__ 2. What did Sir Francis Galton conclude after years of fingerprint research for eugenics? __ 3. What happened in the West case that forever changed the use of fingerprints? __ 4. What are the four common examples of fingerprint minutiae given in the lesson, as well as the two common locations in a print? __ countries __ __ __ __ __

2. Sir Francis Galton, while studying fingerprints for his eugenics research (a now discredited field), concluded that fingerprints were **unique to individuals and persistent throughout life**. He did *not* find any link between fingerprints and personality or other traits he was investigating for eugenic purposes. His work, however flawed in its original aims, established the foundation for fingerprint identification in forensic science.<br /><br />3. The West case involved two men named Will and William West who were seemingly identical in appearance and had nearly identical Bertillon measurements (an early identification system based on body measurements). However, their **fingerprints were different**. This case demonstrated the superiority of fingerprinting over the Bertillon system and led to the widespread adoption of fingerprinting for identification purposes.<br /><br />4. The four common examples of fingerprint minutiae given are:<br /><br />* **Ridge ending:** Where a ridge abruptly stops.<br />* **Bifurcation:** Where a ridge splits into two.<br />* **Island:** A short ridge that is not connected to any other ridges.<br />* **Dot:** A very small, isolated ridge unit.<br /><br />The two common locations in a print used for classification are the **core** (the center of the fingerprint pattern) and the **delta** (a triangular area where ridges converge).<br />