ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 
273 
part for a number of years in noted criminal and civil cases, its proper 
relation to law seems to be little understoood. It is true that many 
underrate its value, and throw aside all testimony attained through its 
use as worthless, while others again largely overrate its powers .... 
When persons expert in the use of the Microscope are called upon to 
give testimony, there ought not to be any disagreement as to the result 
of the examination they may make ; as, for instance, if they examine a 
stain, and blood-corpuscles are found by one, it should be verified by the 
other ; and if measurements of these corpuscles are made, their measures 
should correspond without a doubt. There should be no difference on 
such matters of fact, though this is not meant to imply that they should 
not honestly differ as to how the blood came there. The Microscope will 
tell with true and unerring certainty whether the adhering substance on 
a weapon is human or animal hair, or whether what is thought to be hair 
is not cotton, silk, or wool fibre. It is a well-known fact that portions of 
brain-substance adhering to weapons which have caused the fracture of 
the skull and laceration of the brain can only be recognized by the Micro- 
scope . ... In chemistry and toxicology the Microscope is a very impor- 
tant factor for the identification and verification of many ordinary tests, 
which are made to determine the composition of solids and liquids. Not 
many years ago, death from poison was surrounded by dread and fear 
scarcely comprehensible at the present day. Tradition informs us that 
persons suspected of having committed murder by poisoning were broiled 
alive in England, and in France burned at the stake, and in the various 
other countries tortured in the most inhuman manner. It is now, however, 
generally conceded that, with modern methods introduced for the detec- 
tion of poison, the fear of discovery has been rendered greater than the 
dread of punishment. The greatest advance in legal chemistry was 
through the achievements of Bunsen and others ; quantities so minute as 
to be out of reach of all other known methods of analysis, we are enabled 
to identify with unerring certainty. Many poisons, such as strychnine, 
arsenic, morphine, &c., will crystallize with certain reagents into charac- 
teristic forms, which are peciilar to themselves. 
Of late considerable attention has been paid to the microscopical 
examination of handwritings. While, perhaps, the Microscope cannot be 
considered an aid in forming an opinion as to the real author of a given 
specimen, yet its value for the detection of alteration and changes made 
in the original cannot be underrated. It is impossible to make an erasure 
of any written or printed lines and hide them from detection by the 
Microscope ; the most skilful forger cannot restore the slighest derange- 
ment of the fibres on the finished surface of the paper. 
Equipped with the modern improvements and possessing the requisite 
skill, the progressive microscopist may be said to be a true friend of the 
curious, in the full meaning of this expression. It is true that sometimes 
our most exhaustive means of industry and research are only rewarded by 
negative results ; yet it cannot be denied that in the majority of cases 
we reap the reward of diligence and industry by seeing our work change 
the whole theory of a plea in civil and criminal actions, becoming a terror 
to the guilty and joy to the innocent.” 
