PRACTICAL PRINTS

Manual of Fingerprint Development Techniques T. Kent (Ed.) (Home Ofice Scient$c Research & Development Branch, London, 1986, Index, ISBN 0 86252 230 7; £50) The Manual of Fingerprint Development Techniques is a thorough, exhaustive but very readable guide for the laboratory. The loose-leaf format and individual registration ensure that the Manual will remain current.

Something often missing in a "how-to" manual is how to use the manual. Every attention has been paid here to allow the novice as well as the experienced technician to consult quickly and easily. Further, since this Manual will (and should) be used routinely and often, the durable plasticized pages are a thoughtful feature.

Flow charts are excellent, being complete and easy to read and consult. The section on laboratory safety and bio-hazards is also a welcome addition. All pertinent technical information for each method has been presented.

It is the writer's experience that assessments of the relative value of techniques tend to vary sharply from laboratory to laboratory. This may be the result of unknown regional variables such as climate, or the application of incomplete or unscientific methods of assessment.

It is a monumental task merely to compile the latest fingerprint techniques complete with background information, but the real challenge is the fair assessment and comparison of the procedures and the place they should occupy in the detection process.

While my personal opinion of the weight assigned to certain techniques described in the Manual may differ slightly from that of the authors, the procedures are presented objectively, accurately and in such a way that the fingerprint technician may rely on them to perform a thorough examination. This manual would be a valuable reference guide in any identification bureau. I recommend it highly.

UNRESOLVED IDENTITY PROBLEM

Personal Identification from Human Remains Spencer L Rogers (Charles C Thomas, Springfield, Illinois, 1987, 84pp, index, ISBN 0 398 05307-3, US $23.50) This elegant slim volume is a pleasure to hold and leisurely to read. It cannot however be said to advance this rapidly changing subject. The rather poorly reproduced steel engravings, one of which is threequarters of a century old and the others (from Fraser I guess) possibly older, convey little information. The text is sympathetically written but does not 'attempt . . . t o review . . . sophisticated methods ..' It is convenient for the tables to be all in one place but the standard large books also have them. Were it of normal length for a hardback book it would cost about £80.00.

JBE

AN AMERICAN INTRODUC3ION

Crimiialistics: An Introduction to Forensic Science 3rd Ed. Richard Saferstein (Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1987, 500pp., index ISBN 0 13 193269 1; No price stated). This was the reviewer's first encounter with "Criminalistics" and first serious appraisal of an American textbook on forensic science. The book is aimed at students of forensic science,

436