1884.] 



MICKOSCOPICAL JOURNAL. 



163 



utilize all coiToborative proof within 

 our reach which may assist in deter- 

 minint;^ the kind of blood under in- 

 spection. And where may we look 

 for this additional information ? Evi- 

 dently in the clot or stain itself. It 

 probably seldom occurs in a murder- 

 ous assault that blood stains, found 

 on the weapons used, are formed 

 without entangling in their substance 

 more or less extraneous matter, and 

 this material is not unfrequently hair 

 or textile fibres of one sort or another 

 which, when examined by the micro- 

 scopist, will disclose presumptive 

 proof. Such evidence may assist in 

 delivering into the hands of justice 

 the perpetrator of a crime who might 

 otherwise successfully elude detec- 

 tion, or it may with equal force estab- 

 lish the innocence of a suspected per- 

 son. What the microscopist may do 

 to assist in determining questions of 

 this nature, it is the purpose of this 

 paper to briefly touch upon, and more 

 especially to consider that feature to 

 which we have alluded in speaking 

 of hair and filamentous substances 

 generally in their relation to legal 

 medicine. 



' If the object under observation is 

 that of hair, it becomes at once neces- 

 sary to determine, if possible, whether 

 it is human or animal ; and, if found 

 to be of the latter kind, whether it is 

 of its original, natural color, or has 

 been stained by the dyer. To become 

 practically familiar with the many 

 varieties of fur, such as are in com- 

 mon use as articles of wearing appa- 

 rel, and to recognize the changes in 

 hue wrought in hair by dyes to which 

 it has been subjected, opens up an 

 important and extensive field to the 

 forensic microscopist, and one which 

 as yet has received but comparatively 

 little attention. The importance of 

 closely inspecting weapons, and of 

 carefully examining hair found upon 

 them, may best be shown by a few 

 illustrative cases. In a case quoted 

 by Dr. Taylor, a hatchet, having 

 clotted blood and hair adherent to it. 

 was produced as evidence against an 



accused person, under whose bed the 

 weapon had been found. This, with 

 other circumstantial evidence, had 

 turned public opinion strongly against 

 the prisoner ; but when the hair was 

 examined it was found not to be hu- 

 man, but to have been taken from the 

 body of some animal. This circum 

 stance led to a more complete sifting 

 of the evidence, and the prisoner was 

 acquitted. It turned out that the 

 prisoner had killed an animal with 

 the hatchet, and had carelessly thrown 

 the weapon under his bed. Some 

 years since a little girl was murdered 

 in one of our large cities, and the ap- 

 pearance of wounds which had been 

 inflicted upon her head indicated that 

 the weapon used was some blunt in- 

 strument. A club stained with blood 

 v/as found near by. The counsel for 

 the accused person endeavored to 

 show that the club had been used by 

 the prisoner for the purpose of killing 

 pigeons. The club was submitted to 

 examination, and there were found in 

 the clots thereon and in the splinteret^ 

 portions of the weapon certain hairs 

 which were identified by others and 

 myself as fine hairs from a human 

 head. By comparison, they were in 

 eveiy respect precisely like hair taken 

 from the head of deceased. 



' In the case of an alleged minder 

 in Connecticut, where the charred 

 bodies of two women had been found 

 in the debris of their dwelling, which 

 had bin-ned to the ground, I was em- 

 ployed by the State to make an ex- 

 amination of certain pieces of lialf- 

 burned cloth, some partly-singed 

 hair, and numerous other fragmen- 

 tary substances. I found considera- 

 ble blood in unburned portions of the 

 cloth,, but, owing to the high temper- 

 ature to which it had been exposed, 

 the corpuscles could not be sufficient- 

 ly restored to determine, even ap- 

 proximately by the aid of microme- 

 try, whether they were of human or 

 animal origin, and it was not known 

 whether there was an animal in the 

 house at the time of the fire, or not. 

 I found, however, some hair which 



