 --> 00:05:06,560 Speaker 1: assemble what we're often called rogues galleries. I think that's 83 00:05:06,560 --> 00:05:09,520 Speaker 1: a really cool name. By the way, they were photos 84 00:05:09,640 --> 00:05:15,360 Speaker 1: of criminals, supposedly useful for identifying repeat offenders. So there 85 00:05:15,400 --> 00:05:19,720 Speaker 1: was one problem with this. The rogues galleries just became huge, 86 00:05:20,000 --> 00:05:25,080 Speaker 1: jumbled stockpiles of photos, so foul cabinets filled with images 87 00:05:25,160 --> 00:05:28,680 Speaker 1: that were not cataloged in any way. It sounds like 88 00:05:28,680 --> 00:05:30,880 Speaker 1: my own photo collection to me too, which is sort 89 00:05:30,920 --> 00:05:34,320 Speaker 1: of like the bane of my existence sometimes. But there 90 00:05:34,360 --> 00:05:37,920 Speaker 1: was another problem with the photo collections. Besides their tendency 91 00:05:37,960 --> 00:05:41,839 Speaker 1: to get out of control, they weren't necessarily accurate. Photos 92 00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:44,839 Speaker 1: could be taken in a different light, at different exposures 93 00:05:44,880 --> 00:05:48,640 Speaker 1: and at different distances, and so they would look remarkably different. 94 00:05:48,640 --> 00:05:51,680 Speaker 1: I mean, just imagine taking a photo with the professional 95 00:05:51,720 --> 00:05:54,080 Speaker 1: camera and comparing it to the same image taken with 96 00:05:54,120 --> 00:05:56,920 Speaker 1: your camera phone. I mean, every everybody is familiar with 97 00:05:56,960 --> 00:06:01,000 Speaker 1: the differences that could be perceived in photos, and so 98 00:06:01,160 --> 00:06:03,760 Speaker 1: early much shots that that's the big problem with them. 99 00:06:03,760 --> 00:06:09,040 Speaker 1: They weren't standardized a photo at a different exposure, different lighting, 100 00:06:09,080 --> 00:06:13,000 Speaker 1: or something is not going to necessarily be recognizable as 101 00:06:13,080 --> 00:06:16,920 Speaker 1: the same guy. Criminals were even photographed with hats sometimes 102 00:06:17,000 --> 00:06:19,919 Speaker 1: or hair obscuring their features, and even if the photos 103 00:06:19,920 --> 00:06:22,800 Speaker 1: were standardized, it didn't mean that the subject couldn't still 104 00:06:22,920 --> 00:06:27,239 Speaker 1: dramatically transform his or her appearance with hair coloring, facial 105 00:06:27,279 --> 00:06:30,120 Speaker 1: hair disguise as you name it, or just get older 106 00:06:30,200 --> 00:06:32,760 Speaker 1: and start to look different. There's a two thousand nine 107 00:06:32,760 --> 00:06:36,159 Speaker 1: Economist article on human identity which I thought was really 108 00:06:36,160 --> 00:06:39,840 Speaker 1: interesting and mentioned a unique problem in the nineteenth century, 109 00:06:39,839 --> 00:06:43,720 Speaker 1: and that was the traveling criminal facilitated by railways. And 110 00:06:43,960 --> 00:06:46,480 Speaker 1: this is kind of simplifying things, but you can't imagine 111 00:06:46,480 --> 00:06:50,480 Speaker 1: a time when criminals were more local and a local 112 00:06:51,080 --> 00:06:53,680 Speaker 1: police force would know who to keep an eye on. 113 00:06:54,160 --> 00:06:57,760 Speaker 1: But with somebody who could dramatically change their identity and 114 00:06:58,240 --> 00:07:01,279 Speaker 1: skip town on the next train, police needed a way 115 00:07:01,320 --> 00:07:07,040 Speaker 1: to recognize Recdavis criminals they had never seen before, and clearly, photos, 116 00:07:07,120 --> 00:07:10,440 Speaker 1: while useful in a certain respect, weren't the way to 117 00:07:10,480 --> 00:07:13,080 Speaker 1: do it. Yeah, neither was branding, which I guess was 118 00:07:13,080 --> 00:07:17,040 Speaker 1: done in the old school way of recognizing repeat offenders. 