Mower County transcript., 1871-07-06
Fitted to Il Hair.

SoME time ago, being in company with
n me NC Il man, HON | " i'll cali MIR. r.,
We lvil into conversation on the Use of the
il wA~ a., AL ut. Now" said he, II will
tell >"u a et>ry Of what happened to my.
S, lf-o~c which, | think, well illustrates
.n.' Importance of this Instrument to SO
ctrty, though s put in q very unp'cas-
an position owing TO my acuu.inl!nct
with it.
81 hsve, rs you know, given good deal
OF a'trnt'"n to comparativn anatomy, rs.
Ncch,lly to the structure ot the hrir, n, 1t
nip '.rs under Tie iuirr,Scrre. 70 The TIA
assisted eye, inl,.i, I'll hair app nrs very
much alike, except rs it is long or short,
dark ur ltir, straight or curly, coarse or
tine I.ldr: the microscope, however, the
case IS v,,y different; the white nlaus is
rurn = the ucyr,'s oval, the mousc's appa-
1,nly inintvd, the bats jagged, and so on
Indr. Il every animal has hair of a pccu.
liar character, and, hat Is more, this CHI.
rnr,cr varies ",wnr ling to the part of the
body from which il is takcn-s,n important
cirrun>' nrr, AZ willnppcar from my story
which is this:
II once received letter by post, con
tlnlnr q few hairs, with request that !
would examine them, and adding that they
would be CALI Il for in n few days. Ac
cnluin,ly, submitted the hairs to- the mi
croscopr when | discovered that they
were from the human eyebrow, and had
bvcn bruised. | made a note tn this effect
aud folded it up with the hairs in an envrl
olc, ready tor the person who had sent
them. In a few days u stranger callcd and
inquired whether ha made the invcsti.
garlou. 'Oh yes said, there they are
and you will find them and th' ir dcscrip-
ton in this envelope hauling it to him at
the same time. lie expressed hi,ns, If as
being much obliged, and offered me fee,
which, however, | declined, telling him
that could not think of taking anything
for so snail 81 matter.
1t turned out, however, Of more con-
sequence than l had imagined, for within
week was served with a subpoena, to
attend rs Il witness On a trial for murde".
This was very diSagrccable, as have said,
but there was no help for it now. The
case was this A man had been killed by
blow from some blunt instrument on the
eyebrows, and the hairs sent to me for cx-
animation had been taken from hammer
in the possession Of the suspected muir
drrer. was put into the witness box,
and my testimony, that the hairs were
from the human eyebrow, and had been
Bruised WAS just the link in the chain of
evidence which suliccd to convict the
prisoner. The jury, however, were not
easily satisfied that my statement was
worth anything; snd it required the
solemn assurance Of the judge that such q
conclusion was within the reach of
science, to convince them that they might
act upon it.
Zone juryman in particular-an old
Mrmer-was very hard to satisfy. Does
thee mean to say,' ssid he, that thee can
tell any hair of any animal?' answered
that would not take upon myself to as
eert positively that could do 50, although
believed could. WELL said he, iii
prove thee
The prisoner, as I said was convicted,
and, in the busy life Of an extensive prac
tice, forgot all about my obstinate old
farmer. About two years afterward, how
ever, person, an utter stranger to me,
called on me with a few hairs screwed up
in piece Of paper, which he asked Inc to
cxaminc aud report on.
So Is this another murder case p l in
quired; for if so, l will have nothing to
40 with it. I've had enough Of that sort
Of work.
60 No no. said he, it is nothing Of the
kind. IL is only matter of curiosity,
WniCn L should be very much Obliged ii
You would solve; and if you will do it,
will call or send for the result of your ex-
animation in few days time Having
received this assurance, undertook the
investigation.
When ne was gone. and had leisure,
l put the hairs under the microscope, and
soon discovered that they were taken from
the back Of Norway rat.
"Two or three days afterward, as was
sitting in my consulting room, an old
farmer looking man was ushered in.
hairsy'
AYES answered, and find that they
are from the back Of a Norway rat
Well, exclaimed he so they are. Thou
hast forgotten me. but have not forgot.
ten thee. Does thee recollect the trial for
murder at L--- assizes? I said
would prove thee, and l have, for them
hairs come from the back of a rats skin
my son sent me from Norway So the
old gentleman was quite satisfied with the
proof to which he had put me, and l. as
you may suppose, was we'll pleased that
my skill AMI sayacity had stood such a
queer proof as tlis, and more convinced
than ever Of the value of the micro
scope"
Here the doctor ended his story, which
l have given as nearly as possible in his
own words and up N which believe that
thorough dependence may be placed
Jou' nal IF Microscopic