The Placer herald., 1871-11-04
A STORY or THE MICROSCOPE.

Some time ago, being in company with a
medical man, whom | will call Mr. b,
we fell into conversation on the uses of the
microscope, in the management of which he
was an adept. Now said he, 81 will
tell you story of what happened to myself;
one which, think, we'll illustrates the i'm
portance of this instrument to society, though
| was put in very unpleasant position,
owing to my acquaintance with it,
have, as you know, given good deal
of attention to comparative anatomy, especi
ally to the structure of the hair as it appears
under the microscope To the unassisted
eye, indeed, all hair appears very much alike,
except that it is long or short, dark or fair,
straight or curly coarse or fine. Under the
microscope, however, the case is very differ
ent; the white mans is round, the negro's
oval, the mouse's apparently jointed, the
imal has hair of peculiar character, and,
what is more, this character varies according
to the part of the body from which it is taken
an importan. circumstance, as will appear
from my story, which IS this:
once received letter by post, containing
a few hairs, with a request that would
examine them, and adding that they would
be called for in few days. Accordingly,
submitted the hairs to the microscope, when
discovered that they were from the human
eyebrow, and had been bruised. made a
note to this effect, and folded it up with the
hairs in an envelope, ready for the person
who had sent them. In few days a sran
ger called and inquired whether had made
the investigation. 4" Oh, yes, said, "there
they are, and you will find them and their
description in this envelope handing it to
him at the same time. He expressed him
self as much obliged, and offered me a fee,
which, however, declined, telling him that
could not think of taking anything for SO
small matter.
1t turned out, however, of more conse-
quence than had imagined, for within a
week was served with subpoena to attend
as a witness on trial for murder. This
was very disagreeabe, as have said, but
there was no help for it now. The case was
this: A man had been killed by a blow
from some blunt instrument on the eyebrow,
and the hairs sent to me for examination had
been taken from hammer in the possession
of suspected murderer. ! was put in the
| WllHtSS LOA, anu III ttStiIHolJ tHdt VIC
hairs were from a human eyebrow, and had
been bruised, was just the link in the chain
of evidence which sufiiccd to convict the
prisoner The jury, however, were not
easily satisfied that my statement was worth
anything; and it required the solemn assu-
rance of the Judge that such a CONCLUSION
was within the reach of science to convince
them that they might act on it.
One juryman in particular-an old farmer
was very hard to satisfy. Does thee
mean to say" he said, ''that thee can tell
any hair of any animal" l answered that
would not take upon myself to assert posi-
lively that could. Well" said he, "I'll
prove thee. .
The prisoner, as I said, was convicted
and | went home, and, in the busy life of an
extensive practice, forgot all about my OBJ
stinate old farmer. About two years after
ward, however, a person, an utter stranger
to me, called on me with few hairs screwed
up in piece Of paper, which he asked me to
examine and report on.
Z" Is this another murder case?' inquired
:" for if so, will have nothing to do with it.
I've had enough of that sort of work
No, no, said he, I" it is nothing of the
kind. 1t is only a matter of curiosity, which
| should be very much obliged if you will
solve; and if you will do it, will call or
send for the result of your. examination in a
few days time" Having received this assu-
rance, | undertook the investigation.
When he was gone, and had leisure to
put the hairs under the microscope, | soon
discovered that they were taken from the
back of Norway rat.
Two OF three days afterwards, as l was
sitting in my consulting room, an old farmer
looking man was ushered in. "Wel, said
he, has thee looked at them hairs
Yes" answered, "and find that they
are from the back of a Norway rat. ''Well,
said he, {" so they are. Thou hast forgotten
me, but ! have not forgotten thee. Does
thee recollect the trial for murder at the
l. assizes? | said | would prove thee,
and so have, for them hairs came from the
back of a rats skin my son sent me from
Norway" So the old gentleman was salts
fed with the proof TO which he had put me,
and /, as you may suppose, was well pleased
that my skill and sagacty had stood such
queer proof as this, and more convinced than
ever of the value of the microscope"
Here the doctor ended his story, which |
have given as nearly as possible in his own
words, and upon which believe that tho
rough dependence may be placed.-Jonmal
Of Microscopy.
Found AT LAsr.-Some German navigator