119 00:07:17,080 --> 00:07:21,360 Speaker 1: So enter Alphonse Bertillon, who in eighteen seventy nine, at 120 00:07:21,400 --> 00:07:23,760 Speaker 1: age twenty six, had just gotten a job as a 121 00:07:23,760 --> 00:07:27,040 Speaker 1: clerk in the Paris police department. Bertien was from an 122 00:07:27,040 --> 00:07:30,960 Speaker 1: incredibly illustrious family. His father, Louis, was a famous medical 123 00:07:30,960 --> 00:07:34,800 Speaker 1: professor and a statistician. His older brother, Jacques, also became 124 00:07:34,800 --> 00:07:38,280 Speaker 1: a noted statistician and a demographer. He had grown up 125 00:07:38,280 --> 00:07:42,200 Speaker 1: in an environment of intellectual stimulation, hearing dinner table talk 126 00:07:42,240 --> 00:07:46,680 Speaker 1: about men like Lambert Adolphe Jacques Qutola, a statistician who 127 00:07:46,760 --> 00:07:51,600 Speaker 1: theorized no two people were alike. But Alfonse was less illustrious. 128 00:07:51,600 --> 00:07:54,239 Speaker 1: He got kicked out of several schools for poor grades. 129 00:07:54,560 --> 00:07:57,760 Speaker 1: According to the Science of Sherlock Holmes by E. J. Wagner, 130 00:07:58,000 --> 00:08:01,480 Speaker 1: he was incredibly awkward. He hardly ever spoke, He was 131 00:08:01,640 --> 00:08:05,760 Speaker 1: very grumpy and obsessively organized. He was also quite sickly. 132 00:08:05,800 --> 00:08:08,960 Speaker 1: He had nose bleeds, digestive issues, and headaches, which are 133 00:08:09,000 --> 00:08:12,600 Speaker 1: not the kind of physical complaints that probably make you 134 00:08:12,720 --> 00:08:16,880 Speaker 1: very popular on the police force either. So uh Alfonse 135 00:08:17,040 --> 00:08:20,280 Speaker 1: was unable to hold down a job, and he started 136 00:08:20,320 --> 00:08:22,840 Speaker 1: his clerk position with the Paris police due to his 137 00:08:22,920 --> 00:08:26,280 Speaker 1: father's influence. But really early on in the job. He 138 00:08:26,360 --> 00:08:29,240 Speaker 1: realized the department's filing system was dismissed. They had that 139 00:08:29,360 --> 00:08:32,360 Speaker 1: rogues gallery thing going on, and they needed a way 140 00:08:32,400 --> 00:08:38,440 Speaker 1: to recognize and identify repeat criminals. So the organized data 141 00:08:38,480 --> 00:08:41,959 Speaker 1: of Saspertion cooked up a system just a few months 142 00:08:42,040 --> 00:08:45,520 Speaker 1: later and presented a report to his superiors about the 143 00:08:45,600 --> 00:08:50,640 Speaker 1: use of some sort of standardized physical and facial measurement system. 144 00:08:50,679 --> 00:08:54,680 Speaker 1: But the report wasn't written with the proper bureaucratic deference, 145 00:08:54,720 --> 00:08:58,439 Speaker 1: I guess, and it got tossed out pretty much immediately. However, 146 00:08:58,600 --> 00:09:02,959 Speaker 1: Bertillon's father, this influential guy, realized that there was something 147 00:09:03,040 --> 00:09:06,920 Speaker 1: to his son's idea and kept pressuring the police department 148 00:09:06,960 --> 00:09:10,040 Speaker 1: to review it again. They stalled as long as they could, 149 00:09:10,080 --> 00:09:16,280 Speaker 1: and then finally in two they consented and Bertillon was 150 00:09:16,400 --> 00:09:20,480 Speaker 1: given some money, given two assistance, and set on the 151 00:09:20,559 --> 00:09:23,680 Speaker 1: task to make this work, make this system something the 152 00:09:23,720 --> 00:09:27,160 Speaker 1: department could really put to good use. So Bertillon called 153 00:09:27,200 --> 00:09:30,880 Speaker 1: this idea anthropometry. It's also become known as the Bertillon 154 00:09:31,040 --> 00:09:35,040 Speaker 1: system or Bear teenage. As Sarah mentioned earlier, it focused 