7o 



NATURE 



[July 20, 191 1 



human origin. On the other hand, the blood of other 

 species of animals will have dissolved in the human 

 serum, colouring it red. If the tubes are charged in 

 the first place with the serum of the horse, ox, or 

 other animal, the corresponding blood is coagulated, 

 while that of any other animal dissolves." 



Perhaps it is as well to explain to uninitiated 

 readers that the "serum" is the liquid or watery 

 substance of the blood. 



The more cautious murderer, who resorts to the 

 subtle agency of poison, has even more reason to 

 dread the analyst, with his test-tube and microscope, 

 than his brother in crime, who adopts the cruder 

 methods of bone-breaking and blood-letting. 



There has been a deal of romantic nonsense written 

 about Caesar Borgia and his more famous sister and 

 their subtle and deadly poisons, "of which the secret 

 is now fortunately lost to mankind." The modern 

 poisoner has fluid, powder and perfume far more subtle 

 and dangerous at his disposal, but amongst them are 

 none that can elude the scrutiny of modern science. 

 It is generally thought that arsenic was a constituent 

 part of the mysterious Borgia poisons. Mr. Mitchell 

 tells us, " with the more refined methods of analyses 

 now available the tests are capable of detecting arsenic 

 even in the minute proportion of one part in sixty 

 million " — a minuteness which the imagination can 

 scarcelv conceive. 



Under the pitiless eye of the microscope the most 

 skilful and delicate handiwork of the forger is of no 

 avail. We have in the book a hundred interesting 

 illustrations of how his efforts are brought to nought. 

 Does he trace the forgery over pencil writing, the 

 microscope shows the pencil marks along the edges. 

 Does he erase and write over, the most delicate lines 

 are broad smudges, under the microscope the most 

 skilful erasures are rough as unplaned wood. When 

 the writer begins and leaves off, every joining, every 

 doubt, every hesitation is plainly revealed, as if the 

 eye at the microscope was watching the penman. 



But it is not in scientific explanation and demon- 

 stration alone that this book excels; it is not to the 

 scientific student alone that it appeals. By that vast 

 and miscellaneous public vaguely classified under the 

 head of "the general reader," it will be thankfully 

 received and eagerly devoured. Mr. Mitchell illus- 

 trates his scientific disquisitions by vivid illustrations 

 and judicious extracts from the most famous and 

 exciting trials oi ancient and modern times. We have 

 many quaint pictures of the peculiar administration 

 of justice in the good old days, when Lord Chief 

 Justice Hale exerted himself to secure the conviction 

 of Anne Turner, because he was afraid " lest by an 

 acquittal countenance should be given to a disbelief in 

 witchcraft, which he considered tantamount to a dis- 

 belief in Christianity." 



We read, too, that in the trial of Anne Turner for 

 the murder of Thomas Overbury (1615) evidence was 

 given that she was in possession of parchments, some 

 of which contained the names of the Blessed Trinity, 

 others, on which were written +B + C + D + E, and 

 another with a figure in which was inscribed the word 

 Corpus, and to which was fastened a little piece of 

 the skin of a man. In some of these parchments were 

 NO. 2177, VOL. 87] 



the names of devils, who were conjured to torment 

 the Lord Somerset and Sir A. Mainwaring if their 

 loves should not continue, the one to the countess and 

 the other to Mrs. Turner. 



On evidence like this poor Mrs. Turner was con- 

 victed and sentenced to death. The form of the 

 sentence was perhaps the strangest thing of all. The 

 learned Lord Chief Justice Hale gravely informed the 

 trembling woman that 



" she had been guilty of the seven deadly sins, and 

 (hat as she was the inventor of that horrid garb, 

 the yellow tiffany ruffs and cuffs, he hoped she 

 would be the last by whom they would be worn. 

 To this end he ordered that she should be hanged 

 in that garb. This was duly done, while, as a 

 further condemnation of the fashion to which the 

 judge had taken exception, the hangman wore yellow 

 bands and cuffs." 



We are not surprised to learn that the fashion died 

 with its author, but we can scarcely imagine a Lord 

 Chief Justice of our own day solemnly deciding that 

 a lady should be hanged in a hobble or a harem skirt 

 by a hangman similarly attired. 



We have new trials as well as old in the book. The 

 exciting question of the guilt or innocence of Mrs. 

 Maybrick, on which Lord Chief Justice Russell enter- 

 tained such strong convictions, is elaborately and in- 

 telligently discussed. We have a brief but very vivid 

 risumi of the trial of Robert Wood, whose careless 

 and callous behaviour in the dock excited such a 

 strange fervour of sympathy and admiration, and of 

 whom Mr. Hall Caine wrote after watching the case 

 throughout, " Robert Wood, innocent of the murder of 

 Emily Dimmock, is yet the most remarkable man 

 alive." There is no space to enumerate the hundred 

 and odd other trials not less interesting or remarkable 

 which are summarised in the book. 



There is a singular fascination in the detective story 

 in fiction or real life. Any editor can tell how a 

 sensational trial inflates the circulation of his news- 

 paper. The magazines and the publishers and the 

 public alike are clamouring for detective stories. Of 

 all the characters in modern fiction, Sherlock Holmes 

 is the best-known and most admired. A man who 

 writes one passable detective story must write nothing 

 else, for the public will accept nothing else from his 

 pen. 



In the book under review there is the material for 

 a hundred detective stories. Every half a dozen 

 pages contains the suggestion of a plot which needs 

 onlv a little imagination and elaboration for its com- 

 pletion. 



It is impossible within the limits of a review to do 

 justice to the wealth of material in the book or to the 

 attractive form in which it is presented to the public. 

 Hypnotism, handwriting, dog training, food adultera- 

 tion and its detection, and a score of other interest- 

 ing topics are elaborately discussed, and illustrated by 

 extracts from appropriate trials. The author exhausts 

 his subject without in the least degree exhausting 

 the interest and delight of his reader. His book 

 possesses the two essential qualities of a good book : 

 it is readable and it is worth reading. It serves up 

 scientific facts and theories in a most palatable form, 



