Historical Notes on Dermatoglyphics: From Purkinje to Cummins

Abstract

While the term dermatoglyphics was coined by Cummins and Midlo in 1926, interest in the papillary ridges and their patterns extend back to antiquity. Since time immemorial man has been fascinated and intrigued by finger and palm print patterns (Cummins 1930). Bartsokas (1982) introduced the term “Paleodermatoglyphics” to describe the early evidence of finger and palm print utilization. A number of archaeological findings suggest that the ancient Greeks were so fascinated by the prints of the dermal ridges that they believed that the stars contributed to the formation of the palm prints, which in turn determined the destiny of the individual (Bartsokas 1982). Artifacts from other global localities indicated that the ancient Greeks were not alone in their fascination of the finger prints. An excellent treatise on the early history of finger printing is given by Moenssens (1971).