FSC239Y5 Chapter Notes - Chapter 16: Grayscale, Putty, Ninhydrin
Document Summary
The first systematic attempt at personal identification was devised by french police expert, alphonse bertillon (1883). The bertillon system relied on detailed description (portrait parle) of the subject, combined with full-length and profile photographs and a system of precise body measurements known as anthropometry. Portrait parle: a verbal description of a perpetrator"s physical characteristics and dress provided by an eyewitness. Anthropometry: a system of identification of individuals by measurement parts of the body. Use of anthropometry as a method rested on premise that the dimensions of the human bone system remained fixed from age 20 till death. Skeleton sizes were thought to be extremely diverse that no two individuals could have the same measurements. Bertillon recommended routine taking of eleven measurements of the human anatomy. These included: height, reach, width of head, and length of left foot. This method was considered most accurate for two decades.
