. Discovery. Science. DISCOVERY 121 the friction skin of the lower monkeys are much simpler in character. In the case of a ruminant animal, such as the cow, it would be useless to look for any charac- teristic patterns in the hoofs, but, acting on a sugges- tion sent to me from America, I have made a number of prints of cows' noses, and have found that the arrangement of the sweat pores follows distinctive patterns, which can therefore be used for the identifica- tion of these animals. The two accompanying prints (Figs. 7 and 8) were taken on December 22, 1922, from the noses of two young Jers
. Discovery. Science. DISCOVERY 121 the friction skin of the lower monkeys are much simpler in character. In the case of a ruminant animal, such as the cow, it would be useless to look for any charac- teristic patterns in the hoofs, but, acting on a sugges- tion sent to me from America, I have made a number of prints of cows' noses, and have found that the arrangement of the sweat pores follows distinctive patterns, which can therefore be used for the identifica- tion of these animals. The two accompanying prints (Figs. 7 and 8) were taken on December 22, 1922, from the noses of two young Jersey heifers belonging to. Figs. 7 ajid -XOSE-PRINTS OF TWO YOUXG JERSEY HEIFERS, TAXEN DECEMBER 1922. Mr. E. Matthews, of Little Shardeloes, Amersham, and may in future be of interest as the first prints of the kind made in this country. It is obvious that the patterns formed by the pores are quite distinct. The practical value of this discovery lies in the fact that it is not an uncommon practice for one cow to be substituted for another and more valuable one after the purchase has been completed. A registration of the nose-prints of all pedigree animals would there- fore prove an effective safeguard against this fraud. At the request of the Committee of the Royal Agri- cultural Society I am carrying out a further series of experiments to determine whether the patterns are permanent and remain constant in their form over a long period in the growth of the animal, and whether the differences are always as pronounced as in the case of these two animals. It is quite possible that the same method of identifi- cation could also be applied to dogs, and, if so, it would be a very simple method of establishing their pedigree. BIBLIOGRAPHY Locard, E., La Poroscopie. (A. Rey, Lyons, 1913.) Mitchell, C. Ainsworth, Documents and their Scientific Examina- tion. (C. Griffin & Co., London, 1922. Price 10s. 6d.) Wilder, H. W., and Wentworth, B., Personal Identification. (Richard G. Badger,
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