Cooper's Clarksburg register. [volume] (Clarksburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1851-1861, 1857-04-24


Moral s,ss OF the siietessope.
II is Thought thst tlls microscope may
be used 70 detect secret mafdefs, by .exi
sDining The, last an preston upon the rett
inc e tue mqrdsred man. This opinion
mayprove erroneous. bat the inicf ysc6pe
.hss often acted the part. OF an accuss u in
bringing 70 light proofs Of criminal acls
which otherwise might have :escAped!tdel
lection The following incident -is in
,point;:fc s7.rsh
The value OF this peculiar discriimina
ting power of the microscope WAR mark
ably Illustrated in u very curious G Sc
tried q few years ago. at Norwich. :" A te-
male child. about nine years old. was
found. one morning, lying dead-the cau-e
Of the death being At once deno.ed by o.
large and deep cash in the throat, sever
ing both OF the carotid arteries. the ira
ehea and The gesophagus. Suspicion Inn
medisteiy fell Upont he mother OF the muir
dered girl. who HAD ,ortn seen by more
than one person leading her daugh' to-
wards the plan s,lon on The morning Of
the day upon "liich tile crime Was pre-
sumed to.haye teen committed.
Upon being aken into custody. the wo.
man behaved with the utmost cuolne>s--
81, once a,imilted having taken the child
to the plantation where Che body was
found. bur Hverred that. having II rived
there. the girl IAN about gathering wild
flowers; that she subsequently lost si2ht
OF he. AID. after " long search. returned
home without her.
Upon being searched there was found
IN the WCmau's- possession q long and
sharp knife. which WAS at once subjt cited
TO n minute and careful examination -
So;hiEy. h"wever. rHs tt.uDd upon IT,
Eith the Exception Of n few pieces u han
"dherIng to tire handle. 80 exceedingly
small ~ scarcely :" be visible. The tx
aInsna;iuu being conducted in t:.e pres
tnee OF the prisoner. "ud the officer te
mnIking, . ....
''Here is a bit VI fur on The handle o
yonr knife
The woman Immediately replied
Yes. dare say the,e is. and ser!
hEely soine STAINS OF blood. her rs ! can.
home tound Il rabbit c4ush, in - An"le
and cut it's throat web The knie,"
The knife WAS seat 10 London, aud
With the particles uI hair. subjected To
microscopic examination. No traces q
blood 'uuId at first tie detected upon til,
weapon. ~hich appeared TO have b. Ell
washed: bat upon separating the horr
handle from lis iron lining. 1t WAS toun,
that bet~, Ell the two u tluid had pcnetra
ted. which mi ued uu, 10 be- bio, d. Ger
taiu!y not the blood OF u ,nbb,t. but bear
ing very {, >enIbaDce to that at the lu
man boiv. Then came the tx .mlna,ipu
oT the hair. ~Eich added powerfully Il
the presumption ri the prisoners guilt
Without knO"lpg anything Of the fac )
the case. the microscopes immediate ly de-
clarrd The hair 10 be that OF y '.quiIrel-
in this he could not be mistaken. for thu
Iur of one animal differs so en- iIely iron
that OF another. not only in it's size. colon
De. but from lis actual construction. Iha
it is altogether impossible to mistake i
when under the microscope. Now. rOun,
the neck Of the child. at the time Of III,
murder. there WAS a tippet or 'victorine'
over which the knife, by wtomsoeve
held. must have gIided: this VIC o'ine wa
made Of squrrrrI's iur! The strong cir
cumstanIial evidence Of the guilt "f tn
prisoner WAS deemed by the jury sut1cI' n
for conviction. and VII IL awaiting IKE
cution the ~Itlch-d woman fully CON! ess
ed the crime Hatchman.