826 
SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 
additions, in the different colouring of different inks applied, and the 
mode of their execution. 
Erasures can be accomplished either with a knife or by a chemical 
preparation. The former process is the one commonly resorted to, and 
is effected in the following manner: With a well-sharpened knife-blade 
the surface of the paper is carefully scraped until all objectionable 
lettering and wording is supposed by the naked eye to have disappeared. 
With a microscopical examination you can at once detect the impression 
made by the stroke of a pen. Even the different colours of the ink are 
still to be seen with the Microscope. 
The second method being by a chemical preparation, the ink is made 
soluble and then easily removed from the paper by means of a blotter 
or absorbent cotton. This method is also an incomplete one, and the 
letters can easily be made out by close observation where a chemical 
preparation has been used for erasing. In most cases it leaves a stain, 
and the fibres of the paper are more or less injured by the chemicals 
used, always leaving evidence that the document has been tampered with. 
Geo. E. Fell, in his paper, says the eye of the individual making the 
erasure is certainly not sufficient, and even with the aid of a hand 
magnifier the object might not be effectually accomplished. The de- 
tection of an erasure made by the knife is a very simple matter, and may 
be accomplished by the noviee. An investigation may be made by 
simply holding the document before a strong light, and this is usually 
all that is necessary to demonstrate the existence of an erasure of any 
consequence. This is, however, a very different matter from making 
out the outlines of a word or detecting the general arrangement of the 
fibres of the paper, so as to be enabled to state whether writing has been 
executed on certain parts of the document. Again, when we enter into 
the minutiae of the subject, we find that the compound Microscope will 
give us results not to be obtained by the simple hand magnifier. 
On several occasions I have had the opportunity of demonstrating 
with the Microscope additions made to certain documents, two of which 
were wills. Thp additions were made in the following manner (which 
the Microscope revealed) : First an erasure must have been produced, 
then there was a writing over the erasure. With the Microscope you 
could at once detect the erasures and the additions ; also the different 
colours of the inks used, and, next, the most important characteristic of 
the microscopical examination being in the close observation of the stroke 
of the pen of the original lettering and the additional lettering, and, 
finally, the general mode of their execution. 
In the examination of legal documents, U.S. currency, printed and 
mutilated documents, including forgeries, &c., involving a legal question 
and investigation, the principal features in the microscopical examina- 
tion, as already stated, are the erasures, additions, colour of the ink, 
stroke of the pen in the original lettering and additional lettering, and, 
finally, the mode of their execution. This includes the general and com- 
parative expression of the original writing — that is, in the observation 
of the letters constituting the document. Especial attention is needed 
in the observation of the shading, and in the general formation of the 
letters by the stroke of the pen, either in a downward or upward move- 
ment. This applies not only to the capital letters, but also to the 
