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At the present time India is probably the country where the most extensive use of the finger--print system is made.  It has been adopted since 1899 by the Director General of the Post Offices of India.  On the forms of Indian Inland Money Orders, for example, it is printed: “Signature (in ink) of payee or thumb impression if payee is illiterate.”  In many other departments of government it has proved an efficient method preventing perjury and personation.  No objection can be raised on the ground of religion or caste, so there is no prejudice to be overcome in obtaining the finger print.  The Government has been so fully convinced of the effectiveness of the new system, an of the certainty of the results it yields, that the Indian Legislature has passed a special act amending the law of evidence to the extent of declaring relevant the testimony of those who by study have become proficient in finger--print decipherment.  In all registration offices, persons who, admitting execution, present documents for registration, are required to authenticate their identity by affixing the impression of their left thumb both on the document and in a register kept for the purpose.  (Compare E.R. Henry, Classification and Uses of Finger Prints, London, 1905, pp. 6--9.)