155 00:09:35,040 --> 00:09:38,560 Speaker 1: on eleven separate measurements that Bartien believed shouldn't change after 156 00:09:38,640 --> 00:09:42,400 Speaker 1: age twenty. These were the following the total length of 157 00:09:42,440 --> 00:09:46,160 Speaker 1: the arms, sitting height, standing height, the length of the head, 158 00:09:46,240 --> 00:09:48,600 Speaker 1: the width of the head, the width of the cheeks, 159 00:09:49,040 --> 00:09:51,320 Speaker 1: the length of the right ear, the length of the 160 00:09:51,400 --> 00:09:54,280 Speaker 1: left foot, the length of the little finger, the length 161 00:09:54,320 --> 00:09:57,360 Speaker 1: of the left middle finger, and the length of each 162 00:09:57,480 --> 00:10:00,320 Speaker 1: arm from elbow to tip of middle finger, which was 163 00:10:00,360 --> 00:10:04,560 Speaker 1: something called the cubit. So he would use calipers, sliding 164 00:10:04,600 --> 00:10:09,360 Speaker 1: compasses and these other carefully calibrated instruments and do three 165 00:10:09,440 --> 00:10:11,920 Speaker 1: of every single one of those measurements, and then take 166 00:10:12,000 --> 00:10:14,800 Speaker 1: the mean from those three, and then these numbers were 167 00:10:14,800 --> 00:10:19,000 Speaker 1: all entered on a card that featured a standardized mugshot. 168 00:10:19,040 --> 00:10:20,680 Speaker 1: And this is the mug shot that you know today. 169 00:10:20,720 --> 00:10:24,400 Speaker 1: It's lit the same way, taken full on, taken in profile. 170 00:10:24,920 --> 00:10:28,920 Speaker 1: And the photo was also accompanied by some information, some 171 00:10:28,920 --> 00:10:32,280 Speaker 1: stuff that might be familiar from your driver's license or 172 00:10:32,320 --> 00:10:36,800 Speaker 1: from wanted posters. It was called a portray parlay, and 173 00:10:36,920 --> 00:10:41,800 Speaker 1: it would list eye and hair color, complexion scars or tattoos, 174 00:10:41,840 --> 00:10:46,600 Speaker 1: head shape, um, the person's building, their posture, and then 175 00:10:46,640 --> 00:10:51,520 Speaker 1: some more unusual details like accent and voice and dress 176 00:10:51,520 --> 00:10:55,800 Speaker 1: style if the dress style was particularly unusual, and busy 177 00:10:55,840 --> 00:10:58,760 Speaker 1: detectives of course didn't feel like they could enter all 178 00:10:58,800 --> 00:11:00,559 Speaker 1: of this stuff all the time, so they slimmed it 179 00:11:00,600 --> 00:11:04,000 Speaker 1: down a bit to the more standard things like eye color, 180 00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:07,880 Speaker 1: hair color. But if you look at one of these cards, 181 00:11:07,960 --> 00:11:12,120 Speaker 1: these Bertillon cards, it's filled with facts and measurements and 182 00:11:12,400 --> 00:11:16,600 Speaker 1: that very recognizable modern mug shot. I mean it looks, 183 00:11:17,320 --> 00:11:19,720 Speaker 1: it looks kind of what you still see today, like 184 00:11:19,800 --> 00:11:23,079 Speaker 1: what you see today. And after all that information was collected, 185 00:11:23,280 --> 00:11:26,800 Speaker 1: then the real work began. Every card was cross referenced 186 00:11:27,040 --> 00:11:29,480 Speaker 1: so that if a policeman were looking for a suspect 187 00:11:29,640 --> 00:11:32,000 Speaker 1: or trying to determine if someone in custody had a 188 00:11:32,040 --> 00:11:36,480 Speaker 1: criminal history, they could check for specific physical measurements pulling 189 00:11:36,520 --> 00:11:39,560 Speaker 1: cards that were possibilities. Within a year of its adoption, 190 00:11:39,720 --> 00:11:44,160 Speaker 1: Barton used his system to identify two forty one repeat criminals, 191 00:11:44,520 --> 00:11:47,040 Speaker 1: and the system soon spread from France to much of 192 00:11:47,080 --> 00:11:50,160 Speaker 1: Europe and the United States. Bartien was made the director 193 00:11:50,200 --> 00:11:53,120 Speaker 1: of the Police Identification Service and even earned himself the 194 00:11:53,160 --> 00:11:57,439 Speaker 1: approval of Sherlock Holmes in eightee when Arthur Conan Doyle, 195 00:11:57,480 --> 00:12:01,200 Speaker 1: one of our favorite podcast subjects, had Watson say of 196 00:12:01,240 --> 00:12:05,440 Speaker 1: Sherlock in the story the Naval Treaty. Quote his conversation 197 00:12:05,559 --> 00:12:09,120 Speaker 1: I remember, was about the Bertillon system of measurements, and 198 00:12:09,200 --> 00:12:13,160 Speaker 1: he expressed his enthusiastic admiration of the French savant. So, yeah, 199 00:12:13,200 --> 00:12:16,319 Speaker 1: that is high praise if Sherlock Holmes likes what you're doing. So, 200 00:12:16,840 --> 00:12:20,559 Speaker 1: of course, though Barton system relied on the assumption that 201 00:12:21,040 --> 00:12:24,640 Speaker 1: my elbow to middle finger length and my head width 202 00:12:24,640 --> 00:12:27,760 Speaker 1: and cheek width and all of those other measurements couldn't 203 00:12:27,800 --> 00:12:31,960 Speaker 1: possibly be the same as someone else's. Unfortunately, they could 204 00:12:32,000 --> 00:12:36,360 Speaker 1: be pretty similar, and subtle differences between people could be 205 00:12:36,400 --> 00:12:39,640 Speaker 1: a race by one sloppy measurement, even if you had 206 00:12:39,640 --> 00:12:42,360 Speaker 1: a technician who was trying to do a good job, 207 00:12:42,440 --> 00:12:46,120 Speaker 1: not purposely trying to manipulate the system. If you've ever 208 00:12:46,120 --> 00:12:48,280 Speaker 1: measured anything, you know it's kind of easy to mess 209 00:12:48,360 --> 00:12:52,520 Speaker 1: up sometimes. So that led to a second major problem. 210 00:12:52,679 --> 00:12:55,000 Speaker 1: It was a lot of work to take all this 211 00:12:55,120 --> 00:12:58,640 Speaker 1: information down and let alone file at all. The documentation 212 00:12:59,040 --> 00:13:02,920 Speaker 1: the filing were both really complex. The measurements required high 213 00:13:02,960 --> 00:13:06,120 Speaker 1: quality instruments, a lot of concentration, a lot of skill, 214 00:13:06,679 --> 00:13:10,800 Speaker 1: and even then countries differed in their measuring system, so 215 00:13:10,840 --> 00:13:14,880 Speaker 1: this was not an international system. Even though countries around 216 00:13:14,880 --> 00:13:17,880 Speaker 1: the world had adopted it. So around the height of 217 00:13:17,920 --> 00:13:22,440 Speaker 1: Berton's fame, an anthropologist and a cousin of Charles Darwin 218 00:13:22,600 --> 00:13:26,240 Speaker 1: named Sir Francis Galton read a report in Nature by 219 00:13:26,280 --> 00:13:31,760 Speaker 1: Henry Folds about fingerprints and Galton started getting really interested 220 00:13:31,800 --> 00:13:34,560 Speaker 1: in prints after that, started studying them and determined that 221 00:13:34,640 --> 00:13:37,679 Speaker 1: they were unique to every person and that kind of 222 00:13:37,840 --> 00:13:40,760 Speaker 1: maybe even more importantly, they don't change, even though almost 223 00:13:40,840 --> 00:13:44,440 Speaker 1: everything about us can change or does change, whether it's 224 00:13:44,640 --> 00:13:46,960 Speaker 1: limb length and you're growing or you're shrinking as you're 225 00:13:46,960 --> 00:13:50,640 Speaker 1: getting older, hair, colored teeth, even eye color can change. 