THE Microscope. 207 
THE EXAMINATION OF HANDWRITING. 
BY DR. GEO. E. FELL. 
Pee G. E. FELL, of Buffalo, presented a paper en- 
titled ‘“* Exhibit ‘B’ Julia Martin and the People vs. Jesse 
Colby.” This, the speaker said, was a remarkable case of 
forgery which occurred in Erie county. He was called as an 
expert, and submitted the writing in question to a number of 
tests, being assisted by Professor Kellicott. A two-inch micro- 
scope revealed at the outset that two kinds of ink had been used. 
Each word was carefully examined and the presence of the dif- 
ference in the color of the ink noted. Several false strokes of 
a pen were also easily discerned. He had found by several ex- 
periments that, under the microscope, there is no difference in 
the color of ink dipped from the bottom or from the top of the 
same bottle. The result of the examination by the experts was 
to prove that the letters of the contract were retraced for the 
purpose of adding the words “and Colby’s bond is hereby can- 
celled,” by which he would have made $5,000 had not the ex- 
amination proved that the document had been tampered with. 
Professor Lattimore asked if chemical tests were applied to 
differentiate the inks used. The reply of Dr. Fell was, ‘* No.” 
Dr. Lattimore alluded to the importance of the paper and the 
value of microscopic observations by those called into courts as 
experts to decide disputed points about handwriting. He re- 
lated how a check, claimed to have been signed by a Rochester 
merchant, had been presented at a bank and paid. The bank 
teller and the merchant both testified that the signature was 
correct, and that the amount had been removed and a larger 
sum had been written in. In this case a banker who had no 
interest in the case pronounced the signature correct. His 
attention was called to a pencil tracing where the line was par- 
allel to the ink line. He then said he could see it plainly, and 
was surprised that he had not seen it before. Experiments 
were made with chemicals found in the possession of the man 
who presented the check, and the ink signature was completely 
removed, leaving the whole signature drawn in pencil with 
fragments of graphite in the pores of the paper. Professor 
Lattimore related several other very interesting cases, during 
