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The Scottish doctor Henry Faulds (1843-1930) is best remembered for his role in the history of fingerprinting. His strong religious faith had first led him to missionary work in India and then, from 1874, in Japan. He worked there as a surgeon in the mission hospital at Tsukiji, near Tokyo, where he also established a medical school and a school for the blind. It was his discovery of the impressions of thumbprints on ancient Japanese pottery which led to his development of a fingerprinting system and his championing of it as a forensic tool. The present work, part-travelogue, part-journal, was first published in 1885. It remains an engaging account of Japanese life, customs, geography and natural history, interwoven with discussions of topics such as education, language, and the future of the country. There are characterful line drawings throughout. Faulds' Dactylography (1912) is also reissued in the Cambridge Library Collection.

Visitors, Foreign --- Faulds, Henry, --- Japan --- Description and travel. --- Social life and customs --- Foreign visitors --- Foreigners --- Foreigners, Visiting --- International visitors --- Visiting foreigners --- Travelers --- Exchange of persons programs --- Description and travel

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Japan --- Description and travel --- Social life and customs

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The Scottish doctor Henry Faulds (1843-1930) and the English judge Sir William James Herschel (1833-1917) both recognised the potential of fingerprints as a means of identification. While working in Japan, Faulds had developed his methods after noticing impressions on ancient pottery. Herschel, during his service as a magistrate in India, had introduced a system of using fingerprints as a way of preventing fraud. In the course of a lengthy controversy, Faulds sought to be acknowledged for the significance of his discoveries. Although there is no doubt that Faulds was first to publish on the subject, it was Herschel's work, begun in the 1850s, which was later developed by Galton and Henry as the tool of forensic science we know today. Reissued here together, these two works, first published in 1912 and 1916 respectively, are Faulds' overview of the subject and Herschel's account of his work in India.

Fingerprints --- History. --- Dactylography --- Dactyloscopy --- Finger marks --- Finger-printing --- Finger prints --- Fingerprinting --- Anthropometry --- Dermatoglyphics