226 00:13:50,640 --> 00:13:55,800 Speaker 1: But your fingerprints don't. So Galton wrote a report in 227 00:13:57,000 --> 00:14:01,280 Speaker 1: book called Fingerprints, and he presented his findings that fingerprints 228 00:14:01,280 --> 00:14:06,080 Speaker 1: had these distinguishing characteristics like whirls and loops and points, 229 00:14:06,160 --> 00:14:09,920 Speaker 1: and he also presented a system of using them, and 230 00:14:10,520 --> 00:14:15,080 Speaker 1: the system went into effect pretty quickly, although independently of 231 00:14:15,080 --> 00:14:19,400 Speaker 1: of Galton's work. Meanwhile, Juan Vusage of the Laplata police 232 00:14:19,440 --> 00:14:23,000 Speaker 1: and Argentina was also developing a system of print identification 233 00:14:23,040 --> 00:14:25,880 Speaker 1: that was used to find a mother guilty of murdering 234 00:14:25,920 --> 00:14:29,200 Speaker 1: her two children. Yeah, that was probably the first of 235 00:14:29,320 --> 00:14:32,520 Speaker 1: the bloody thumb prints. You know, like ubiquitous and all 236 00:14:32,720 --> 00:14:37,480 Speaker 1: crime movies used to identify people. But fingerprinting really caught 237 00:14:37,640 --> 00:14:41,360 Speaker 1: on from there, and well, Virtione resisted as long as 238 00:14:41,360 --> 00:14:44,560 Speaker 1: he could, saying his system was better, it was more reliable. 239 00:14:44,840 --> 00:14:49,080 Speaker 1: He did eventually add fingerprinting to his cards as just 240 00:14:49,200 --> 00:14:52,680 Speaker 1: another measurement, you know, one of all the other head 241 00:14:52,680 --> 00:14:55,880 Speaker 1: shapes and arm lengths and all of that. So while 242 00:14:55,920 --> 00:14:59,480 Speaker 1: the will West William West case in three is often 243 00:14:59,560 --> 00:15:02,000 Speaker 1: used as kind of an illustrative example of the death 244 00:15:02,040 --> 00:15:05,680 Speaker 1: knell of the Beartien system and the rise of fingerprints, 245 00:15:05,720 --> 00:15:08,040 Speaker 1: a slightly later story kind of does the job a 246 00:15:08,040 --> 00:15:11,280 Speaker 1: little bit better. In August nineteen eleven, the Mona Lisa 247 00:15:11,360 --> 00:15:13,400 Speaker 1: was stolen from the Louver, and I know that a 248 00:15:13,400 --> 00:15:16,080 Speaker 1: lot of people always bring this up as a listeners suggestion. 249 00:15:16,640 --> 00:15:19,080 Speaker 1: The police it produced a thumb print from the thief, 250 00:15:19,200 --> 00:15:22,800 Speaker 1: and Barton's identification department got to work checking their files 251 00:15:22,840 --> 00:15:25,160 Speaker 1: to see if the thief had a criminal history in France. 252 00:15:25,440 --> 00:15:28,360 Speaker 1: They didn't find a match, though, so two years go 253 00:15:28,520 --> 00:15:32,720 Speaker 1: by and Vincenzo Perugia was found hiding the Masterpiece under 254 00:15:32,840 --> 00:15:36,600 Speaker 1: his bed. Once his background is investigated, it turned out 255 00:15:36,600 --> 00:15:39,760 Speaker 1: that he did have a file in France, So what happened? 256 00:15:39,760 --> 00:15:43,080 Speaker 1: Why didn't they find him with their great organizational systems. 257 00:15:43,360 --> 00:15:45,680 Speaker 1: So it turned out that Barton, even though he had 258 00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:51,360 Speaker 1: reluctantly adopted the fingerprinting system, had only filed away right 259 00:15:51,680 --> 00:15:57,680 Speaker 1: thumb prints for criminals, and Perugia had unfortunately left hey 260 00:15:57,760 --> 00:16:00,680 Speaker 1: left thumb print at the loop, which did do much 261 00:16:00,720 --> 00:16:03,040 Speaker 1: good at all. So, as we said, that was kind 262 00:16:03,040 --> 00:16:07,920 Speaker 1: of the death knell of bartonage, even in Paris where 263 00:16:08,000 --> 00:16:10,120 Speaker 1: it had sort of held on a little longer than 264 00:16:10,160 --> 00:16:14,200 Speaker 1: most places. Fingerprints became the norm in identification until the 265 00:16:14,280 --> 00:16:18,080 Speaker 1: nineteen eighties when DNA evidence started to take over and 