IDENTIFYING ANIMALS

Southland Times, Issue 18963, 9 June 1923, Page 15 (Supplement)

IDENTIFYING ANIMALS

THE BERTILLON SYSTEM. A new system of identification of animals has been used for some time in .France, the marking process previously used being easily counterfeited or even eradicated. Nowadays animals, like men, are distinguished from one another by the method invented by Bertillon, but instead of finger prints as for human beings, the imprint of the muzzle for cattle, the nostrils for horses, the nose for dogs and cats, and the groin for pigs is taken. The print of these parts never changes with age, and the print taken from a young calf, if enlarged by photograph, is the same as the print of the same animal when adult. The system is very simple. The muzzle is certainly wiped with a dry piece of linen, which leaves no fluff, then covered with printing ink, after which a piece of paper is applied to the part. This information will be greatly appreciated by ovzners of breed animals and also by insurance companies in cases of mortality among cattie, where there is a danger of substitution. It will also make it impossible to substitute racehorses or to steal high-class dogs. Mr Andre Leroy, Chief of the Nationai Institute of Agronomy in Paris, who has made a long and careful study of the subject, would probably be glad to supply any supplementary details on the matter.