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Court of Justice in America, was one which he believed they would think 

 certainly was so in an extreme sense. He had been examining a specimen 

 of handwriting as compared with another, and had stated that he was 

 satisfied as to its identity. The judge then inquired if he was willing to 

 have a crucial test made of the value of his method. Of course, under the 

 circumstances, he said that he was willing. The test was this : Three long 

 foolscap sheets of paper were ruled, and the gentleman whose handwriting 

 was the subject of inquiry filled in ten or twelve of the lines at irregular 

 intervals, and then a skilful lithographer, accustomed to closely imitate 

 writing, carefully filled in the other lines with what seemed to be exact 

 copies of the gentleman's signature. The paper having then been marked 

 at the edge as a key, this was cut off and retained by the judge, and he 

 was handed the rest and asked to pick out the gentleman's signatures from 

 the whole number. It was a cnicial test, and one which he thought a man 

 ought not very often to have put to him ; but after a careful study of 

 the paper he was able to pick out accurately eleven of the twelve. 

 Physiology, as remarked by Mr. Karop, verified the principle of the method 

 in a moment, for writing was a muscular act, and one of the most com- 

 plicated kind. There would naturally, therefore, be a difference at 

 different times, but although the rhythm would be exaggerated under the 

 influence of stimulation, or of disease, it would be found that its charac- 

 teristics remained the same. 



Mr. Hind asked if the same method was found to apply to pencil marks. 



Dr. Wythe said that the rhythms of form and pressure would remain, but 

 slightly altered ; that of progress it was almost impossible to trace in 

 pencil writing. It often happened that a small, sharp particle of graphite 

 would cut out the fibres of the paper entirely. 



Dr. Matthews inquired if Dr. Wythe was cognisant of the great difference 

 which existed between a man's writing in the morning and in the evening 

 under certain physical conditions. He remembered a case where writer's- 

 palsy was coming on, and the man's signature was rejected by his bankers 

 when written in the morning, but when he wrote it in the evening they 

 accepted it. Would it be possible to identify two such specimens as being 

 the same handwriting ? 



Dr. Wythe said he had examined a number of specimens of the writing 

 of persons afflicted with writer's-palsy, and he found that when the disease 

 had progressed to a certain extent the writing had almost no coherence at 

 all. In slighter cases he thought that the usual characteristics remained, 

 although they were exaggerated, just, in fact, as they would be under the 

 influence of a stimulant. 



Dr. Matthews asked if Dr. Wythe had applied the micrometer with a view 

 to ascertain the value of the rhythm. 



Dr. Wythe said he found that it varied in different persons from 200 to 

 400 in an inch. The subject as yet was only in its infancy, and he was just 

 telling them what he knew. 



Mr. JBuffham asked if there would be much difference between the hand- 

 writing of a person when he wrote very rapidly and when he wrote care- 

 fully and deliberately. 



Journ. Q. M. C., Series II., No. 10. h 