266 00:16:18,520 --> 00:16:23,360 Speaker 1: Bertill died February nineteen fourteen in Switzerland. But I don't 267 00:16:23,360 --> 00:16:26,320 Speaker 1: want to leave off in this episode like he should 268 00:16:26,360 --> 00:16:30,320 Speaker 1: be some sort of historical footnote just because in can 269 00:16:30,360 --> 00:16:34,640 Speaker 1: paper replace calipers and sliding rulers. He really did have 270 00:16:34,880 --> 00:16:41,320 Speaker 1: a pretty major influence on forensic science and on cataloging things. Yeah, 271 00:16:41,360 --> 00:16:44,720 Speaker 1: he also worked with ballistics research compounds that could preserve 272 00:16:44,720 --> 00:16:48,440 Speaker 1: footprints or other impressions, instruments that could measure the force 273 00:16:48,560 --> 00:16:52,720 Speaker 1: used in breaking and entering and handwriting analysis, which also 274 00:16:52,800 --> 00:16:55,320 Speaker 1: got him into a little bit of trouble when he 275 00:16:55,320 --> 00:16:59,880 Speaker 1: helped wrongfully accused Captain Alfred Dreyfuss of sharing French military secret. 276 00:17:00,120 --> 00:17:02,680 Speaker 1: That's an interesting story, y'all can go check out that, 277 00:17:02,800 --> 00:17:05,880 Speaker 1: oh in yourself too. It could make an interesting podcast too, 278 00:17:06,600 --> 00:17:10,680 Speaker 1: come to think of it. As we mentioned, Virton's photography 279 00:17:10,760 --> 00:17:13,679 Speaker 1: contribution is really the big part of his legacy. He 280 00:17:13,720 --> 00:17:17,719 Speaker 1: did develop that standardized mug shot, you know, front profile, 281 00:17:18,080 --> 00:17:21,399 Speaker 1: same distance, same kind of lighting, still used today. That 282 00:17:21,480 --> 00:17:25,120 Speaker 1: he also took the camera to the crime scene itself 283 00:17:25,200 --> 00:17:29,000 Speaker 1: and attempted to remove the sources of air and manipulation 284 00:17:29,080 --> 00:17:31,800 Speaker 1: that can come up with crime scene photography. For instance, 285 00:17:31,800 --> 00:17:35,160 Speaker 1: he would shoot a scene from above on a high 286 00:17:35,240 --> 00:17:39,240 Speaker 1: mounted tripod before investigators could touch anything. And I looked 287 00:17:39,240 --> 00:17:43,359 Speaker 1: at a few examples of his photos like this, and 288 00:17:43,400 --> 00:17:46,080 Speaker 1: they're they're disturbing. It's kind of like you're looking in 289 00:17:46,160 --> 00:17:50,880 Speaker 1: on like bird's eye view, looking in almost like a 290 00:17:50,920 --> 00:17:54,439 Speaker 1: doll house or something, and it gives an eerie effect 291 00:17:54,520 --> 00:17:57,920 Speaker 1: to the crime. But it also gives a perfect layout 292 00:17:58,000 --> 00:18:00,359 Speaker 1: of the room, which is something that can be cult 293 00:18:00,400 --> 00:18:03,320 Speaker 1: to achieve when you're shooting from the ground. And he 294 00:18:03,400 --> 00:18:07,360 Speaker 1: also used something called metric photography, which helped document perspective 295 00:18:07,440 --> 00:18:09,920 Speaker 1: and the relation of objects to one another, which again 296 00:18:10,040 --> 00:18:13,119 Speaker 1: is something really important in crime theme photography because that 297 00:18:13,200 --> 00:18:16,920 Speaker 1: can be manipulated, whether on purpose or accidentally, so easily. 