Smyrna times., 1872-04-17
MI eIIun cons.
a Queer Proof.

Some time ago, being in COMPANY with
medical man, whom will call Mr. b, we fell
into conversation on the uses Of the micro.
scope, IN the management of which he was an
adept
Now, he said "I will tell YOU story Of
"hat happened to myself-one which. think,
well Illustrates the Importance of this instru
ment to society, though | was put in a yerv
unpleasant position owing to my acquaintance
with it.
Il have, as you know, given a great deal Of
attention to comparative anatomy. esbecialIv
70 the structure OF the hair as it appears under
the microscope. To the unasSisted eve in.
ueed, all halr appears very much alike, excent
as It is long or short, dark or fair. straight or
curly, coarse or fine. Under the mic~oscone
however, the case is very different: the white
man Is round, the negro's oval, the mouse
apparently lolnted, the bat S Jagged, and so on
Indeed, every animal has hair of peculiar
choractcr; and what Is more, this character
varies according to the part of the body from
"nich IL Is en-an important circumstance as
VIII appear from my story, which is this:
once received a letter by post containing
few hairs, with request that | wonId
examine them, and adding that they would he
called Tor IN few days. Accordingly. sub.
mltted the hairs to the microscope, when dis
covered that they were from the human eye
brow, and had been bruised | made a note to
that effect, and folded it within an envelope,
ready TOR the person vino sent them. In few
Gays Stranger called and inquired whether |
had made the investigation
"'Oh yes, l said there thew are and
you will find them and their description in this
envelope, handing it TO him at the same time
HE expressed himself as being much
Obliged, and offered me fee, which, how
ever, declined, telling him that | could not
think OF taking anything for so small matter
1t turned out, however, of more conse
quence than l. had imagined-for within
week was served with a subpoena to attend as
witness on a trial of murder. This was very
dlSagreeable' as have said but there was no
help Tor 1t now The case was thus: A man
had been killed by blow, from some blunt in
strument, on the eyebrow, and the hairs sent
to me for examination had been taken from a
hammer In the possession of the suspected
murderer. was put in 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
suthced to convict the prisoner. The jury,
however, were not easily satisfied that my
statement worth anything; and it required
the solemn assurance of the Judge that such
to convince them that they might act upon it. |
One juryman in particular-an old farmer
was very hard to satisfy.
Does thee mean to say said he, that
thee can'te any hair of an animal?'
answered that would not take upon N.Y. |
sell to assert positively that | could do SO, |
although believe could. --,---.-.-
We'll, said he, Il II prove thee a -
The prisoner, as said, was convicted. and |
went home. In the busy life of an extensive
practice 4 forgot all about my obstinate old |
farmer. About two years afterwards however,
person, an utter stranger to me, called on me
with few hairs screwed up in piece of paper,
whlch he asked me to examine and report on
Is this another murder case p inquired !; |
Tor IT so, will have nothing to do with it. / |
have had enough Of that sort of work
'Noz-nop said he,u lit is- nothing of the
kind. II is only matter OF curiosity. which
should be very much obliged if you would
solve and u you will do it will call or send
for the result Of your examination in a few
Having received this assurance, I under,
took the investigation. Is "a n u ....
w hen he was gone, and | had leisure, |
put the hairs under microscope, and soon dis
covered that they were taken from the back of
4 Norway rat. y
Two or three days afterwards, as I was sit
.lns IN my room, an old farmer-looking man
well, said he, has thee looked at them
hairs r. sNFthtetiH - - mfEtl73n |
Yes, answered, and [ find that they
are from the back of Norway rat. '.rd 1nfff ,
"rWellP he exclaimed, SO they are. Thou II
y q Val u ID