298 00:18:17,640 --> 00:18:20,160 Speaker 1: And another one of his vital contributions which we can't 299 00:18:20,240 --> 00:18:23,479 Speaker 1: leave out, One of his students was Edmund's Lackard, who 300 00:18:23,560 --> 00:18:26,600 Speaker 1: you might know from Lackard's exchange principle, a basic tenant 301 00:18:26,640 --> 00:18:31,199 Speaker 1: of forensic science that states, quote, with contact between two items, 302 00:18:31,280 --> 00:18:34,120 Speaker 1: there will be an exchange. Yeah, and that's the principle 303 00:18:34,160 --> 00:18:37,920 Speaker 1: that investigators still operate under today. As Lacard put it, 304 00:18:37,920 --> 00:18:41,160 Speaker 1: it is impossible for a criminal to act, especially considering 305 00:18:41,200 --> 00:18:46,400 Speaker 1: the intensity of a crime, without leaving traces of his presence. Basically, 306 00:18:46,480 --> 00:18:50,040 Speaker 1: if you are at a crime scene, you'll leave something behind, 307 00:18:50,119 --> 00:18:53,760 Speaker 1: whether it's hair or fingerprints or skin, and you will 308 00:18:53,920 --> 00:18:57,199 Speaker 1: take something with you two that could later be identified 309 00:18:57,200 --> 00:18:59,840 Speaker 1: by the police. And it's an idea that I think 310 00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:03,240 Speaker 1: of tales really nicely with a belief of Bertillons, which 311 00:19:03,280 --> 00:19:09,840 Speaker 1: is careful, observation and patience will reveal the truth. So, um, 312 00:19:09,880 --> 00:19:12,240 Speaker 1: just some some things to think about, and I really 313 00:19:12,359 --> 00:19:16,560 Speaker 1: enjoyed doing a little forensic science history today I've kind 314 00:19:16,560 --> 00:19:19,240 Speaker 1: of got criminal justice on my mind, so maybe we'll 315 00:19:19,240 --> 00:19:21,760 Speaker 1: have a few more of these come up. Who knows. Yeah, 316 00:19:21,760 --> 00:19:24,240 Speaker 1: And people can go check out some more information about 317 00:19:24,240 --> 00:19:27,000 Speaker 1: Bertien right. The National Library of Medicine has a great 318 00:19:27,040 --> 00:19:31,320 Speaker 1: collection of information on Bartien and early forensic history, and 319 00:19:31,400 --> 00:19:34,320 Speaker 1: you can see Artien cards and catalogs of ear shapes. 320 00:19:34,520 --> 00:19:38,000 Speaker 1: I actually I put one of the Bertillon cards on 321 00:19:38,080 --> 00:19:40,040 Speaker 1: our outlines that we can look at it, and it's 322 00:19:40,040 --> 00:19:44,080 Speaker 1: a photo of Vertillon himself in that classic mug shop pose. 323 00:19:44,160 --> 00:19:47,760 Speaker 1: He's got quite an interesting pointy beard, and then all 324 00:19:47,800 --> 00:19:51,119 Speaker 1: of those measurements listed to it really gives you an 325 00:19:51,160 --> 00:19:53,560 Speaker 1: idea of seeing one of the cards, how detailed it is, 326 00:19:53,640 --> 00:19:56,600 Speaker 1: and that ear shaped thing definitely checked that out. It's 327 00:19:56,680 --> 00:20:00,000 Speaker 1: pretty pretty entertaining. Who knew there were so many different ears? 328 00:20:00,320 --> 00:20:03,040 Speaker 1: So I think that's probably the perfect time to go 329 00:20:03,200 --> 00:20:10,359 Speaker 1: to listener mail m hm. So this email is from 330 00:20:10,400 --> 00:20:14,800 Speaker 1: Stephen in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and he wrote in high Sarada Bolina, 331 00:20:14,960 --> 00:20:17,560 Speaker 1: I love your podcast. I wanted to comment on your 332 00:20:17,560 --> 00:20:21,280 Speaker 1: recent episode on Admiral Ye Sunston. You mentioned that E's 333 00:20:21,359 --> 00:20:24,760 Speaker 1: family had wanted him to pursue a literary career. Instead 334 00:20:24,760 --> 00:20:28,080 Speaker 1: of a military one, then jokingly wondered why a family 335 00:20:28,080 --> 00:20:31,040 Speaker 1: would do so because we're English major, so you know 336 00:20:31,200 --> 00:20:34,560 Speaker 1: it's a it's a joke. Prease too. Um. Stephen continues, 337 00:20:34,640 --> 00:20:38,080 Speaker 1: it is true that in our modern technological society, where 338 00:20:38,080 --> 00:20:41,080 Speaker 1: the safe and secure jobs are in science and engineering, 339 00:20:41,160 --> 00:20:44,199 Speaker 1: and where humanities majors struggle to find work, this was 340 00:20:44,280 --> 00:20:48,199 Speaker 1: not always the case. In confusion societies like China and Korea, 341 00:20:48,320 --> 00:20:50,960 Speaker 1: young men who had the means always studied literature and 342 00:20:51,000 --> 00:20:55,000 Speaker 1: philosophy to prepare for the kings or emperor's civil service examination. 343 00:20:55,480 --> 00:20:58,920 Speaker 1: For thousands of years, these governments carefully selected their officials 344 00:20:58,960 --> 00:21:02,520 Speaker 1: from among the scholar who passed these exams. Thus, a 345 00:21:02,640 --> 00:21:06,240 Speaker 1: literary career was generally the surest way to gain power 346 00:21:06,240 --> 00:21:09,960 Speaker 1: and membership in the aristocratic elite. In fact, sometimes a 347 00:21:10,040 --> 00:21:13,040 Speaker 1: poor village would gather their resources to put a promising 348 00:21:13,080 --> 00:21:15,359 Speaker 1: young boy through school in the hopes that if he 349 00:21:15,440 --> 00:21:18,560 Speaker 1: one day became a high ranking official, he would repay 350 00:21:18,600 --> 00:21:22,520 Speaker 1: the village with favors. So yeah, I thought that was 351 00:21:23,080 --> 00:21:27,000 Speaker 1: um a good point to add to our episode on 352 00:21:27,080 --> 00:21:30,000 Speaker 1: Admiral Yee and and helped give me a little context 353 00:21:30,040 --> 00:21:33,840 Speaker 1: for for understanding why his decision was sort of a 354 00:21:33,920 --> 00:21:36,760 Speaker 1: unique one. Yeah, I feel like you need to forward 355 00:21:36,800 --> 00:21:41,159 Speaker 1: this email to my parents to justify my major in 356 00:21:41,400 --> 00:21:43,800 Speaker 1: English as well. Yeah, well, and I mean it is 357 00:21:44,800 --> 00:21:47,720 Speaker 1: we've kind of unwittingly taken that path too, I guess 358 00:21:47,720 --> 00:21:51,800 Speaker 1: ourselves though, studying something like literature and ending up in 359 00:21:52,080 --> 00:21:55,400 Speaker 1: what is obviously a tech jail. We work for a website. Sorry, sure, 360 00:21:55,560 --> 00:21:57,440 Speaker 1: do you never know what's going to happen. So thank 361 00:21:57,480 --> 00:22:00,520 Speaker 1: you Stephen for telling us a little more or about 362 00:22:00,600 --> 00:22:03,720 Speaker 1: Admiral he And if you want to suggest any more 363 00:22:04,359 --> 00:22:09,720 Speaker 1: sort of forensic science or criminal history type episodes, um, 364 00:22:09,760 --> 00:22:11,760 Speaker 1: you know, like maybe the police side of things, since 365 00:22:11,760 --> 00:22:15,160 Speaker 1: we're usually talking about the criminal side. Uh, definitely let 366 00:22:15,240 --> 00:22:17,879 Speaker 1: us know. We are at history podcast at how stuff 367 00:22:17,880 --> 00:22:21,560 Speaker 1: works dot com. We're also on Twitter at missed in History, 368 00:22:22,040 --> 00:22:24,399 Speaker 1: and we're on Facebook. And if you want to learn 369 00:22:24,400 --> 00:22:26,040 Speaker 1: a little bit more about some of the ideas that 370 00:22:26,080 --> 00:22:28,360 Speaker 1: we talked about today, we have an article called how 371 00:22:28,440 --> 00:22:31,360 Speaker 1: lockers exchange principle works and you can find it by 372 00:22:31,400 --> 00:22:34,679 Speaker 1: searching for that on our homepage at www dot how 373 00:22:34,760 --> 00:22:40,840 Speaker 1: stuff works dot com. Be sure to check out our 374 00:22:40,840 --> 00:22:44,240 Speaker 1: new video podcast, Stuff from the Future. Join how Stuff 375 00:22:44,240 --> 00:22:47,159 Speaker 1: Work staff as we explore the most promising and perplexing 376 00:22:47,240 --> 00:22:51,160 Speaker 1: possibilities of tomorrow. The How Stuff Works iPhone app has 377 00:22:51,160 --> 00:22:53,640 Speaker 1: a rise. Download it today on iTunes.